The Scottish National Championships at Stirling were attended by Callander, Cornhill, East Kilbride, Kinneff and Tinto. The five weight categories were all hotly contested and there were three different winners on the day. Kinneff showed that they were the top light weight team and Tinto and Cornhill split the middle and heavy weights. These teams have been invited to attend the UK and European Championships as Scotland's representatives.

The new venue proved to be popular with pullers and spectators alike and the tug of war played out to a very healthy gallery throughout the day. Hopefully this can be a sign of good things to come in the future for our showpiece event.

560kg 1st Kinneff

600kg 1st Kinneff , 2nd Cornhill, 3rd Tinto

640kg 1st Cornhill, 2nd Tinto, 3rd Kinneff

680kg 1st Tinto, 2nd Cornhill, 3rd Callendar

720kg 1st Cornhill, 2nd Tinto, 3rd Callendar

Photograph Album 2011 Nationals

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11/07/2011 – TUG OF WAR VIDEO FROM 2010 WORLD OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS IN SOUTH AFRICA

The official video showing highlights of the 2010 World Outdoor Championships in South Africa is now available to view on Youtube.

You can watch the video by clicking here

UK Indoor Tug Of War Championships 2011
12/13 February
Perth , Scotland

The UK Championships started with a bang and finished with one too from the 600 Kg Closed Championship to the 600 Kg Open Championship. Scottish teams were outstanding over the course of the two days and won a total of 4 Championships and placing well in the rest.

The Championship was opened by the Lord Provost of Perth who must be hoping that the World Championships next February can live up to the atmosphere and excitement of this event. The 600 Kg began quietly but fairly quickly raised volume levels as the Scottish, English and Northern Irish teams all fought for medal placings. Also in action was England’s Under 23 side who gave a very good account of themselves throughout.

When it came to the knockout stages Scotland A and England A were at the top of the pile followed by Scotland B and Northern Ireland A. Scotland’s A team took care of Northern Ireland while the B squad lost out to England.

The battle for the bronze medal was a close fought thing, however Scotland’s strength in depth at this weight came to the fore and they took it in straight ends.

The final looked set up for an intriguing battle with the two top nations in the World rankings facing up to each other. On this occasion Scotland proved too good and the first event of the day closed with a home win.

Scotland A – Tom Nelson (Ayrshire), Alistair Cook (BRC), Colin Montgomery (Ayrshire), Graham Henry (BRC), Bob Warnock (BRC), Robin Shankland (Ayrshire), Kevin Campbell (BRC), Alan Young (Ayrshire)

Scotland B – James Gerrard (Kinneff), Craig Hamilton (Tinto), James Paterson (BRC), Willie Orr (BRC), Ross Davidson (Kinneff), Stuart (Kinneff), Calum (Kinneff), Rhys (Kinneff)

The 680 squads had a lot to live up to and they rose to the occasion superbly. The A squad never really looked troubled in the group marches despite conceding an end to England and the B team got better with every end. The disappointing aspect was that there were only four teams competing. After the group matches England topped the league by virtue of being a kilo lighter than Scotland A. The semi finals saw Scotland’s A team beat its B and England beat Northern Ireland.

The bronze medal match was an epic. Scotland weighed in at 590 kg while Northern Ireland weighed 670 kg. Northern Ireland took the first end but the Scots put up enough of a fight to suggest that they were still in it. The second end was a different matter with the Scots attacking their heavier opponents from the drop. This denied the Ulstermen the chance to settle and the Scots kept at it disrupting their rhythm. Eventually Northern Ireland broke and the Scots took the end. The deciding end was just as tough for both teams with the Scots employing the same spoiling tactics. Once more it worked out and Scotland took a very unexpected bronze medal.
The final saw last season’s World Champions at 680 Kg face up to the World Champions at 640 Kg. The expected battle never really caught light as Scotland took control in both ends from the drop and dictated the pace throughout. The win was hard fought but it wasn’t the epic that the noisy crowd had expected. However it was another gold medal for Scotland and that was what mattered.

Scotland A – Duncan Lyon (Tinto), Tom Nelson (Ayrshire), Robert Lyon (Tinto), John Lyon (Tinto), Colin Montgomery (Ayrshire), Graham Henry (BRC), Gavin Ballantyne (Ayrshire), Craig Mitchell (Ayrshire)

Scotland B – Scotland B – James Gerrard (Kinneff), Craig Hamilton (Tinto), James Paterson (BRC), Willie Orr (BRC), Ross Davidson (Kinneff), Stuart (Kinneff) replaced by Kevin Campbell (BRC), Neil MacFarlane (Tinto), Graham Duncan (BRC)

The final closed Championship was the mixed 600 Kg. England and Scotland both had two teams in this event. England A looked dominant throughout closely followed by Scotland A. England B looked to be some way ahead of Scotland B and that was the order in which the group matches concluded. In the semi-finals the two A teams progressed with the B teams left to contest the bronze medal.

