Quake resident's chance to play in worlds | Rotorua Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Rotorua

First came the February earthquake, followed by the massive clean-up effort that is still ongoing. Then winter arrived, blanketing the South Island in knee-deep snow.

Christchurch sports science lecturer Jenny Clarke was happier than most heading north last weekend, finally able to pull her croquet mallet out of its case just weeks out from the women's world championships.

Clarke, 39, isn't panicking about her lack of play, although the bronze medallist from the 2007 and 2009 world champs admits the opportunity to swing a mallet was welcome relief from the turmoil back home.

"Last weekend back home was our first tournament of the season, so a weekend like this is handy to kick the season off and give it some momentum," she said.

The full New Zealand team - Clarke, eight other automatic selections and six wildcard entries, including Mount Maunganui's Sue Roberts - spent the weekend in Tauranga at their only training camp before the world women's golf croquet championships from November 19-26.

The tournament will be based at Mount Maunganui, with Tauranga Domain and Katikati lawns used as satellite venues. Fifty-six players from New Zealand, Australia, England, United States, Egypt, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Canada, and South Africa are playing, with four of those coming from a qualifying tournament in Rotorua on November 15-16.

Clarke was third in Melbourne, getting some serious momentum in the knockout stages before losing to Egyptian world champ Iman El Faransawi 3-7, 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 7-5 in the semifinal, with El Faransawi beaten by Aussie hotshot Alix Verge in the final. Both finalists are expected in Mount Maunganui next month.

Clarke spent her weekend getting to grips with the nuances of the Mount and Tauranga lawns and working on tactics spelled out by the team's newly appointed coach, Phillip Drew.

Clarke is primarily an association croquet player, which involves far more positioning of balls, with games generally longer.

"Golf croquet puts a huge emphasis on hitting the ball straight - some days you rock up and hit it as straight as an arrow, other days not so good," she said. "At the last worlds I didn't think the Aussie girl [Verge] was the best player and her tactics weren't that strong, but she hit the ball incredibly straight. Association croquet's a bit like snooker in that you position balls to your advantage."

Cairo (2005), Dublin (2007) and Melbourne (2009) have hosted the women's world champs. Now Tauranga.

Drew, an accountant who has branched into sports management, was runner-up at the golf croquet nationals in Katikati and Tauranga in February, with Mount's new six-lawn complex a new addition in the region.

"It was good for the whole team to get familiar with the lawns. The dimensions won't change but every lawn is different, with humps and hollows."

Drew is younger than all but two of his national team - students Laura Whittaker and Ashley Cooke - but is well-credentialled, having coached world champs semifinalist Hamish McIntosh.

On Saturday he put the team through peer analysis, identifying strengths and weaknesses, while Sunday at Mount Maunganui concentrated on tactics around positioning the ball, hoop running, shooting and jumps shots.

"Tactically I'm wanting the players to understand where they are now and what weaknesses they need to focus on over the next seven weeks."

Funding is tight, with small subsidies to get the automatic selections to Tauranga. They won't be back together again until the week of the world champs.

Clarke is the Kiwis' best chance of a medal but Drew says upsets can happen in the knockout stages. "Selections are based on ability, so the further you are down the list the less likely there is of an upset, but everyone starts with the same chance."