2007 European Championships - Minehead, Somerset England
The first day of the 2007 European Championships started off with the Men 560 kilos competition. The 560 kilos event was split into four groups, with the top two teams in each group progressing to the quarter finals. The English teams that were competing in this weight class were BAC, Totham Bull, Hanging Bridge, Bosley and Lincoln. Despite some good pulling, the draw did not favour the English teams, and so no English teams progressed to the knock-out stages of the competition. Photo: BAC 560kg Team
Stans-Oberdorf from Switzerland and Llanfynydd from Wales progressed from group 1, along with Englelberg from Switzerland and Garvagh from Northern Ireland in group 2. The teams progressing from group 3 were Fam Janssens from Belgium, and Gonten from Switzerland. Killylough from Ireland and Veenseboys from the Netherlands progressed from group 4. The winners of each of the respective quarter finals went through to the semi finals, and those teams were Fam. Janssens, Killylough, Engelberg and Stans-Oberdorf. Photo: Lincoln competing in the open 560kg
The semi finals produced an all Swiss encounter, with Engelberg taking on Stans-oberdorf, and Killylough from Ireland faced Fam. Janssens from Belgium. Stans-Oberdorf defeated Engelberg by 2 ends to 0 to reach the final, where they met Killylough in the final, whose semi-final went to three ends where Killylough had to come from behind to defeat Fam. Janssens by 2 ends to 1. Photo: Totham Bull 560kg
The bronze pull off provided a very tense competition, and after some valiant pulling from the Belgium team Fam. Janssens it was Engelberg who came away 2 ends to 0 winners to secure the bronze medal. The final saw a tense competition between Stans-Oberdorf and Killylough. Killylough took the first end, after wearing down a very determined Stans-Oberdorf Team, Killyough took the first end after Stans recieved three cautions. Killylough had much better control on the second end, and secured the gold medal with a 2 ends to 0 victory. Photo: Engelberg win the 560kg bronze medal
Video: Men 560kg Open Final - Killylough vs Stans Oberdorf. Video by the Basque Country
The junior 560 competition is now held as a world championships annually, and this event saw club teams from as far as South Africa taking part in the event. England were represented in this competition by Leicester and Northants ACF. It was a good learning experience for the club, and although the club did not progress to the semi-finals, it is an experience that can be built on for next year. The semi-finals saw Eschbachtal from Germany come up against De Boerekes from Belgium, and Oakdale from South Africa come up against Saldus from Lativa. Oakdale and Eschbactal won their respective semi-finals by 2 ends to 0 to reach the final. Photo: England judge Vic Ludkin judging the mens 560kg final
The bronze medal match was a pull between De Boerekes, and Saldus, with the Latvian team securing the bronze medal by 2 ends to 0. The final was a really close battle between Eschbachtal from Germany and Oakdale from South Africa. It was a thrilling final with both teams giving everything. Both teams took rope off eachother on both ends, with each pull being a very close call, but it was the German team that came out 2 ends to 0 winners to take the gold medal. Photo: Leicester and Northants ACF Juniors
The 680 kilos was a strongly contested weight class which was split into 4 groups of 8 teams, with the top 2 teams from each group progressing to the quarter finals. England had teams from Bosley, Sandhurst, BAC, Holland Sports, Tavistock, and Combined Services competing in this weight class, with Bosley progressing to the knock out stages of the competition. The winners of group 1 were Bosley from England, with Wallby from Sweden finishing second. The winners of group 2 were Okia, with Eibergen finishing in second place, both teams coming from Holland. Boley from Ireland and Heure from Holland progressed from group 3, and Jagersrust from Holland and Mertensmannen from Belgium progressed from group 4. Photo: Holland TOWC 680kg team
The semi finals saw Okia, Eibergen, Boley and Bosley reach the final 4 to fight it out for the medals. The first semi-final saw Bosley defeat Okia by 2 ends to 0, and Boley defeat Eibergen by 2 ends to 0. Eibergen secured brone after defeating Okia by 2 ends to 0, despite losing to Okia in the group stages. The final saw Boley from Ireland take on Bosley from England. Boley had to work very hard to break Bosley down, and after a first end over 4 minutes, Boley managed to work Bosley over the line. Bosley attacked from the drop on the second end, but Boley managed to wear Bosley down again, and took the second end to seucre the gold medal. Photo: Bosley 680kg team
