South West Open Championships 2024 Results
This weekend, the South West Area Open Competition took place in Wrington, Somerset with the following clubs taking part:
Men: Felton Eccles (A and B), Anstey, Lincoln (A and B), Upper Eden, Oxney Vines Cross, Bosley, Under 23s development team
Ladies/Junior: St Enoder, Bedfordshire, Bedford Ladies (A and B), Melton Mowbray, Army Ladies, Polden Hills, Felton Eccles, Whimple Ladies, Under 23’s development team, Junior Ladies development team
Mixed: Lincoln, Polden Hills, Anstey (A and B), East Anglia, Under 23s (A and B)
It was a warm, dry day with lots of competitive pulling.
The first weights of the day were the mens 680 and ladies/junior 560kg.
The mens 680kg was pulled as a straight group of 6 with Lincoln, Felton A and B, Under 23s, Anstey and Oxney Vines Cross taking part. There was some close ends in this weight and it was Lincoln who eventually emerged as the winners, with Felton Eccles A finishing as the runners up.
Photo: Lincoln
The ladies/junior 560kg was split into two groups with Bedford, Melton, Army and Bedfordshire in group 1, and Polden Hills, Felton Eccles, St Enoder and Whimple Ladies in group 2. Bedford Ladies and Army progressed from group 1, with Felton Eccles and St Enoder progressing from group 2. In the semi-finals, Bedford Ladies overcame St Enoder, and there was a good match between Army and Felton Eccles, with Army coming close to taking the first end, before being turned around and then Felton winning the second end. In the final, Bedford Ladies won a hard fought match by 2 ends to 0.
Photo: Felton Eccles Youth
The mens 600kg was a group of 7 with Oxney, Lincoln A and B, Felton Eccles, Anstey, Bosley and Upper Eden taking part. This ended up being a really close competition, with a large number of 1-1 pulls, and by the end of the competition, it was a case of waiting for the officials to announce the winners. The eventual winners were Anstey, with Lincoln finishing as the runners up who just edged out Oxney Vines Cross who finished third.
Photo: Felton Eccles
The ladies / junior 520kg was split into two groups and again, there was a lot of competitive pulling. The eventual finalists were Army Ladies and Bedford Ladies, with Bedford winning the final by 2 ends to 0. There was otherwise some good competitive pulling in the remainder of the competition, with the junior ladies getting in some good competition practice as part of the selection process for the England B junior ladies team for the forthcoming British and Irish Championships on 10/11 August in Melton Mowbray.
Photo: Army Ladies
The mens 640kg competition was pulled as a large group of 8 teams, and again, there was a lot of close competition between Anstey, Lincoln (A and B), Under 23s, Oxney Vines Cross, Felton Eccles, Upper Eden and Bosley. The eventual winners were Lincoln, with Oxney Vines Cross finishing as worthy runners up.
Photo: Under 23s
The ladies/junior 540kg again saw lots of good competition between the teams. Again, it was Bedford Ladies who emerged in first place with Felton Eccles finishing as the runners up.
The mens catchweight had two teams entered, with Lincoln finishing as the winners ahead of Anstey.
Photo: Bedfordshire Ladies
The final weight of the day was the mixed 580kg competition with 7 teams competing in a straight group. Lincoln progressed through the group as overall winners without dropping an end. It was then a case of seeing who the runners up would be out of the two under 23 teams, East Anglia, the two Anstey teams and Polden Hills. As the group progressed, it was the under 23 B team who were clocking up the points, going into a deciding match in the final round against Anstey A, where they took a good 2 ends to 0 win to finish as worthy runners up.
Photo: Bedford Ladies
Well done to all of the teams and officials for making it a good day of competition.
Photo: Melton Mowbray Ladies
