GOLF CROQUET: Masterful strokes by Nasr win final | Hawkes Bay Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Hawkes Bay

HAMISH BIDWELL

The largest crowd ever to watch golf croquet in New Zealand, they said, and every man, woman and child among the crowd of more than 300, glued to the action.

That didn't include artist Peter Williams, of course, who having taken a snapshot in his mind of yesterday's World Championship final between Egyptians Mohamed Nasr and Salan Hassan at the Te Mata club, spent the rest of the afternoon vividly capturing it in oil paint.

But for the rest of us, Nasr's 7-4, 7-6, 3-7, 7-5 victory was a work of art in itself.

Nasr's power and precision was something to behold, even for the lay person. But for golf croquet aficionados, it was almost a religious experience.

New Zealand's Geoff Young, who'd beaten Egypt's number one player, and the pre-tournament favourite, Khalid Younis, back on day one reckoned he could scarcely believe his eyes.

Here was Nasr, drilling balls through various hoops from distances of up to 40 metres, or employing remarkable jump shots, on his way to victory over Hassan, a three-time world champion.

"You can't imagine how difficult that is," Young said as Nasr produced another miraculous shot.

"You're hitting a ball through a hoop that's only millimetres wider than the ball itself. And to do it with that much power and from those distances is remarkable."

You could only agree as you marvelled at the precision of the professional from the Semouha club in Alexandria. It's easy to think basketballers hitting three-point shots is quite a feat, yet in that sport the hoop is twice the size of the ball.

But it wasn't just Nasr. Hassan was just as good. His was a game built on a slightly more delicate touch, as he cajoled the balls toward and then through the hoops, rather than blasting them in from improbable positions.

Having surrendered the first two sets, Hassan really started to get into his work, taking the third and then going out to a handy 3-1 lead in the fourth. Every time Nasr looked like he was on the comeback, there was Hassan, knocking his balls away from the hoop and daring the younger man to shoot from distance.

On another day he may not have been successful but, yesterday, he was.

All that was left was for Nasr to drop to his knees for a quick moment of prayer, before draping himself in the Egyptian flag and receiving the winner's tophy from World Croquet Federation president Dave Openshaw.

He struggled to hang on to it though. No sooner had it been won than Egypt's youngest player, 13-year old year old Saher Ezz, had decided he should be the custodian.

• Wildcards - page 12.