It could have come straight from the plot of a Shakespearean tragedy.
The king is challenged to war by a young pretender, and victory can only be gained by destroying his opponent. The king was victorious, but suspicions arose that he had committed an outrageous act in the fight for the throne.
Then a newcomer – a beautiful maiden from a foreign land – appears to defeat the king. But the story doesn't end there. That's just the beginning…
The story behind the controversy at this year's World Conquer Championship held last weekend garnered a lot of interest among the world's media.
Conkers is a game in which players take turns using their own braided nuts to crush chestnuts, or “conkers,” suspended by lace threaded through the center, and is a game played primarily in England since the early 1800s. and has been played by Irish children.
Match at this year's World Conquer Championship (Jacob King/PA Images via Getty Images)
It's not as quintessentially British as, say, snorkeling in a bog, cheese rolling, or walking down a well. In fact, buckeye nuts are also played in some parts of the United States, particularly in Ohio.
Since 1965, the annual World Championships have been held in Northamptonshire, England, with the current venue being Southwick.
The village's population was recorded at 181 in the last census, but each year more than 250 adults and 100 children head to the village to be crowned horse chestnut champions in front of 2,000 spectators. Fight for your goals and raise money for charity.
The event began when a group of fishermen decided one day that the weather was not suitable for their usual pastimes, so they instead played with horse chestnuts and raised money for one of their blind relatives. Ta. Since then, the tradition has continued, raising £420,000 ($548,000) for charities related to blind and partially sighted people.
It is usually a casual event that attracts contestants from all over the world. Last year, the overall winner was from Canada, this year the children's winners were from Germany and Latvia, the team winner was from the Netherlands, and the overall winner and new queen conker of the event was Kelsi. Bunschbach, a 34-year-old from Indianapolis, is the first American to win the title. (The male winner will face the female winner in the grand final.)
Banschbach, who only recently arrived in the UK for work in 2022 and entered the competition to immerse herself in the local culture, emerged as the surprise winner of this year's competition.
But the reason the 2024 event has gained so much notoriety is because of the man she beat in the all-around final, David Jakins. He is an 82-year-old tournament veteran and also serves as a championship judge.
Jakins was active last weekend (Jacob King/PA Images via Getty Images)
This year will be Jakins' 46th attempt to win the men's event, and he will be competing in the men's event against Alastair Johnson Ferguson, a 23-year-old civil engineer from London who was visiting with friends from Japan to experience the event. ) and finally achieved his dream. final.
Jakins destroyed Johnson Ferguson with his first swing (contestants toss a coin to see who would bat first) and won the semifinal with two hits. An impressive feat. In particular, the harder you hit, the greater the risk of breaking your own horse chestnut.
The drama then continues as Jakins shows journalists a fake steel conker that has been painted so that it is almost indistinguishable from the real one, and the journalist informs the organizers. It was exciting.
An investigation is underway to examine video footage to determine whether any scandal occurred during the men's final. Did King Conquer cheat to secure the crown after nearly half a century of trying, with a steel conker so powerful and indestructible that victory was guaranteed? Were the referees, who watched each match intently to ensure strict rules were followed, fooled?
“We are a very serious organization and we take horse chestnut seriously,” said spokesman St. John Burkett. The Athletic. “I want to proceed with the investigation. I don't think this has ever happened before. Therefore, you need to make sure that everything is clear and transparent. ”
It is not unheard of for skullduggery to take place in Tochi. It is believed that soaking nuts in vinegar, roasting them, or injecting them with resin increases their firmness.
The conker game has been played for over 200 years (Jacob King/PA Images via Getty Images)
“You can use a year-old horse chester, and the Godfather, who was a two-time champion, used to say the best horse chestnuts are those that have gone through the pigs,” Burkett says. “He used to tell long stories about how to get a conker into a pig's mouth without letting the pig chew it. Then, when the conker comes out the other side, you have to chase it and find it. No.”
So obviously it's not uncommon for people to go to extreme lengths to win a conker match. But did King Conker also dabble in the dark arts?
Rick Murphy, who has been a judge with Jakins at the event for 30 years, watched Jakins' semifinal win just meters from the men's final.
“The chances of cheating at the world championships are very low,” he says. The Athleticapproximately 3,500 battle-ready horse chestnuts were selected by a committee after September 30th, prepared by volunteers including Jakins, and then randomly bagged and placed in various locations to be selected. I explained that it would be taken to a location. This greatly reduces the chances of fraudulent nuts being prepared and selected by criminals. Judges are also keeping a close eye on any sleight of hand.
“a “The steel conkers weigh about 10 times as much,” Murphy said. “So if a player starts hitting with it, an experienced judge will spot it right away because its dynamics are so different than a regular conker. It's going to swing completely differently, it's going to be much faster, it's going to be heavier. Because of this, the player will have to lift more to swing the conker. Considering all these things, the chances of cheating are very low. ”
Murphy, who has known Jakins for 30 years and happily roamed around the event venue in an ornate robe and posed for photos, denies all the allegations and says he has no idea what he's doing with iron nuts to entertain children. I'm very skeptical of the 82-year-old Jakins, who claims to be using it. Taking on the impossible task of defeating it will tarnish the image of the game.
““I was in the ring for the men's final, but I wasn't an official referee,” he says. “I stood a few feet away to give the spectators and press a chance to see rather than block their view, and (as a result) my view was partially obstructed.
“It all happened so fast that literally on the first swing a conker piece came flying at me. Now, that’s not as rare as people think. My own conker broke off in the first round with a first strike. . It was like: “Oh, what happened?” Are you done yet? ”
But Murphy had no doubts.
“I’ll tell you why,” he added. “I refereed the semi-final and it was a similar result, two strikes. Once again, I saw him randomly drawing horse chestnuts. I tried to see how the conker moves. I didn't see him put his hands in his pockets, so I was sure nothing strange was going on.
“I know David very well and he wants to realize his ambitions to win the competition, but I’m sure he won’t cheat to get there.”
All of these horse chestnuts were used in the championship (Jacob King/PA Images via Getty Images)
This is where the story gets a little dark. Since the incident, the attention from TV, radio and media coverage has caused some unrest, and not just Jakins, who declined to comment when interviewed. The Athletic.
Initial reports said Johnson-Ferguson complained to organizers after the tournament, prompting chairman Jim Packer to brand him a “loser.” However, the men's runner-up seems to have calmed down a bit now.
“I hadn't played since I was 10 years old and I was just in it for a laugh,'' Johnson-Ferguson said. The Athletic. “It was completely fair and there were no issues.
“I saw him (Jakins) put the conker in one pocket and take it out of the other. That happened, but he probably kept the winning conker as a souvenir. Probably. It was a fun day with a great atmosphere. It was fun, but it was tainted by what happened next. ”
“I didn't want the president to call me competitive. I thought this was a light-hearted conversation, and it's true in general, but people don't like having their name dragged through the mud on the national news. not here. If you had asked me the next day if I would go again, I would have said yes, but now I don't know. ”
The story isn't over yet. As of this article's publication, the investigation is still ongoing. But for now, the king retains his crown.
But regardless of what happens in the coming days, Jakins Steel Nut will long live under the infamy of horse chestnuts.
(Top image: Artwork by Meech Robinson, photo via Getty Images)
