GENSB 2019 - Another Great Showcase for Junior Tug of War
Saturday 24 August 2019 saw England host their fifth GENSB tournament at St Martin’s Plain Camp, Folkestone. Previous venues in England have been Canterbury (1999, 2004), Newquay (2009) and Folkestone (2014).
32 teams entered the draw for this year’s competition drawn from 8 different countries plus one multi nation side.
| Country | Number of Teams |
| Basque Country | 3 |
| Belgium | 4 |
| England | 2 |
| Germany | 3 |
| Republic of Ireland | 1 |
| Netherlands | 7 |
| Switzerland | 7 |
| Wales | 4 |
| Multi Nation | 1 |
The group stage of the competition saw the thirty two teams compete in four groups of eight.
The opening ceremony took place at 10.15am, leaving time for warm up prior to the 11.00 start. 6 members of Whitney Youth team were selected to carry the championship flag into the arena at the opening ceremony. On a very hot day and with constant reminders about drinking lots of water, this future generation of athletes performed in true sporting fashion. Win or lose they all gave of their best and came back for more.
Photo: Flag bearers at the opening ceremony
Witney, England’s newest squad performed well, despite a couple of injuries prior to the competition, which demanded changes in the line-up, they came a creditable second in Group C.
In Group C they defeated Ebersecken A (Sui), Eire og (Rep of Ireland), Goiherri (Basque Country), Hay on Wye (Wales), Vriezenveen (Ned), Mix (Multi Nation). Their only defeat was to TTV Powerrangers 1 (Bel) who later in the day emerged as one of the finalists.
Photo: Witney Juniors from England
After the group stage, the competition changed gear with the top four in each group entering the round of 16 for the knock out stage, which contained some excellent pulling.
The round of 16 saw the following matches take place featuring teams from Germany, England, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Wales and Ireland:
TZC Wieden (GER) vs TZfr Dietenbach (GER)
Witney A (ENG) vs TSV Buch (GER)
Ebersecken B (SUI) vs Haye on Wye (WAL)
Stans-Oberdorf (SUI) vs TTV Mertensmannen (BEL)
Engelberg (SUI) vs TTV Heure (NED)
TTV Powerrangers 1 (BEL) vs TTV Powerrangers 2 (BEL)
Waldkirch (SUI) vs Eire OG (ROI)
Sins (SUI) vs Mosnang (SUI)
Photo: Bronze medal winners Waldkirch from Switzerland
Although Witney A were defeated in the round of 16, they did finish in 9th place overall based on average scores. Witney B finished in 29th place. Well done to both teams in their first GENSB.
TZC Wieden (Germany) continued their fine form in the group stage and worked their way through to the final where they emerged as worthy winner defeating TTV Powerrangers (Belgium) by two straight pulls.
This was the first GENSB final since 2012 to not have a team from Switzerland competing
Photo: TTV Powerrangers from Belgum - Silver Medal Winners
The route to the final:
| Round of 16 | Quarter Finals | Semi Finals | Final | Winner |
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| TZC Wieden |
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| TZFr. Dietenbach | TZC Wieden |
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| TZC Wieden |
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| Witney Youth A | TSV Buch |
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| TSV Buch |
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| TZC Wieden |
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| Ebersecken B |
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| Hay-on-Wye | Ebersecken B |
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| Ebersecken B |
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| Stans-Oberdorf | Stans-Oberdorf |
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| TTV Mertensmannen |
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| TZC Wieden |
| Engelberg |
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| TTV Heure | Engelberg (1) |
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| TTV Powerrangers |
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| TTV Powerrangers | Powerrangers (2) |
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| TTV Powerrangers 2 |
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| TTV Powerrangers |
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| Waldkirch |
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| Eire og | Waldkirch |
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| Waldkirch |
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| Sins | Mosnang |
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| Mosnang |
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The bronze medal was taken by the 2017 winner Waldkirch (Sui) who defeated Ebersecken B (Sui) by two straight pulls.
Photo: TZC Wieden from Germany
After the medal presentation the GENSB flag was lowered and passed to next year’s host Netherlands.
Photo: TOWA Chairman Pete Dyer handing over the GENSB flag to the Netherlands
An event like GENSB does not happen by chance and is only successful with the help and co-operation of a band of volunteers, who each knew their role and performed with true professionalism.
I cannot attempt to name them all for fear of leaving someone out, each person knows the contribution they made to a memorable day.
But one name we all know- thanks Alec Masson.
Report by Martin Mulcahy.
Photo: TZC Wieden on top of the podium with the GENSB Trophy
