WELSH AXEMEN COMETH
THE crowd was raucous, the pace frenetic and the atmosphere electric. Through the waving Union Jacks and lights at Liverpool’s Echo Arena strode the Great Britain team, a quartet of smiling Welshmen determined to prove they could live with the world’s best Stihl Timbersports athletes.
Leading their assault on the world title was four-times British champion Elgan Pugh, backed by his own 50-strong fan club.
Orchestrated by wife Teleri, complete with diamanté Wales hat, supporters had travelled up from Bethesda, Nefyn and Elgan’s home town of Bala to cheer on the poster boy of UK Timbersports.
Competing across six disciplines – three with an axe and three with saws – fellow team members Glen Penlington, Andrew “Taff” Evans and Dave Thomas knew they had their work cut out to live with the world’s elite.
An early loss to Italy was a set-back but the team recovered to beat Belgium with a time quick enough to earn a place in the last 16.
Here they came up against an inform Team Australia. The difference in class told but the Welshmen could hold their heads up high: the Chopperoos went on to win the world team title, and shaved off more than a second of their own world record.
“It was really good, we had a couple of young lads in the team and we’ll come back stronger next year,” said Andrew, a former Royal Marine commando from Bethesda.
“We’ve got to pick things up, get strong and hopefully we’ll be better next time.”
More than 20 nations competed at the Echo Arena in a self-styled “extreme sport” that has its origins in the commercial timber sector.
As some disciplines can be completed in seconds, interspersed with five-minute turnarounds, the sport can be a tough watch for all but the most determined timberheads.
It has, however, been given a US-- style make-over: loud music, enthusiastic commentary and plenty of strobe lighting. Even the judge, Andy Hall, in his American football-style shirt, brought his own fan club.
It’s like darts but with £5,000, woodchewing chainsaws.
In the individual competition on Saturday night, Elgan, 36, was determined to improve on his 9th place finish at the last world championships in Lillehammer.
It was a tall order against athletes who compete regularly at international level. Elgan, who runs his own construction company, was also hamstrung by the demands of work – he completed a sports hall refurbishment just hours before the championships began, leaving little time for preparation.
He began well in the Underhand Chop, setting a personal best time and beating European champion, Czech Martin Komarek.
Elgan went to set another PB in the Single Buck and also claimed another notable scalp – that of New Zealand’s Jason Wynyard, a nine-time world champion, in the Stock Saw.
The Timbersports legend, who has a hulking, brooding presence on stage, was strangely out of sorts on the night, languishing in sixth place.
For Elgan, however, his displays weren’t quite enough to reach the final eight. While the sport continues to grow in Britain, standards elsewhere are getting higher too: he had to settle for 11th.
Having recorded the night’s fastest times in the Single Buck and Springboard disciplines, Aussie athlete Laurence O’Toole went on to lift the jazzy world championship trophy.
In doing so he propelled Australia to the double, leaving the USA’s Matt Cogar – who set a world record in the Standing Block Chop – and Czech Republic’s Martin Komarek in second and third place respectively.
“To get a win over Jason in the Stock Saw was a great achievement, but it wasn’t my smoothest run,” said Elgan.
“The Stock Saw is crucial for me, for my points, because the other guys are stronger in the chopping events, so it was a only average to be honest.
“However the atmosphere on the night, and the support, was brilliant.”