Striking a blow forYorkshire as home of croquet

No longer could croquet be seen as a gentle game for an older generation.

Here was a young lad, fresh from sitting his A-levels, beating one of the best Egyptian players in the world and on Yorkshire soil.

When Jacob lifted the cup, there were few people prouder than his mentor and former British champion and current women's champion, Samantha Thompson.

"There were a few tears in people's eyes," admits Sam. "But it is so good for the sport. We need more young people taking up croquet, and more women."

Sam, 46, is managing director of Ripon Spa Hotel and the co-founder of Ripon Croquet Club, where she is also coach.

"We were approached 16 years ago by Keith Smith, development officer at the Croquet Association, to see if we could make a croquet club here," explains Sam.

The original house, which was eventually turned into Ripon Spa Hotel, had a number of croquet lawns, or courts and Sam jumped at the chance.

"We got some second hand mallets, balls and hoops and by tea time we had a croquet club. All that was left was for me to learn to play croquet."

In the 16 years since that makeshift croquet club was formed, both the club and Sam have come along way.

From just10 members, there is now a waiting list; in fact, despite the recession, Ripon Croquet Club has seen a bumper year in 2010.

It is also home to the Yorkshire International Championships and Women's Golf Croquet Championships which Sam helped found.

As for Sam, from playing a bit of croquet as a child during holidays in Scotland, she is now the country's top female player and ranked 81st in the world.

Croquet is one of the few sports where men and women compete against each other, which is why Sam courted controversy in croquet circles when she set up the Women's Golf Croquet Open six years ago.

"One of the main joys of croquet is that is it a truly egalitarian sport. You can play no matter what your age or sex or profession, but what I was finding was there just weren't that many women taking it up," she says.

Sam managed to convince the sport's governing body, the Croquet Association, that having a women's only event would encourage more women into the sport and she was right.

Three women who took part in the women's championships are now competing in the men and women's game. But Sam remains top woman.

"I would love someone to knock me off the top spot," says Sam. But seeing the admiration of other players at Ripon Croquet Club it may be along time before the 46-year-old loses her crown.

As we sit having coffee over-looking the three-and-a-half magnificent croquet courts in the grounds of Ripon Spa Hotel watching a visiting team playing, Sam is clearly at home – in more ways than one. She moved to the hotel from Kendal when her mother was made manager. She laughs that she has worked in virtually every part of the hotel, even turning down beds when she was 12.

Now she is managing director of the hotel she has called home for more than 20 years and it is clear that she is proud of the business.

The croquet played at Ripon is Golf Croquet and should not be confused

with Association Croquet.

Golf croquet is a faster paced version of the game and is sequential, with each player taking one shot in turn.

The first player through a hoop gets a point and then all the players move on to the next hoop. The first to seven wins and matches normally last an hour and half and are the best of three games.

"I like the deviousness of the game," says Sam. "And the speed, some of the best players can hit the ball at up to 60mph."

Despite being a faster, and some say less complicated, version of the game, Golf Croquet does come with a lot of etiquette.

When playing in tournaments, white must be the predominant colour, with any single item being at least 80 per cent white. There can be no swearing and if there is an umpire then their judgment is final.

There is also a system of yellow and red cards in which a player can be sent off, but Sam admits she has never seen this happen, although tempers do sometimes threaten to flare over a hotly contested title.

The Egyptians are still seen as the masters of Golf Croquet and it is their top players who can hit the ball at such blistering speeds as 60mph, although there is now a South African in the top five in the world.

"In 1997, when we first started Ripon Croquet Club, we went to compete in Egypt and couldn't believe the difference. I felt like getting on the first flight back out of Cairo.

"Keith said to me 'you can do this'. The following year we started the Yorkshire International Open here in Ripon.

"We started with 10 players and now people are fighting to get in from

all over the world," says Sam.

Despite this, Sam says croquet still struggles to shake off its gentle somewhat older image.

"There are some really good youngsters coming through like Jacob.

"I played some 21-year-olds the other day and beat them – at 46. That is the joy of croquet."

"But we do need to make it sexy to the younger generation and get them to realise it is a fantastic sport and relatively cheap."

As she cradles one of her many bespoke mallets which cost her around

200, Sam explains that you do not need to spend a fortune to enjoy

the sport.

"There is nothing wrong with a simple garden croquet set. You can spend up to 2,500 if you want to, but it isn't necessary," says Sam who plays three or four times a week. If she's competing, then it's more.

She admits once you start getting competitive, the cost can rack up with flights to international tournaments and hotel costs.

"I am lucky, I am sponsored by the hotel, but it can be expensive for other players."

As we leave the court, a keen player eagerly asks Sam whether she is going to play today.

"Probably later," she replies. It is clear that in the world of croquet she is a true celebrity.