This years ladies 560 kilos championships was split into two groups of 7 teams, with the top two teams from each group progressing straight to the semi-finals. The only English team competing in this event were the Team Army Ladies, and despite some good performances, the teams did not make an impression on the top places to reach the knock-out stages of the competition. Loftadalen from Sweden and Jagersrust from the Netherlands progressed from group 1 with Bjorke from Swedend and Wa Ka-Leili from Switzerland progressing from group 2. Photo: Army Ladies
The semi final saw Loftadalen defeat Wak Ka-Leili to reach the final, whilst Bjorke defeated Jagersrust. Wa Ka-Leili fefeated Jagersrust by 2 ends to 0 to secure the bronze medal. The final was an all Swedish affair, and it was the team from Bjorke which secured the gold medal, with a fine 2 ends to 0 win. Photo: Tara Adams of Bedford Ladies taking part in a TV interview
The 720 kilos event was split into two groups, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the semi-finals. Felton Eccles, Congleton, Whimple, Tavistock and Holland Sports were the English teams competing in the event, but none of the teams managed to progress to the knock out stages of the competition. Group 1 saw Velkonis from Latvia progress, as well as TTV Koapman from the Netherlands. TTV Valleitrekkers from the Netherlands progressed in first place from group 2, along with SATF from South Africa. Velkonis, the current world open club champions, defeated SATF by 2 ends to 0 to reach the final, where they met TTV Valleitrekkers, who defeated Koapman in their semi-final. Photo: Congleton 720kg team
The bronze medal pull off was a very close and thrilling pull between SATF and Kopaman. Koapman won the first end after applying gradual pressure to the South Africans. On the second end. Koapman came close to securing the bronze after working SATF close to the line, only to be blown out for recieving three cautions. Both teams went back to work on the second end, and it was the South African team who went all the way to secure a well earned bronze. Photo: SATF celebrate winning bronze
The final was a repeat of the 2006 World Open final between Velkonis from Latvia, and Valleitrekkers from the Netherlands. Velkonis went to try and outlast the dutch team, but it was the Valleitrekkers that held the better shape to take a convincing victory by 2 ends to 0 to secure the gold medal. Photo: Tavistock
The under 23 600 kilos event was run as one full group, with some very close pulls taking place all the way through the competition. This weight class also saw a team from Chinese Taipei taking part at an outdoor championships for the very first time. There were no English teams competing in this weight class, but it was still an interesting competition to watch.The semi finals were fought out between TTV Valleitrekkers from Holland, Molndals from Sweden, Gonten from Switzerland and Siegelau from Germany. Valleitrekkers defeated Gonten from Switzerland to reach the final, and Molndals defeated Siegelau. Gonten from Switzerland won the bronze medal with a 2 ends to 0 win, and Valleitrekkers were too strong for Molndals in the final, and they secured gold by 2 ends to 0, whcih followed on from their strong performance in the group stage where they did not lose an end. Photo: The Royal Visit: HRH Princess Anne (centre) with TOWA president Tony Martin (left) and TWIF President Cathal McKeever (right).
During the 640 kilos competition, HRH the Princess Royal visited the championships. The Princess was introduced to members of the local town council, as well as members of the TWIF ExCo and members of the English Tug of War Association organising committee. During the royal visit, Princess Anne was given the opportunity to watch the 640 kilos competition, and ladies 520 kilos competition in progress, and was then invited to present the medals to the winning teams from the junior 560 kilos event, which took place on the previous day. Photo: HRH Princess Anne presenting medals to the gold silver and bronze medallists from the junior 560kg competition.
After the presentation, the princess was presented with a commemorative plaque to mark her visit to the championships, and was presented a bouquet of flowers by Miss Bethany Canning. A short speech of thanks was made by Mr Cathal McKeever MBE, president of TWIF for giving up her time for visiting the championships. A speech was also given by Mr Tony Martin, President of the English Tug of War Association. The Princess and the delegation then retired to the club house for some refreshments, where the Princess was given the opportunity to chat to members of the England tug of war squad. Photo: Bethany Canning presenting HRH Princess Anne with a bouquet of flowers.
