2022 National Outdoor Tug of War Championships Results

The 2022 National Outdoor Tug of War Championships were this year hosted in conjunction with Bedford Ladies TOWC at Kempston Hammer Sports Club in Kempston, Bedfordshire with the following clubs competing:

Men – Lincoln, Felton Eccles, Bedfordshire, Essex, York, Upper Eden, Bosley, Sandhurst, Oxney Vines Cross

Ladies – Bedford Ladies, Army Ladies, Bedfordshire, Upper Eden, Bosley, Essex, Melton Mowbray, Sandhurst

Mixed – Bedford, Lincoln, Bedfordshire, Oxney Vines Cross, Sandhurst, Bosley, Essex, Upper Eden

Whilst the number of mens clubs was down this year, it was pleasing to see a good number of ladies clubs taking part, and all teams treated us to a competitive day of tug of war. Despite the tropical weather conditions experienced by all on the Friday when the teams weighed in, the weather was totally the opposite on the day of the competition with rain showers throughout the day giving all teams some tricky conditions to contend with.

The day started with the ladies 500kg and the mens 640kg.

Ladies 500kg

The ladies 500kg was a group of 7 with the top 4 teams going through to the semi-finals. Bedford Ladies were the defending champions and performed the strongest in the group to finish top, and were joined in the semi-finals by Melton Mowbray, Upper Eden and Army Ladies who all finished ahead of Bosley, Sandurst and Bedfordshire. In the semi-finals, Bedford Ladies were drawn against Upper Eden Ladies and Melton Ladies were drawn against Army Ladies. Bedford Ladies and Melton Ladies both won their semi finals which left Army Ladies and Upper Eden competing for the bronze. In the bronze medal match, Army Ladies performed strongly to take the bronze medal by 2 ends to 0. On to the final, Bedford were hoping to keep up their unbeaten run in this weight class against Melton Ladies who were this years challengers. Melton Ladies are a strong team, but Bedford Ladies were that bit stronger in this weight class on the day and they took the gold medal by 2 ends to 0.

Men 640kg

In the mens 640kg, entries were a lot lower in this weight class than is normally the case with Lincoln, York, Felton Eccles and Bedfordshire taking part. The competition was pulled as a straight group with the top two teams going straight through to a final and the third and fourth place teams going through to pull for bronze. Lincoln have very much dominated the mens competitions this season as they prepare to represent Great Britain at the World Games in July and they topped the group without dropping an end. The other teams were left to battle it out to see who would join Lincoln in the final, with Felton and York going close between each other but with Felton progressing. York and Bedfordshire went through to the bronze medal match, which York won by 2 ends to 0. On to the final and Lincoln were hoping to win the 640kg for the second consecutive year against Felton Eccles. Despite every attempt by Felton Eccles to make life difficult for Lincoln, it was the big Lincoln team who took both ends to take the gold medal and the title.

Mens 560kg

The second set of weight classes to take place on the day was the mens 560kg and the ladies 540kg.

Both of these competitions were pulled in groups with semi-finals and finals and both weight classes were very competitive.

The mens 560kg was contested between Oxney Vines Cross, Upper Eden, York, Sandhurst, Felton Eccles and Bosley. Whilst there was still some wet weather, the ground was still greasy and had become a little “endy” in places, so there were quite a few 1-1 pulls in the group stages between the teams that were very close to each other. The only team to progress through the group without dropping any ends was Oxney Vines Cross. After some good hard battles among the other teams, Upper Eden progressed in second place and were followed by Sandhurst and York with Bosley and Felton missing out.

In the semi-finals, Oxney faced York and Upper Eden faced Sandhurst. This saw Oxney and Upper Eden both win their semi-finals by 2 ends to 0 leaving York and Sandhurst to battle it out for the bronze. York took a hard fought first end before Sandhurst went on to take the second end. Sandhurst won the toss for the choice of the third end and went on to take the bronze medal by 2 ends to 1. The final gave us another exciting final with Upper Eden catching Oxney by complete surprise with a very fast drop that saw them take the first end in short order. On the second end, Oxney had to do the same to get back into the match. The third and deciding end saw Oxney win the toss for the choice of ends and they had to put in another strong performance against a very tough Upper Eden team to take the end and the gold medal.

Ladies 540kg

The ladies 540kg competition saw a lot of competitive pulling between the teams, with the defending champions being Bedford Ladies. They were up against Essex, Melton, Army, and Upper Eden. Melton, Bedford, Army and Upper Eden all progressed to the medal pulls with Army and Upper Eden facing each other for the bronze. Army ladies performed strongly to win their second bronze medal of the day with a good 2 ends to 0 win. Onto the final, and we were treated to a great three end battle. Bedford Ladies took the first end and Melton went on to take the second end. Bedford won the toss for the choice of the third end, but after some great work by Melton, it was them who took the third end and their first ever national gold medal, which generated a huge cheer and excitement from their supporters – massive congratulations to them – it has been great to see lots of competitive ladies tug of war this year.

