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Photo Gallery
The spotlight on the Marjorie Parry Star Winner.
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Michael Wood in action.
EDITOR - "How does it feel to win the Marjorie Parry Star on your third shot? Is it joy or more of relief?"
MW - "It was certainly a great thrill to win the Marjorie Parry Star, especially as it is my only singles tournament win, but there was a great deal of relief also because there were a lot of expectations on me to win."
EDITOR - "What was the highlight of this tournament? Apart from perhaps the last game of the second day when you were declared as the winner."
MW - "I don't have any real highlight for the tournament, but I was extremely happy with the way I played on the last day against Joan Nunn and Tim Green (Nedlands). The other standout game for me was against Irene Wardell-Johnson(Bayswater and eventual runner-up)on Friday morning."
EDITOR - "Did you stick with just the RPM in this tournament or did you swap to your original one as well. How do you find the RPM now? Have you found a way around the stop shot problem or don't you find this to be an issue?"
MW - " No. I stuck totally with the RPM. I find the RPM a very "user-friendly" mallet and it suits my game very well. As for the stop shot, I have found I don't really have a problem with it. I have just adapted my stop shot to my new mallet and it has worked well for me ever since."
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A jubilant Michael Wood after another victorious win.
EDITOR - "What was your intention for this years Marjorie Parry? After last years Runner Up position, were you putting yourself under any pressure to go one better?"
MW - "My major goal for the tournament was to win, and I did put a lot of pressure on myself at certain stages, but I really wanted to play some very good and consisten croquet and that is what I did."
EDITOR - "How were the lawns and the hoops at this time of year in comparison to when you played in the Ida Thorpe. And what about those dreaded borders? Did they catch you out and bother you?"
MW - "The lawns and hoops at Nedlands were lovely and very fast - even faster than during the Ida Thorpe - and they played very true. Although constantly aware of the borders, they did not come into play a lot and so they did not bother me as much as in previous tournaments, but I know that others had difficulty with them. All in all I think they were better than during the Ida Thorpe and I very much enjoyed playing on them."
EDITOR - "What are your goals now since you've got the TP Badge and the Marjorie Parry Star for the 2000 season?"
MW - " My current goals are to do as well as I can in the National Championships next year and to complete some more triple peels!"
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Michael Wood pondering the moment.
EDITOR - "Speaking of Triple Peels. What was going through your mind during the Rover Peel (last peel)in your successful triple peel attempt against Bill Roy (York) in the Ida Thorpe Memorial Trophy?"
MW - "Because I was so far away from Rover, I was only trying to get the ball into the jaws of the hoop, but thanks to the lawns at Nedlands being so true, the ball went sailing through. I can assure you no-one was as surprised as I was to see me make the peel!! From then of course it was just a matter of getting a good position for the peg out."
EDITOR - "Your qoute after the pegout was a classic. Did you always have the feeling that it was going to be the delayed and not the standard?"
MW - "Yes. I did always feel that I would do a delayed before the standard because that is what I have practised more often and it is the easiest to do from my favourite leave, but now I am working on the standard triple and hopefully I will complete one in competition soon."
EDITOR - "Do you have any final words you would like to say Michael? Perhaps a suggestion for other croquet players out there trying to get that first elusive triple or win that prestigious tournament?"
MW - "Just to believe in themselves and 'Have a Go!'."
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