The mens 640 kilos was one of the strongest competitions of the event, which was split into 8 groups. There was some very close competition in this weight and the English teams competing in the event were BAC A and B, Whimple, Totham Bull, Norton, Sandhurst, Lincoln, Hanging Bridge, Combined Services, Forge Lane, Bosley, and Felton Eccles. The only club to progress to the knock-out stages were Norton, who reached the quarter finals. Photo: Norton 640kg team
The teams that progressed to the quarter finals were all seasoned performers at international level, with many past and present world and European champions making the cut. This made for a very exciting knock out stage with so many 'big guns' facing each other to get into the last four to fight for a medal. Engelberg (SUI) overcame Goldscheuer (GER), Boley (IRL) overcame Norton (ENG), Okia (NED) overcame Eibergen (NED), and Mosnang (SUI) overcame Veenseboys A (NED). Photo: Sandhurst
The semi finals saw Engelberg defeat Boley by 2 ends to 0, and Mosnang defeated Okia by 2 ends to 1 to reach the final. The bronze medal was won by Boley by 2 ends to 0, and Engelberg secured yet another gold medal at international level with a 2 ends to 0 victory over Mosnang. Photo: Engelberg 640kg team
Video: Open 640kg final - Engelberg vs Mosnang. Video by the Basque Country
The ladies 520 kilos competition was split into two groups. English interest in the competition came with Bedford Ladies, who were competing in group 2. Bedford had a tough draw with some top Dutch and Swiss teams in their half, finishing third in the group, and so just missing out on a place in the last four. Photo: Bedford Ladies 520kg team
Jagersrust from Holland progressed to the semi-finals along with Wa Ka-Lieili from Switzerland, Loftadalen from Sweden and Fam Janssens from Belgium. Loftadalen defeated Wa Ka-Lielli by 2 ends to 1 to reach to the final, whilts Jagersrust defeated Fam. Janssens by 2 ends to 0 to reach the final. Fam Janssens secured the bronze with a good 2 ends to 0 win over Wa Ka-Lielli. Jagersrust then went into the final and defeated Swedish team Loftadalen by 2 ends to 0 to secure the gold medal. Photo: Jagersrust ladies celebrate winning gold
The first weight of the closed championships was the mens 560 kilos. The surprise package this year was the team from Northern Ireland who fielded a powerful team, which overcame Ireland and Switzerland in their first pulls. Northern Ireland were strong throughout the whole of the group stage, only dropping ends to England. Northern Ireland progressed to the semi finals, along with England, Ireland and Switzerland. Photo: Combined Services
Northern Ireland were drawn against Switzerland, and England were drawn against Ireland. Northern Ireland dominated their semi-final against Switzerland to reach the final with a 2 ends to 0 victory, but England had a tough time of it against Ireland. Ireland took the first end of the semi final after a long first end, but England battled hard on the second end to level the score. England then had to do the same on the third end to secure their place in the final.
In the bronze medal match Switzerland took the first end against Ireland, but Ireland, despite having a tough pull in the semi-final managed to win the second end. Ireland won the toss and chose the winning end for the third end. Ireland again showed good spirit and resilience to secure the third end and the bronze medal.
The final was absolutely breath-taking for both the supporters of each team and the neutral. Both teams battled hard on the first end, and it was Northern Ireland who took the early advantage, and went on to take the first end. On the second end, England attacked from the drop and quickly took out Northern Ireland to level the score. Photo: England battling hard against Northern Ireland in the 560kg final
Northern Ireland won the toss and elected to pull on the winning end. Both teams attacked from the drop again, and after some frantic pulling, both teams were on two cautions. After further battling the pull was declared a 'no pull' after both teams received three cautions. From the restart, both teams attacked again, and with fatigue setting in for both teams it came down to who could battle the longest, and it was England who managed to haul Northern Ireland over the line to secure a hard earned gold medal, with both teams being loudly applauded and congratulated for their sterling effort. Photo: Exhaustion and elation - England celebrate winning the gold medal.
Video: All four ends of the mens 560kg final between England and Northern Ireland. Video posted on YouTube by the Basque Country
The junior 560 kilos competition saw some strong performances put in by all of the teams who took part in this weight class. England entered a team in the junior competition, but the team had very little experience of international competition. The team performed to the best of their ability, and having had very few training sessions together, the team finished in 8th place. We hope to continue to field youth teams at international championships in future, and hopefully England can improve things for next year. Photo: England junior 560kg team
The teams that reached the top four in the group stages were Switzerland, South Africa, Sweden and Germany. Germany defeated South Africa by 2 ends to 0 to meet Switzerland in the final, who defeated Sweden by 2 ends to 0. The bronze pull off was between South Africa and Sweden and it was Sweden who took the bronze medal with a 2 ends to 0 win. Germany went on to secure gold against Switzerland with a 2 ends to 0 victory.
