From January 25th to 27th, the lawn of the Sugar Beach mansion will host a unique sporting competition, approved by the prestigious South African Croquet Association and counting towards the official Croquet Scores ranking. Delphine Raimond
Among the sixteen participants, the SBICC will feature some of the world’s best croquet players, such as Australian Robert Fletcher, who has been playing the sport since he was ten and is currently ranked number one, and New Zealander Jenny Clarke, three-time Australian Open champion, among others. The tournament will consist of a one-day doubles competition and a two-day knockout singles competition. The winner of the latter will be invited to defend his or her title at the 2025 edition, and will be offered flights and accommodation at a Sunlife hotel.
The event will combine the expertise of the pros with a spirit of joyful camaraderie, punctuated by dinners, aperitifs and various activities, in the enchanting setting of Sugar Beach.
The croquet principle
Derived from the game of mail played in France in the Middle Ages, croquet has been particularly popular in English-speaking countries, where it is still frequently played. An Olympic discipline in 1900 in Paris, it was the first sport to allow women to take part in an event. Strategic, interactive and fun, it is played individually or in teams of 2 to 8. Using a mallet and as quickly as possible, the player moves a wooden ball along a precise course dotted with hoops to be crossed in one direction, then the other, according to a numbered circuit. Each hoop crossed allows you to play again, and “if you cast a stone, you get a bite”! The winner is the first to pass his ball through all the hoops and touch the final peg.
https://www.sugarbeachmauritius.com/sugar-beach-international-croquet-cup-2024/
