CROQUET NEWS: Young National Sensation: Robert is Tops with a Mallet

7 February 2009
Lismore Croquet Club, Ballarat, Victoria, AU
by Mary Alexander in Warrnambool Standard, Warrnambool, Victoria, AU

Lismore's Robert Fisher is the youngest player ever to represent Australia in croquet.

At just 15 years of age, Lismore croquet sensation Robert Fisher is the youngest player ever to represent Australia in the sport.

"It's a very tactical game. It's a lot like chess, except it's on grass," Robert said yesterday.

Robert is one of eight Australians selected to play at the world championships in [National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach,] Florida in [9th-17th] May where he hopes to get pitted against world number one player Chris Clarke.

His ultimate aim in the sport, which he has been playing for just four years, is to take the number one spot.

Robert was recently crowned the Victorian croquet champion and finished runner-up in the Australian open, competing against senior players from every state.

He travelled to New Zealand last month to compete in that country's open where he placed third.

Robert will virtually have to keep his bags packed for the rest of the year, gaining selection in the state team for the Australian Eire Cup in Sydney in March, followed by the Florida championships.

He is also hoping to qualify for the golf croquet under 21 world championships in Egypt in July, which is a simpler form of the sport.

Croquet appears to run in the Fisher family's blood with Robert's older brother, 17-year-old Greg and his younger brother Malcolm, 14, also successful at the sport. Malcolm also played in New Zealand where he won the Heenan Plate.

The youngest member of the family, seven-year-old Wesley, is still hoping to take up the sport.

The boys live on a farm near Lismore and complete their school studies by distance education. Robert said this provided flexibility for him to schedule practice and tournaments around his year 10 studies.

Robert said the town's green was "equal" to the best in the state thanks to greenkeeper Eric O'Donnell who originally taught him the sport and has now become a mentor.

The brothers will hold a demonstration in Camperdown on February 26 for the town's newly reformed croquet club.