The mens 680 kilos was a very close competition, particularly in the group stages, where many of the pulls in the early rounds resulted in 1-1 draws. England, who were represented by Bosley, picked up the pace in this competition, and finished up top of the group at the end of the preliminary rounds. England went through to the semi finals along with the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany, who progressed to the semi finals having received fewer cautions than defending champions Sweden. Photo: England 680kg team on the podium
In the semi finals, England were drawn against Switzerland, and the Netherlands were drawn against Germany. The Netherlands secured a 2 ends to 0 win over Germany to reach the final, and Switzerland managed to overcome England by 2 ends to 1 to reach the final. In the bronze medal pull off England pulled strongly to defeat Germany by 2 ends to 0 to secure the bronze medal. The final was a tight contest between the Netherlands and Switzerland, but it was the Netherlands who performed the better of the two teams in the final, and they secured the gold medal by 2 ends to 0. Photo: Netherlands 680kg team
The ladies 560 kilos saw the smallest number of teams fighting it out to become European Champions. England were represented in this weight class by Sheen Ladies, who performed very well in this weight, despite being underweight, and having little competition in England leading up to the event. Sweden won the group stages without losing an end, and were joined in the semi-finals by Switzerland, the Netherlands, and England. Photo: England ladies 560kg team
Sweden defeated the Netherlands in the semi finals by 2 ends to 0, and Switzerland defeated England by 2 ends to 0. Despite a brave battle from England in the bronze medal pull off, the Netherlands had had more experience than the England team, and went home with the bronze medal after a 2 ends to 0 win. The final saw Sweden continue their dominance in ladies tug of war with a fine 2 ends to 0 victory over Switzerland. Photo: Sweden Ladies
The first weight of day 4 was the mens 720 kilos. Over recent years, there have been several different winners of this weight category, and England, represented by Congleton, were very much the surprise package in this weight, putting in a really strong show of power pulling in the group stages, overcoming Ireland and the Netherlands in their first two pulls, before going on to top their group without dropping and end. England were joined in the semi-finals by the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. Photo: England 720kg team
The semi finals put England against Germany, and Switzerland were drawn against the Netherlands. England outclassed Germany in their semi final, and ran out 2 ends to 0 winners, whilst the Netherlands were edged out by Switzerland. The Netherlands, who have always been a strong team in this weight class secured the bronze medal with a fine 2 ends to 0 win over Germany. The final was between England and Switzerland. Like in the group stages, England attacked Switzerland with a display of power pulling that saw England take a convincing victory by 2 ends to 0 to secure the gold medal. Photo: England 720kg team on the podium
This years Under 23 competition was a very interesting competition, and as expected, the competition for a place in the last 4 was too close to call. The defending champions were Germany, and they started off with a match against England last years Bronze medallists, which went to 1 end a piece. Holland started off with a 2 ends to 0 win over Lithuania, and Sweden started by going 1 end a piece with Ireland. This weight class also saw Chinese Taipei being represented at outdoor international tug of war for the first time.
England this year had 6 changes from the team that won the bronze medal in 2006, and considering that the teams had only been together for a short period of time running up to the championships, the team performed really well, with many pullers wearing an England shirt for the first time. Many of the pullers, like with the under 18 squad, were competing from teams who were not representing England in the senior events, which is a credit to those clubs who often do not win gold medals at national championships. Photo: England Under 23 600kg team
The last 4 was made of the teams from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, and England, who took an end off Switzerland in the group stages to ensure that they finished ahead of Germany to reach the last 4. In the semi finals, England were defeated by the Netherlands in 2 straight ends, and Sweden progressed to the final after defeating last years finalists Switzerland.
The bronze medal match gave everyone another exciting pull to watch, with a three end battle between England and Switzerland. Switzerland took the first end, and England battled back to take the second end. England won the toss, and elected to pull on the good end. Both teams battled again, and both teams ended up on two cautions. Unfortunately for England, England received a final caution, and the pull was awarded to Switzerland after it looked like England were about to gain an advantage. The final saw another fine display of pulling by the team from the Netherlands, and they ran out 2 ends to 0 winners to take gold.
The mens 640 kilos is always one of the most eagerly anticipated weights at world and European championships, and this year was no exception. The competition was split into two groups, and there were some close results for some teams at the group stage, with Ireland and Sweden going 1 end a piece in the first pull, and England, represented by Felton Eccles, also went on to defeat Sweden. The winners of group 1 were Switzerland, with current World Champions Germany finishing in second place. Group 2 was won by England, with Ireland finishing in second place. This meant that England were up against Germany in their semi-final, and Ireland were up against Switzerland. Photo: England 640kg team
England caused the main upset by overcoming world champions Germany in their semi-final by 2 ends to 0. Ireland then faced a stern test against Switzerland to determine who would pull England in the final. Ireland put in a great performance to overcome Switzerland by 2 ends to 0. The bronze medal match saw defending European Champions Switzerland compete against current world champions Germany. Photo: England 640kg coach Corney Pearce urging his team on
Switzerland showed the best control in this match to secure the bronze medal by 2 ends to 0. The final was between England and Ireland, and Ireland were looking to secure the gold medal at 640 kilos, having reached world and European championship finals in the previous 2 years and winning silver. The Irish are always a tough team to beat at International level, and they overcame England with some fine pulling to secure the gold medal by 2 ends to 0.
