Quarter-final finish for Bosley in Belfast
BOSLEY Tug of War Club were in action in the European Outdoor Tug of War Championships held in Belfast, Northern Ireland last week.
Bosley have been competing in a number of domestic competitions over the course of the season and went into the event looking to compete well.
They were involved in the European Open Club competition on the first day, with the club competing in the 560kg weight class.
The club competition was split into four pools with the top two from each pool going forward to the knock-out stages of the competition.
Bosley were competing in the event with an inexperienced team, with a number of members competing in their first international event.
The team competed well in the group stages of the competition to finish second in their pool behind Stans-Oberdorf from Switzerland.
Bosley progressed all the way to the quarter finals of the competition where they met the Basque team of Gohierri, who are former world club champions at this weight class.
Despite a good effort, Bosley lost out by two ends to nil, with Gohierri progressing all the way to the final to take gold, defeating Stans-Oberdorf in the final of the competition who had defeated Bosley earlier in the group stages of the competition.
“We had a great cham- pionship reaching the quarter finals of the competition with a young and inexperienced team,” commented puller and club secretary Alan Knott.
“Being one of the top eight clubs in a European Club Competition is a great achievement and we only lost to the two teams that made the final, so hopefully we can stick together and go on to bigger and better things in the future.”
The event was the 50th anniversary of the first European Tug of War Championship that was held at the Crystal Palace Athletics Stadium in London, and as well as competing in the tug of war event, the team were introduced to three members of the 1965 Northern Ireland tug of war team that reached the final of the first European Championship in 1965 and faced the England team represented by Bosley, which Bosley won.
The team were also introduced to 1972 Olympic Pentathlon Champion Dame Mary Peters.
The European Tug of War Championships marked the end of the 2015 outdoor tug of war season, and the team will be looking to regroup over the winter months ready for the next challenge, which will be the 2016 National Championships in June and the 2016 World Championships in Sweden in September 2016.
For further information about Bosley Tug of War Club and to find out how you can get involved, visit the club web site at www. bosleytugofwar.co.uk.