Men 720kg

The next round of weights was the mens 720kg competition and the ladies 520kg competition.

In the mens 720kg, Lincoln, Felton Eccles, Upper Eden and York took part. Lincoln were again the dominant team in this weight class and progressed through the group without losing an end. There was some close pulling among the other teams with Felton and York both going 1-1, and the match between Upper Eden and Felton also went 1-1, but York defeated Upper Eden by 2 ends to 0 which meant that York progressed to their first ever national final. In the bronze medal match, there was a good battle between Felton and Upper Eden which Felton took by 2 ends to 0 to secure their second medal of the day. In the final, Lincoln had too much against York and ran out as 2 ends to 0 winners.

Ladies 520kg

The ladies 520kg was pulled as a group of 7, with Melton, Army, Bosley, Upper Eden, Bedford, Sandhurst and Bedfordshire taking part. There was lots of close pulling in this competition with a lot of matches going 1-1 and no-one progressed through the group without dropping ends. The top four teams ended up being Bedford, Army, Upper Eden and Bosley. In the semi finals Bedford were drawn against Bosley and Army were drawn against Upper Eden. Bedford and Army Ladies won their respective semi-finals by 2 ends to 0 meaning that Bosley and Upper Eden faced each other for bronze.

In the bronze medal match, Upper Eden were in their third bronze medal match of the day, having missed out on medals on both occasions and Bosley were in the match competing on the ladies circuit for the very first time. On this occasion, Upper Eden were the stronger team and they ran out as 2 ends to 0 winners and picked up their first ladies medal of the day on the third time of asking. The final gave us another exciting three end pull, this time between Army Ladies and Bedford Ladies. The Army Ladies have been competitive on the ladies circuit for a number of seasons, and this year, they got closer than they have been for a very long time in taking a gold medal and went on to take the first end. On the second end, Army Ladies got a good drop and took Bedford Ladies a good way back before they slowed down and slipped. Bedford Ladies worked themselves back into the pull and took the second end to level the match. Bedford won the toss for the choice of the third end and went on the attack from the drop, pushing hard to take the third end and a hard fought gold medal. Well done both teams!

Men 600kg

The mens 600kg was a group of 9 teams which gave us some excellent competition with Lincoln, Felton Eccles, Bedfordshire, Essex, York, Upper Eden, Bosley, Sandhurst, Oxney Vines Cross all weighed in. Once again, there were lots of 1-1 pulls in this weight, and it took a few rounds to see who were the most likely teams to progress. Lincoln had much closer competition in this weight class than the other heavier weight classes but still progressed top of the group without losing an end. Felton Eccles emerged as the group runners up, followed by Upper Eden and Oxney. In the semi-finals, Lincoln faced Oxney and Upper Eden faced Felton Eccles. Lincoln and Felton both won their respective semi-finals by 2 ends to 0, leaving the two 560kg finalists to fight it out for the bronze medal. This was another good match between these two teams which Oxney went on to win by 2 ends to 0. In the final, Felton Eccles ran Lincoln close and made Lincoln work extremely hard but didn’t have quite enough to turn the tie into their favour and Lincoln won their third gold medal of the day.

Men 680kg

The mens 680kg was contested between 5 clubs – Felton, York, Lincoln, Bosley and Sandhurst, and after the group stage it was Felton and Lincoln who progressed to the final as the top two clubs with York and Sandhurst progressing through to the bronze medal match. In the bronze medal match, York won their third medal of the day with a good 2 ends to 0 win over Sandhurst. In the final, Lincoln went on to secure their 4^th mens title of the day with a good 2 ends to 0 win over Felton.

Ladies 560kg

The ladies 560kg was the final ladies weight of the day with Bedfordshire, Army, Essex, Melton and Bedford Ladies taking part with Upper Eden withdrawing from the competition. Essex Ladies were competing in their first season on the ladies circuit and competed well against the other teams gaining valuable experience in this weight class and the ladies 540kg competition earlier. Whilst they didn’t make the semi-finals on this occasion, they will have learned a lot for the future and it was great to see them taking part. In the bronze medal match, Bedfordshire faced Army Ladies, with the Army Ladies taking their third medal of the day with a good 2 ends to 0 win with Bedfordshire finishing in 4^th Place. In the final, Bedford Ladies met Melton Ladies for the third final of the day. The ladies 560kg is probably one of Melton’s strongest weights, and they put in a solid performance to secure a 2 ends to 0 win and their second gold medal of the day to cap off a brilliant day for them.