Video: European 640kg Final - England vs Ireland. Video by the Basque Country
In the ladies 520 kilos, England were represented by Bedford Ladies, who were looking to build on their solid performance in the open competition. The ladies 520 kilos competition saw yet more dominant pulling from the Swedish ladies. Sweden topped the group, and progressed to the last 4 along with Switzerland, England and the Netherlands. The semi finals put Sweden up against the Netherlands, and Switzerland up against England. Sweden outclassed the Dutch team by 2 ends to 0 to reach the final, but Switzerland had the tougher semi final against England. Photo: England ladies 520kg team
England took the first end, with a determined performance, but it was Switzerland who turned the contest around to win by 2 ends to 1 to reach the final. The bronze medal match saw England try their hardest against the Dutch ladies, but unfortunately for England, it was the Dutch that went on to secure the bronze medal by 2 ends to 0. The final was another display of class from the Swedish ladies, and they went on to defeat Switzerland by 2 ends to 0 to take a clean sweep of ladies titles.
All in all this was a good championships for the English teams, with 7 of our 8 teams reaching the last four in the closed event. This represents one of the best European Championships for England in many years, with England coming away with 2 gold medal, 1 silver medal and 1 bronze medal, as well as three 4th place finishes. Congratulations must go to all of the participants of this event as without you the championships would not have been a success.
Thanks must also go to the many volunteers that ensured that the event ran smoothly. There are many to mention, and thanks must go to Peter Craft, Mike Callaghan, Alan Ludkin, Pete Dyer, Steve Roach, Tony Martin and Alan Knott of the organising committee, and helpers Nick Major, Jane Major, Betty Craft, George Ferrett, Rosemarie Ferrett, Vic Ludkin, Yvonne Ludkin, Sue Martin, Dave Kitchener, Dave Knott, Steve Goss, Martin Collins, Nigel Summers, Carol Summers, Ernie Jones, Peter Tuckwell, Len Hall, Steve Bowler, Anne Bowler, Heather Grimston, Mick Grimston, Richard Edwards, Wendy Dyer, Pat Roach, Jan Viner and Gill Callaghan.
Thanks should also be extended to David Higgs, Co Koren, and Ivo Boerdam for assistance with the computer software provided for the championships, and thanks are also extended to Mr Peter Baker for providing commentary at the event.
Open Competition Results Summary
|
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | 4th |
| Junior 560 | Eschbachtal(GER) | Oakdale (RSA) | Saldus (LAT) | De Boerekes (BEL) |
| Men 560 | Killylough (EIRE) | Stans-Oberdorf (SUI) | Engelberg (SUI) | Fam. Janssens (BEL) |
| Ladies 560 | Bjorke (SWE) | Loftadalen (SWE) | Wa Ka-Lielli (SUI) | Jagersrust (NED) |
| Men 680 | Boley (EIRE) | Bosley (ENG) | Eibergen (NED) | Okia (NED) |
| Men 720 | Valleitrekkers (NED) | Velkonis (LAT) | SATF (RSA) | Koapman (NED) |
| Under 23 600 | Valleitrekkers (NED) | Molndals (SWE) | Gonten (SUI) | Siegelau (GER) |
| Ladies 520 | Jagersrust (NED) | Loftadalen (SWE) | Fam. Janssens (BEL) | Wa Ka-Lielli (SUI) |
| Men 640 | Engelberg (SUI) | Mosnang (SUI) | Boley (EIRE) | Okia (NED) |
European and World Junior and Under 23 Championships - Results
|
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | 4th |
| Junior 560 | Germany | Switzerland | Sweden | South Africa |
| Men 560 | England (Represented by Sandhurst) | Northern Ireland | Republic of Ireland | Switzerland |
| Ladies 560 | Sweden | Switzerland | Netherlands | England (Represented by Sheen) |
| Men 680 | Netherlands | Switzerland | England (Represented by Bosley) | Germany |
| Men 720 | England (Represented by Congleton) | Switzerland | Netherlands | Germany |
| Under 23 600 | Netherlands | Sweden | Switzerland | England |
| Ladies 520 | Sweden | Switzerland | Netherlands | England (Represented by Bedford) |
| Men 640 | Ireland | England (Represented by Felton Eccles) | Switzerland | Germany |
