Irish Tug of War

Click here to see the first end of the men’s 680kg final.

Click here to see the second end of the men’s 680kg final.

Click here to see the bronze medal pull-off in the men’s 600kg between the Irish neighbors.

Click here to see the second end of the club 680kg final between Clonmany A & St. Pats.

Click here to access the full results book from the TWIF website.

Click here to see the official photos from Matt Nutall Photography.

Click here to see photos courtesy of the legendary Pat Lee and from various facebook pages

Filed under: International Events | 4 Comments »

Ireland finished off the championships on a great high today winning Gold in the men’s 680kg. The team was made up of 5 St Pats pullers, 1 Mountain View & 2 Clonmany.

Ireland, World Indoor champions at 680kg

Ireland pulled strongly to qualify for the semi final where they came up against England. The Irish lads produced a powerful display to overcome the English and qualify for the final. The Netherlands stood between them and the gold medal but another outstanding display ensured that the Irish camp finished the championships in style. A straight end victory secured the gold medal and a first World indoor title for an Irish team in a long number of years. The winning Irish team were Thomas Wilson, Gary Conway, Donal Conroy, Philip Doherty, Gerard Harkin, Hugh Og Conway, Hugh Fitzpatrick & Sean Conway, coached by Barney McLoughlin.

Results: Men’s 680kg world championship

1. Gold: Ireland
2. Silver: Netherlands
3. Bronze: Scotland
4. 4th: England

The men’s 600kg got underway this morning. Ireland, with 7 Mountain View men and 1 from Cockhill started off poorly loosing to Scotland and England but recovered well to defeat Northern Ireland and the other countries.

Ireland, World Bronze medalists at 600kg

In the semi final the Irish faced England but lost out by 2 straight ends. This left them in a bronze medal pull-off against neighbors, Northern Ireland. The Northern team was based on the Country Club team who won gold in yesterday’s 560kg. The North started off strongly winning the first end and were well back in the second before being disqualified for locking. Ireland then produced a determined display in the deciding end to take the bronze medal, their second of the championship so far.

Results: Men’s 600kg world championship

1. Gold: Scotland
2. Silver: England
3. Bronze: Ireland
4. 4th: Northern Ireland

Filed under: International Events | Leave a Comment »

The Irish 640kg team who were mainly made up of pullers from the St. Pats club pulled well in this evenings championship.

Ireland, World Bronze medalists at 640kg

They found themselves in the semi final where they faced a strong Scottish team who were the reigning champions at this weight. Scotland won the first end but the Irish battled hard in the second end taking the rope back 3/4 of the way before the Scots turned the tides and went on to qualify for the final. This left Ireland in a bronze medal pull-off against the ever improving Chinese team. The medal pull-offs were a step too far for China as Ireland ran out with a comfortable victory to take the bronze medal. The very powerful English team who were represented by Sheen Farmers were a class ahead of the Scots in the final and they picked up the gold medal and the World title with a straight end victory.

Results: Men’s 640kg world championship

1. Gold: England
2. Silver: Scotland
3. Bronze: Ireland
4. 4th: China

There was drama in today’s men’s 560kg at Chinese Taipai who were pulling very well were disqualified for using illegal grip enhancement on their runners. This left Ireland and Northern Ireland finishing joint top of the round robin with 18 points. They were joined in the semi final by England and Scotland. Ireland faced Northern Ireland in the first semi final as England faced Scotland. Both contests were very even but it was Northern Ireland and Scotland who progressed. Things went from bad to worse for the Mountain View men who were representing Ireland as they also lost the bronze pull-off to England in straight ends. The very impressive Nothern Ireland team (represented by 3 Country Club, 3 Ballyhegan & 3 Richhill) went on to win their second gold medal of the weekend with a comfortable straight end victory to be crowned world champions at 560kg.

Results: Men’s 560kg world championship

1. Gold: Northern Ireland
2. Silver: Scotland
3. Bronze: England
4. 4th: Ireland

Filed under: International Events | 1 Comment »

10 teams took part in this evenings 680kg which was run in one straight group. Clonmany A pulled very well topping the group with maximum points. They were joined in the semi finals by St. Pats.

Clonmany A, World club Champions at 680kg

It was to be third time lucky as on this occasion the Irish teams didn’t meet each other in the semi. Clonmany A continued their dominance with a straight end victory over Lagerweij from the Netherlands. St. Pats dug very deep to come from one end down to defeat TTV Heidenskip (Netherlands) in the second semi final. The all Irish final was a good contest but the power of the Donegal men could not be stopped as they stormed their way to the gold medal and the world title with a straight end victory. Well done to the Clonmany men.

Results: Men’s open club 680kg

1. Gold: Clonmany A - Ireland
2. Silver: St. Pats - Ireland
3. Bronze: Lagerweij – Netherlands

Day two of the open club championships got underway today with the men’s 600kg competition. Clonmany B who won silver at 640kg yesterday had a disappointing competition and failed to progress from their group.

Mountain View, World club runners-up at 600kg

Mountain View and St. Pats pulled very strongly and both qualified for the semi finals. Once again, the Irish teams faced each other in the semi final as was the case in the yesterday’s 640kg. Mountain view proved much too strong for St. Pats as they progressed to the final with a straight end victory. In the final they faced the very strong Kilroe from England. The invincible Kilroe were too much of a handful for the men from Mountain View as they went on to win the gold medal in comfortable fashion. There was further disappointment for the Irish in the bronze medal pull-off as Abadino defeated St. Pats.

Results: Men’s open club 600kg

1. Gold: Kilroe – England
2. Silver: Mountain View – Ireland
3. Bronze: Abadino A – Basques
4. 4th: St. Pats – Ireland

There was a shock result in the ladies 500kg championship as Badaiotz from the Basques country defeated Chinese Taipei in a three end thriller to take the gold medal.

Filed under: International Events | Leave a Comment »

There was a lot of Irish success at day one of the World Indoor championships which got underway in Perth today with both Clonmany teams winning medals at 640kg and Country Club from Co. Tyrone winning gold at 560kg.

Clonmany B, World club runners-up at 640kg

The men’s 640kg was run in two groups with the top 2 from each going through to the semi final. Both Clonmany A & Clonmany B teams pulled very well to qualify for the semis as Mountain View and St. Pats missed out on qualification. It was unfortunate that both Clonmany teams faced each other in the semi final with Clonmany B proving to be the stronger team going through to the final with a straight end victory. In the final the Donegal team faced the very strong Ayrshire team from Scotland. The Scottish team were too strong on the day and were in full control of the contest leaving Clonmany B to settle with the silver medal. Clonmany A recovered well to win the bronze medal.

Results: Men’s open club 640kg

1. Gold: Ayrshire – Scotland
2. Silver: Clonmany B – Ireland
3. Bronze: Clonmany A – Ireland

There was good news to report in the U23 600kg competition as a team of 6 Irish and 2 Scottish pullers pulling under the name of Cockhill won a well deserved bronze medal.

Well done to Country Club from Co. Tyrone who won the men’s 560kg gold medal in today’s open club competition. Special congratulations to our own Brian Murray who pulled in the winning Country Club team, there were also 3 Ballyhegan men on the team. Seven teams from the Rep of Ireland entered the competition but all unfortunately failed to qualify for the semi finals.

Results: Men’s open club 560kg

1. Gold: Country Club – Northern Ireland
2. Silver: Abadino A – Basques
3. Bronze: Amaiur – Basques

Filed under: International Events | 1 Comment »