Mixed 580kg

The final weight of the day was the mixed 580kg competition. This was originally due to be contested as a straight group, but after consulting with the teams, was split into two groups given time constraints. Lincoln, Oxney, Sandhurst and Bedfordshire were drawn into group 1, with Upper Eden, Bedford, Bosley and Essex drawn into group 2. After a lot of competitive battles, Lincoln and Oxney progressed from group 1, with Bedford and Upper Eden progressing from group 2. In the semi-finals, Lincoln were drawn against Upper Eden, and Bedford were drawn against Oxney. Both Lincoln and Bedford progressed to the final with 2 ends to 0 wins leaving Oxney and Upper Eden to battle it out for bronze. Upper Eden capped off a solid day for them by winning the bronze by 2 ends to 0. We were treated to yet another exciting final which went all the way to three ends between Bedford and Lincoln. Bedford took the first end, with a tough battle taking place on the second end which Lincoln eventually won. The deciding end eventually went to Lincoln who retained their 2021 title.

A huge congratulations to all of the teams who took part this year who gave us a very exciting championships. Whilst the number of mens clubs taking part was lower this year, it was great to see a good number of ladies clubs competing and giving us one of the most competitive ladies competitions for a number of years. It was great to see a lot of new pullers taking part in the national championships for the first time overall, and hopefully we will see more in the years to come!

Many thanks to Bedford Ladies, Kempston Hammer Sports Club and all of the helpers behind the scenes who made this event possible this year. It isn't easy running these events with limited resources and your help and support is hugely appreciated!

The 2022 National Outdoor Tug of War Championships was live streamed at the weekend. The recordings of all of the pulling that took place on the day are still available to view for those who subscribed.

If you were pulling and want to watch back to see how your teams did, or if you were unable to tune in live, the videos are still available to view but are still behind the paywall. The streaming is in two parts as per the links below. The timings for each weight class are provided to help you find any particular weight class which you wish to view.

Please note that there are “Facebook Pay” and PayPal options to make a payment. There is also a Google and an Apple option, but please note that this requires you to have a Google or Apple account, so if you don’t have these, use the Facebook Pay or PayPal options.

Part 1 - https://www.facebook.com/events/702835414336788/

· Ladies 500kg – start – 2 hours and 12 minutes

· Men 640kg – 38 minutes – 2 hours and 8 minutes

· Men 560kg – 2 hours and 19 minutes – 4 hours and 6 minutes

· Ladies 540kg – 2 hours and 25 minutes – 3 hours and 56 minutes

· Ladies 520kg group – 4 hours and 11 minutes – end

· Men 720kg – 4 hours and 18 minutes – 5 hours and 12 minutes

· First round of men 600kg – 5 hours and 20 minutes – end

Part 2 - https://www.facebook.com/events/418324519981241/

· Ladies 520kg semi-finals and medal matches – start – 43 minutes

· Men 600kg – start – 2 hours and 17 minutes

· Ladies 560kg – 56 minutes – 2 hours and 8 minutes

· Men 680kg – 2 hours and 21 minutes – 3 hours and 10 minutes

· Mixed 580kg – 3 hours and 16 minutes – 4 hours and 12 minutes

· Medal presentations – 4 hours and 14 minutes – end

Results Summary

Men 640 – Gold - Lincoln – Silver - Felton Eccles – Bronze - York – 4^th – Bedfordshire

Ladies 500 – Gold - Bedford Ladies – Silver - Melton Mowbray Ladies – Bronze – Army Ladies – 4^th – Upper Eden

Men 560 - Gold - Oxney Vines Cross – Silver - Upper Eden – Bronze - Sandhurst - 4^th – York

Ladies 540 - Gold - Melton Mowbray Ladies – Silver - Bedford Ladies – Bronze - Army Ladies – 4^th – Upper Eden

Men 720 – Gold - Lincoln – Silver - York – Bronze - Felton Eccles – 4^th – Upper Eden

Ladies 520 – Gold - Bedford Ladies – Silver - Army Ladies – Bronze - Upper Eden – 4^th – Bosley

Men 600 – Gold - Lincoln – Silver - Felton Eccles – Bronze - Oxney Vines Cross – 4^th – Upper Eden

Ladies 560 – Gold - Melton Mowbray Ladies – Silver - Bedford Ladies – Bronze – Army Ladies – 4^th - Bedfordshire

Men 680 – Gold - Lincoln – Silver - Felton Eccles – Bronze – York – 4^th - Sandhurst

Mixed 580 – Gold - Lincoln – Silver - Bedford – Bronze - Upper Eden – 4^th – Oxney Vines Cross