John William Solomon
Born22 November 1931
Wandsworth, south London
Died20 October 2014(2014-10-20) (aged 82)
Worthing, West Sussex

John Solomon (22 November 1931 – 20 October 2014[1]) was a croquet player from England.

Solomon dominated English croquet in the 1950s and 1960s winning the President's Cup nine times (1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1968 and 1971), the Open Championship ten times (1953, 1956, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968) and the Men's Championship ten times (1951, 1953, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1971 and 1972).[2][3][4]

Solomon also won the New Zealand Open Championship in 1951 and 1963.[4]

Solomon represented England and latterly Great Britain in five MacRobertson Shield tournaments, winning on four occasions.[2][3]

As an administrator Solomon served on the Council of the Croquet Association between 1952 and 2004, serving as Chairman (1962 to 1964), Vice President (1976 to 1982) and President (1982 to 2004).[2][4]

In 2006 Solomon was inducted into the World Croquet Federation Hall of Fame.[5]

Career statistics [6]

Major tournament performance timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

The President's Cup is played as a 8/10 player round-robin and the number indicates the final position achieved.

Tournament195119521953195419551956195719581959196019611962196319641965
Open Championship 3R 1R W SF SF W A QF W F W 3R W W W
Men's Championship W 1R W SF A SF A W W W QF W F W W
President's Cup 3 2 2 4 W 2 W W W 2= 2 W W W 4
Win-Loss 7–1 0–2 9–0 4–2 3–1 7–1 0–0 5–1 6–0 8–1 5–1 6–1 9–1 8–0 9–0
Tournament19661967196819691970197119721973197419751976197719781996SRW–LWin %
Open Championship W W W F 3R 3R SF SF 3R SF A A 1R A 10 / 25 78–15 83.9
Men's Championship F 2R SF A A W W A A A A A 1R 1R 10 / 20 56–10 84.8
President's Cup 4 3= W A 3 W 2 3 2 6 A A A A 9 / 24
Win-Loss 9–1 6–1 7–1 4–1 1–1 6–1 8–1 3–1 1–1 3–1 0–0 0–0 0–2 0–1 29 / 69 134–25 84.3

Major Championship Finals: 26 (22 titles, 4 runners-up)

Outcome Year Championship Opponent Score
Winner1951NZ ChampionshipArthur Ross+22, +23
Winner1951Men's ChampionshipGeoffrey Reckitt+26, +13
Winner1953Men's ChampionshipWilliam Longman+23, +26
Winner1953Open ChampionshipHumphrey Hicks+26tp, +26tp
Winner1956Open ChampionshipHumphrey Hicks+26tp, +24
Winner1958Men's ChampionshipPat Cotter+3, -1, +5
Winner1959Men's ChampionshipPat Cotter+26, +16
Winner1959Open ChampionshipHumphrey Hicks+7, +12
Winner1960Men's ChampionshipDacre Stoker+18, +21
Runner-up1960Open ChampionshipHope Rotherham+26, -15, -8
Winner1961Open ChampionshipJoan Warwick+12, -3, +12
Winner1962Men's ChampionshipDavid Prichard+6, +20
Winner1963NZ ChampionshipWilliam Ormerod+21, +26
Runner-up1963Men's ChampionshipPat Cotter-5, +24, -24
Winner1963Open ChampionshipPat Cotter+26, -5, +25
Winner1964Men's ChampionshipHumphrey Hicks-16, +10, +25
Winner1964Open ChampionshipDudley Hamilton-Miller+20, +6
Winner1965Men's ChampionshipHumphrey Hicks-10, +24, +16
Winner1965Open ChampionshipHumphrey Hicks+10, +1, +26tp
Runner-up1966Men's ChampionshipHumphrey Hicks+19, -12, -21
Winner1966Open ChampionshipHope Rotherham+25, +16
Winner1967Open ChampionshipHumphrey Hicks+25tp, +26tp
Winner1968Open ChampionshipNigel Aspinall-9, +5, +25
Runner-up1969Open ChampionshipNigel Aspinall-19, +13, -4
Winner1971Men's ChampionshipBill Gladstone+12, +16
Winner1972Men's ChampionshipNigel Aspinall+1, +25

Works

  • Croquet (BT Batsford, 1966)

References

  1. ↑ "John Solomon – obituary". Telegraph. 31 October 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 The Croquet Association Centenary Year Book 1897–1997. The Croquet Association. 1997. ISBN 0-902758-05-5.
  3. 1 2 Prichard, DMC (1981). The History Of Croquet. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-30759-9.
  4. 1 2 3 Townsend's croquet almanack. Townsend Croquet Ltd. 1988. ISBN 1-871714-00-1.
  5. ↑ "WCF Hall Of Fame". World Croquet Federation. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  6. ↑ "Croquet Records". Retrieved 29 January 2017.
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