Robert Fulford

Robert Ian 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 was educated at Colchester Royal Grammar School and Durham University followed by the University of Essex. 1990 at The Hurlingham Club, England 1992 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Newport, Rhode Island, USA 1994 at Carden Park, Cheshire, England 1997 at the Moorabinda Croquet Club, Bunbury, Western Australia 2002 in Wellington, New Zealand 2023 at The Hurlingham Club, England

Fulford has also won the President's Cup twelve times (1989, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2018), the Open Championship twelve times (1991, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2015 and 2025) and the Men's Championship four times (1990, 1998, 2006, 2011).

Career statistics

Major tournament performance timeline

The 1989 and 2001 World and Open Championships were combined events.

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

Major championship finals: 42 (27 titles, 15 runners-up)

Style Fulford's playing style includes the ability to play a range of shots. His tactic of peeling an opponent's ball through hoop 1 makes a triple peel as hard as possible for the opponent. His sextuple peels are also more frequent than those of any other player. Robert Fulford uses an Irish grip [rather like a golf grip] and employs "casting" [swinging mallet over the ball] about three times before each shot. He has strong wrists which makes the Irish grip work for him without it causing the R.S.I. that the grip is sometimes blamed for. In fact, Robert admits that he has quite a wrist-dominated technique which contradicts most coaching manuals that advise minimal wrist involvement.

World Championship results Fulford has played in the following AC World Championships: 1989: Round 4: (lost to John Prince +26tp, -17, -26tp) 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) 2005: runner-up (lost to Reg Bamford -17tp, -26sxp, -17sxp) 2008: S/F (lost to Chris Clarke +26tp, +26tp, -11tpo, -17, -26) 2009: Round 3: (lost to Ben Rothman -14, -15tp, -17) 2012: Round 3: (lost to Marcus Evans +26tp, -20tp, +26sxp, -3tp, -25qnp) 2013: Round 3: (lost to Andrew Johnston +17tp, +12tp, -26, -15, -15) 2023: won (beat Matthew Essick -17tp, -17tp, +4tp, +26tp, +8otp) 2025: Round 3: (lost to Ben Rothman -25tp, -25tp, +8, -17tp)