Medal Success for England Tug of War at 2023 British and Irish Championships
2023 saw the Scottish Tug of War Association host this years British and Irish Outdoor Tug of War Championships, with Elgin in the north east of Scotland playing host to the championships with teams from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland taking part over two days of competition, with the first day of competition being the international competition, and the second day of competition being the club competition.
The day started with an opening parade of the teams taking part before the teams got down to business and the pulling commenced with the mens 600kg and ladies 520kg competitions.
Men 600kg competition
The 600kg competition saw England competing with an A, B and C team. England A were represented by Lincoln, England B were represented by Felton Eccles, and England C were represented by the under 23 team. They were up against Scotland A and B, Ireland A and Northern Ireland A and B. After some close pulling in the group stage, it was England A, Scotland A, Northern Ireland B and England B that progressed to the semi-finals. The England C under 23 team gained a lot of experience in this competition and took some great ends off Scotland B, Ireland A and Northern Ireland B and were competitive throughout.
Photo: England C Under 23s
In the semi finals, England A met Northern Ireland B, and England B met Scotland A. England A defeated Northern Ireland B by 2 ends to 0 in their semi-final and Scotland A defeated England B by 2 ends to 0 in the second semi final. In the bronze medal match after 2 minutes of pulling, Northern Ireland B started to take rope off England B getting very close to the line before England B managed to take the rope all the way back to take the first end. On the second end Northern Ireland B took some early rope, but England B stood firm in the face of some big lifts and managed to bring the rope over the line to secure the second end and the bronze medal.
Photo: England B Represented by Felton Eccles
Video: Men 600kg bronze medal pull
In the final, England A met the defending champions Scotland A with the national champions of both respective countries taking each other on as their countries representatives. Both teams dropped in on the first end looking to apply angles and steady pressure. After a couple of minutes, both teams looked to gain advantage with the teams starting to exchange some lifts before England started to gain an advantage to take a close first end. On the second end, Scotland attacked from the drop to try and gain an advantage and managed to get England a good half way down the track before England got back into the pull, and after exchanging several more lifts against each other, England were able to take the rope over the line for the gold medal.
Photo: England A represented by Lincoln
Video: Men 600kg Final
Ladies 520kg competition
The ladies 520kg competition saw England competing with an A, B and C team. England A were represented by Bedford, England B were represented by Melton Mowbray, and England C were represented by the under 23 team. They were up against Scotland A and B and Wales A.
Photo: England C Under 23s
In the group stages, England B went through as group winners without dropping an end, followed by England A, Scotland A and Scotland B. England C gave a good account of themselves in the group stage, overcoming Wales A and finishing 5th overall. In the semi finals, England A faced Scotland A, and England B facing Scotland B with both of the England teams winning their respective semi-finals by 2 ends to 0 to give us an all England final.
Photo: England A represented by Bedford Ladies
The bronze medal match was first up and this was won by Scotland A. In the final, England A, represented by national champions Bedford Ladies, were up against England B represented by Melton Mowbray Ladies who finished as runners up at the national championships. This was another close final with England A attacking from the drop on the first end before England B settled into the pull. With rain setting in, both teams started to wear each other down before England B gathered momentum to take the first end. England A then made a substitution for the second end but England B got a good drop in and took an early advantage taking the rope over the line for a well deserved gold medal.
Photo: England B represented by Melton Mowbray
Video: Ladies 520kg Final
Men 680kg competition
The 680kg competition saw England competing with an A and B team. England A were represented by Bedfordshire and England B were represented by Lincoln. They were up against Scotland A and B, Ireland A and Northern Ireland. After some close pulling in the group stage, it was England A, Scotland A, Ireland A and England B that progressed to the semi-finals, England B progressing in first place and England A progressing in 4th place.
