Robert Fulford (croquet player)
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- Alternate use: see Robert Fulford for the Canadian writer.
Robert Fulford (born 1969) is a leading English croquet player who has dominated the sport since the turn of the 1990s.
Life and Career
Born in Colchester, England, he started to play croquet at his local school at the age of 15. Fulford has a light attitude towards the game, often travelling from cheap hotel to the next because he only makes about £8000 a year from the sport. One tournament yielded him a lawnmower. He supplements his sporting career by working for a stone merchants in Thurrock in Essex.
Robert also coaches croquet, particularly in Australia and the Chattooga Club in North Carolina.
He has won the world championship 5 times:
- 1990 at Hurlingham Club, England
- 1992 in Newport, USA
- 1994 at Carden Park, Cheshire, England
- 1997 at Moorabinda Croquet Club, Bunbury, Western Australia
- 2002 in Wellington, New Zealand
Fulford has also won the President’s Cup in 1989, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002.
World Championship Results
- 1990: won (beat Mark Saurin +26, +24tp)
- 1991: S/F (lost to John Walters +14otp, +26tp)
- 1992: won (beat John Walters -5tp, +4tp, +12tp)
- 1994: won (beat Chris Clarke 12tpo, +12tp, +18tp, +13)
- 1995: runner-up (lost to Chris Clarke +18tp, -12tpo, +26tp, -26tp, +26)
- 1997: won (beat Stephen Mulliner +17, -3tpo, +9otp, +11otp)
- 2001: runner-up (lost to Reg Bamford -16tp, +17sxp, -3, +26sxp,+26qp)
- 2002: won (beat Toby Garrison +26tp, +26tp, -17tp, +15tp)