Everything about The World Conker Championships totally explained
The
World Conker Championships are held annually on the second Sunday in October in the village of
Ashton near
Oundle in
Northamptonshire,
England. Since
1965,
conker players from around the world have gathered on the village green to compete for the world title.
History
The championships began in 1965 after a group of people in Ashton held a conker contest because the weather was too bad to go fishing
(External Link
). At first the event was modest in size but in the last twelve years, rising numbers of participants and more interest from abroad have brought it into the headlines. Money made from the competition goes to charity; since 1965 over £250,000 has been raised
(External Link).
The competition
The competition is divided into men's and women's events with some of these playing as part of a team; as the event raises funds for charities helping the visually impaired, blind and partly sighted people can be seen playing at the event. In
2004, 5,000 spectators watched more than 500 participants from 13 countries, including
Australia,
New Zealand,
Austria, the
Ukraine,
Scotland,
France and
Poland. France, the winning team in
2003, looked in for a good chance but were finally beaten by Britain.
Prior to the game, 2,283 conkers of the required 1.25-inch width were collected, drilled and strung for the game by Ashton Conker Club officials. Worries were voiced over the
leaf-miner moth,
Cameraria ohridella, which has appeared in the region and could have a detrimental effect on conker yields.
The competition caters for 256 Men and 64 Ladies. The Men's section is split into 4 different colour group each with 64 players. A "gand slam" or knockout procedure is in place reducing the 64 in each group to 32 then 16 then 8 etc, until only one person remains in each group. This is the semi finals, when red winner may play blue and green may play orange. This results in 2 players who battle out in the final for the title of World Conker Champion.
The rules
Players’ Rules of Engagement for the Noble Game of Conkers at the Ashton Conker Club World Conker Championships: (External Link)
- All Conkers and Laces are supplied by Ashton Conker Club. Laces must not be knotted further or tampered with.
- The game will commence with a toss of a coin, the winner of the toss may elect to strike or receive.
- A distance of no less than 8" or 20cm of lace must be between knuckle and nut.
- Each player then takes three alternate strikes at the opponent’s conker.
- Each attempted strike must be clearly aimed at the nut, no deliberate miss hits.
- The game will be decided once one of the conkers is smashed.
- A small piece of nut or skin remaining shall be judged out, it must be enough to mount an attack.
- If both nuts smash at the same time then the match shall be replayed.
- Any nut being knocked from the lace but not smashing may be re threaded and the game continued.
- A player causing a knotting of the laces (a snag) will be noted, three snags will lead to disqualification.
- If a game lasts for more than five minutes then play will halt and the "5 minute rule" will come into effect. Each player will be allowed up to nine further strikes at their opponents nut, again alternating three strikes each. If neither conker has been smashed at the end of the nine strikes then the player who strikes the nut the most times during this period will be judged the winner.
Past Champions
All champions from official website: (External Link)
Men's
All British except where stated.
1965 R.W. Marsh
1966 S.J. Walden
1967 L. Collins
1968 T. Winham
1969 P. Midlane
1970 J. M. Hillyard
1971 T. Dicks
1972 Ron Marsh
1973 P. Midlane
1974 J. Marsh
1975 J. Marsh
1976 R. Ramirez - Mexico
1977 C. Childs
1978 L. Treliving
1979 Charlie Bray
1980 K. Height
1981 W. Cox
1982 Jim Blackman
1983 S. Rowan
1984 R. Langer
1985 P. Midlane
1986 Charlie Bray
1987 John Hawes
1988 W. Cox
1989 P. Short
1990 H. Watson
1991 John Bull
1992 P. Canning
1993 M. Tindall
1994 James Marsh
1995 Brian Jackson
1996 John Bull
1997 Paul Vjestica
1998 Helmut Kern - Germany
1999 Jody Tracey
2000 Mark Tracey
2001 Neil Fraser
2002 Richard Swailes
2003 Brian Stewart
2004 Darren Foster
2005 Alex Callan
2006 Chris Jones
2007 Andy Hurell
Women's
All British except where stated
1988 Sheila Doubleday
1989 Christina Bateman
1990 Mary Bedford
1991 Pauline Baker
1992 J. Courtney
1993 Sheila Doubleday
1994 Tina Stone
1995 Judi Rabbit
1996 Karen Morgan
1997 Louise Bunker
1998 Lesley Bullock
1999 Margaret Twiddy
2000 Selma Becker - Austria
2001 Celine Parachou - France
2002 Liz Gibson
2003 Debbie Oats
2004 Alison Everett
2005 Jayne Coddington
2006 Sandy Gardner
2007 Tina Stone
Team
Men's/Mixed Team
1992 Chequered Skipper 'B' Team
1993 Chequered Skipper 'B' Team
1994 The Crocodile
1995 The Brigstock International Quartet
1996 Sebright Arms
1997 Nelson Nutcrackers
1998 Nauort 2 (Germany)
1999 Absolutely Hammered
2000 Barton Seagrave Bashers
2001 Royal Oak Resistance
2002 Elton Wasps
2003 No Strings Attached
2004 Daniel Lambert Dining Club
2005 Peterborough Nutters
Women Only Team
1995 The Wilpave Swingers
1996 Nutcracker Suite
1997 The Minge Petals
1998 Sebright Arms
1999 Wilpane Sweeties
2000 The Minge Petals
2001 France Fillies (France)
2002 Castle Green Conkerers
2003 Magnificent 7 Minus 3
2004 Les Filles Francais (France)
2005 Magnificent 7 Minus 3Further Information
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