Photo: England B represented by Bedfordshire
In the semi finals, England A were up against England B, and Scotland A faced Ireland A. England B defeated England A by 2 ends to 0 to make the final, and in the other semi-final, Scotland A came away with a 2 ends to 1 win over Ireland A. In the bronze medal match, England A put in a strong performance to take a 2 ends to 0 win and the bronze medal. In the final, it was another England vs Scotland match in the mens competition, with England B coming away with the 2 ends to 0 win to claim the gold medal.
Photo: England B represented by Lincoln
Video: Men 680kg bronze medal pull
Video: Men 680kg final
Ladies 560kg Competition
The ladies 560kg competition saw England competing with an A and B team. England A were represented by Bedfordshire and England B were represented by Army Ladies. As with the ladies 520kg competition, they were up against teams from Scotland and Wales. After good pulling in the group stage, it was England A, England B, Scotland A and Wales A that progressed to the semi-finals, England B progressing in first place and England A progressing in second place.
Photo: England A represented by Bedfordshire
In the semi-finals, England B defeated Wales A, and England B defeated Scotland A. In the bronze medal match, Scotland A defeated Wales A by 2 ends to 0. In the final, England B put in another strong performance to take a great 2 ends to 0 win to take the gold medal against England A, with Army Ladies winning the gold medal which they have been chasing for so long.
Photo: England B represented by Army Ladies
Video: Ladies 560kg Final
Mixed 580kg Competition
The final weight class of the competition was the mixed 580kg, with England fielding an A and B team, along with an Under 23 C team. England A were represented by Lincoln, and England B were represented by Bedford Ladies. The England teams were up against A, B and C teams from Scotland who also had an under 23 C team.
Photo: England B represented by Bedford Ladies
In the group stages, England A finished top of the group, and they were followed by Scotland A, England B, and after some great performances, England C who all joined England A in the semi finals. In the semi finals, England A defeated England C, and Scotland A overcame England B.
In the bronze medal match, England B and England C faced each other and after some real hard work, England C took a magnificent bronze medal, which is a fantastic achievement for an under 23 team in a senior competition. Congratulations to those pullers involved.
Photo: England C under 23 team
Video - Mixed 580kg bronze medal pull
In the final, it was another England vs Scotland match. England A pulled with a well controlled rope throughout the final to take a well deserved gold medal by 2 ends to 0.
Photo: England A represented by Lincoln
Video: Mixed 580kg Final
Congratulations to all of the England teams who performed exceptionally well over the course of the day to bring home 5 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 3 bronze medals.
England officials at the event were Matt Cowlard, Pete Dyer, John Gracie and Wendy Dyer.
Photos courtesy of Jamie Dewsberry - you can find more photos taken by Jamie by 
clicking here
Open competition
The Sunday saw the open club competition take place, with Lincoln, Felton Eccles, Bedfordshire (men and ladies), Bedford Ladies, Melton Mowbray Ladies, Army Ladies, Under 23 men and Under 23 ladies taking part throughout the day. The final results were as follows:
|
| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Men 560kg | Cornhill (Scotland) | Garvagh (Northern Ireland) | Felton Eccles |
| Men 600kg | Lincoln | Cornhill (Scotland) | Bancran (Northern Ireland) |
| Men 640kg | Lincoln | Cornhill (Scotland) | Bedfordshire |
| Men 700kg | Cornhill (Scotland) | Ballinastoe (Ireland) | Lincoln |
| Ladies 500kg | Bedford Ladies | Melton Mowbray Ladies | Cornhill (Scotland) |
| Ladies 520kg | Bedford Ladies | Army Ladies | Cornhill (Scotland) |
| Ladies 560kg | Army Ladies | Bedford Ladies | Cornhill (Scotland) |
| Mixed 560kg | Lincoln | Bedford Ladies | Ayrshire (Scotland) |
Well done to all of the clubs who took part in this competition. This is the final senior competition before the World Championships in Sursee, Switzerland, and we wish all the clubs taking part there and representing England the very best of luck!
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