Central Coast croquet players representing the NSW Police have taken two gold medals and a silver at the Australasian Police and Emergency Service Games held recently in Rotorua, New Zealand.
The week-long event saw 3000 participants compete in many sporting fields.
Retired police officers Phil Monds and Darren Warner from EDSACC Croquet Club played in the doubles competition held at Rotorua Croquet Club.
After losing their first match to another NSW team they knuckled down and won their next matches against Rotorua, leading to a highly anticipated match against the highly fancied Victorian team for the gold medal.
Warner and Monds came out knocking the Victorians’ balls all over the lawn and scoring hoops from all angles to win the match 7-3 and take out the gold.
A broken foot wasn’t going to stop local police sergeant Craig Unger from competing in the singles competition.
Despite breaking his foot just weeks earlier, Unger bravely played in a moon boot to take out second place.
After taking down most of the field with amazing jump shots he could not match the mighty New Zealand champion Jim Brough in the final but brought home the silver.
The men are now looking forward to Australasian Police and Emergency Service Games in Tasmania in 2025.
Source:
Media release, Mar 13
Darren Warner