Scotland had been steadily improving end by end and it was no surprise that the first end was keenly contested, however England took it and a deserved 1-0 lead. The second end saw the Scots dig deep and fight over every inch of the mat. England looked to be home and dry but Scotland somehow stopped them just short of the line. England’s pushes were beginning to weaken and the Scots tried a counter attack and took some ground back. Both teams hit the mat and then the cautions started to fly. Both teams were on two cautions when the Scots came off the floor first England collapsed again and were blown out. The deciding end saw England go on the attack from the drop but this time Scotland were quicker to counter and got a decent lift and drive. Unfortunately they hit the ground on the way back and allowed England back in again. Scotland tried to settle but now it was a war of attrition to see who could stay on their feet. Some sterling work in the middle of the rope by Ross Davidson meant that the Scots kept off the mat long enough to get over the line and take another completely unexpected bronze medal.

The final never caught fire quite the way the bronze medal match had and this was largely due to the control that England’s A team exerted over the proceedings. Scotland tried to get drive after drive going but every time they did England lowered the rope a couple of inches and pulled them back. In the end it was a fantastic demonstration of mixed tug of war and England took their first gold medal of the Championships.

Scotland A – Tom Nelson (Ayrshire), Lorna Bennett (Ayrshire), Heather Nelson (Ayrshire), Lynsey Rutherford (BRC), Rachel (Ayrshire), Alan Young (Ayrshire)

Scotland B – James Gerrard (Kinneff), Robert Lyon (Tinto), Jessica Burns (Ayrshire), Ross Davidson (Kinneff), Charlotte Thomson (BRC), Becky Rutherford (BRC), Lauren (Ayrshire), Craig Mitchell (Ayrshire)
   
The final event of the day was the International Invitation Clubs’ 640 Kg. This attracted a big entry with teams from the Basque Country, Italy and Eire joining the home nations.

This weight proved to be one event too far for Ayrshire’s men as they struggled to make any impact, however BRC looked very good throughout and qualified for the knockout stages in second place. The class act of the group phase was Mountain View from Eire who didn’t drop a point throughout the whole contest. These teams were joined by Sokarri of the Basque Country and Ballyhagen of Northern Ireland.

In the first semi final Mountain View dominated Ballyhagen winning both ends in just over 40 seconds. The second semi was an altogether tighter affair as Sokarri sought to wear BRC down. The ploy didn’t work though and BRC progressed to the final.

Mountain View were clear favourites but BRC were up for the battle. The Irishmen had dominated all of their matches from the drop and tried to do so again but the Scots were ready and defended stoutly to begin with. They succeeded in upsetting the rhythm that Mountain View had built up throughout the contest and then applied pressure themselves with big pushes. Eventually the rope slipped inexorably back on BRC’s side until they eventually took the end in 2.39. BRC scented blood as two of the Irish pullers looked to be out on their feet. However the Irish champions are a resilient bunch and the clawed their way back into the contest by completely breaking BRC in the second end to equalise. The momentum looked to have swung back to Mountain View and they again attacked in the deciding end. BRC once again dug in to defend and stopped the drive before it really got going. Once again they turned the screw and slowly inched the rope back until they had a metre advantage. Mountain View tried to regain the initiative but there was a hint of desperation about the attacks. As soon as they started to weaken BRC took full advantage and hit them with a number of big pushes to drive them over and out. The win was the perfect ending for a fantastic day for the Scottish Association.

Sunday morning arrived and with it came a change of fortunes for the Scots teams. They all pulled well but were not able to replicate the successes of the previous day. Ayrshire’s mixed 580 Kg team managed a silver medal but never really pushed Sheen of England. BRC ‘s men took a good third place in the 560 Kg and Kinneff pulled very well to finish mid way. The final was a fine spectacle with Kilroe of England edging out Mountain View of Ireland. There were good efforts from Ayrshire and BRC in the 640 but there was no medal. BRC again flew the flag in the 640 Kg finishing in third. The final event of the day was the men’s 600 Kg and it was dominated throughout by Kilroe and Mountain View. The final was something to savour with both teams putting everything that they had into it. Kilroe won the first end but Mountain View showed enough to hint that they were far from finished. In the second end it all looked over and done for the Irishmen but they produced something from somewhere to stop Kilroe and upset the silky progress that the Englishmen had been making. In the end it was guts and desire that won out over power and technique and Mountain View levelled the contest. The final end was something of an anti climax after the epic second end and Mountain View powered there way to the UK title.

There was one very high and somewhat unexpected high point for Scotland on the second day. It came during the 680 for men. Tinto had entered a relatively inexperienced team sprinkled with a few old heads. They started well and grew in confidence throughout the group phase and progressed easily into the knockout stages. A good win took them into the final and then another highly controlled performance combined with no shortage of power saw them lift the UK title.

Thanks