2018 National Indoor Championships Results
The 2018 National Indoor Tug of War Championships took place on Saturday 1 December at the Harry Mitchell Leisure Centre in Smethwick, West Midlands. Whilst the number of teams competing at indoor tug of war has declined over recent seasons, that did not detract from the competition at this year’s national championships and the teams that took part should be commended on putting on a great competition.
All weights were pulled on a “round robin” basis with the top two teams at the end of the group stage going on to compete in a final for the gold medal with the third and fourth placed teams going on to compete in a bronze medal match.
The day started with the mens catchweight competition and Sheen went into the event as defending champions. Sheen started off with a win against Uppertown before defeating Kilroe, and then Uppertown also defeated Kilroe. Uppertown and Sheen went on to meet each other in the final. Sheen took the first end relatively straight forwardly and were well on their way in the second end before Uppertown got back into it to level the match and take the final to a third end. The deciding end saw Sheen win the toss of the coin for the choice of ends, however Uppertown had the momentum and took the third end and the gold medal to win the catchweight national title for the first time in a number of years.
You can watch the final that was streamed on Facebook below:
The second weight of the day was the 640kg competition. Raunds went into this event as defending champions and started off with a 2 ends to 0 win against Sheen whilst Kilroe started with a 2 ends to 0 win against Uppertown. Raunds then defeated Kilroe whilst Uppertown defeated Sheen. In the final round, all matches went 1-1. Raunds went through to the final as group winners. Uppertown and Kilroe were joint second, however when the TWIF rules criteria was applied (matches won, then the result of the match between the two teams on equal points, then cautions, then weight), Kilroe progressed to the final. Uppertown and Sheen battled it out for the bronze medal with Uppertown winning their second medal of the day by 2 ends to 0. In the final Raunds dominated the pull and took the gold medal by 2 ends to 0.
You can watch the bronze medal pull and the final that was streamed live on Facebook below:
The 720kg saw Raunds and Uppertown both defeat Kilroe in this competition to progress to the final. Raunds were competing under weight in this competition and gave a good account of themselves in the final, but Uppertown were the stronger of the two teams on the day, and they took the gold medal by 2 ends to 0 to claim their second gold medal of the day.
You can watch the final that was streamed live on Facebook below:
The lightest weight category that took place on the day was the mens 600kg. Raunds were the defending champions in this weight class, however they did not enter the competition this year, meaning that the competition was wide open. Kilroe won their first match against Uppertown and Sheen also won their first match. Both Kilroe and Sheen had a tight match in the group stage and it was evident that both of these teams would compete in the final again. Indeed both teams did meet in the final, and after a keenly contested two ends, Kilroe took the gold medal, with Sheen finishing as worthy runners up.
You can watch the final that was streamed live on Facebook below:
The final weight class of the day was the 680kg competition with all teams taking part. The defending champions were again Raunds and they started off with a 2 ends to 0 win against Kilroe and Uppertown defeated Sheen. Uppertown went through the group undefeated to reach the final, and were joined by Raunds who finished ahead of the remaining teams. Sheen and Kilroe were up against each other for the bronze medal, with Sheen coming out on top to take the bronze by 2 ends to 0. The final was a good match, and Raunds put up a good fight against Uppertown, however the Uppertown team proved again to be the strongest team on the day and they won their third gold medal of the day.
You can watch the different medal pulls that were streamed live on Facebook below:
Well done, thank you and congratulations to everyone who was involved in the 2018 National Indoor Tug of War Championships at the Harry Mitchell Leisure Centre - pullers, coaches, judges, recorders, volunteers and supporters. We hope that everyone enjoyed the day.
The TOWA will now be looking to select teams to represent England at the 2019 British and Irish Indoor Tug of War Championships taking place in Scotland in February. If any teams and pullers want to get involved in indoor tug of war next year, then please get in touch with us!
This was our final competition of 2018. We hope everyone has enjoyed taking part, volunteering, supporting and officiating at our events this year. Enjoy the festive period and see you all in 2019!
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