After the conkers and stone-skimming championships were rocked by recent scandal – Tiddlywinks and Bog Snorkelling bosses are taking no chances
Tiddlywinks and bog-snorkelling have launched a crackdown on cheats – after stone-skimming and conkers world championships were hit by swindlers.
A man dressed as a policeman caught smuggling in a metal chestnut was disqualified at the conkers showpiece in Northamptonshire on October 12, while three competitors found with polish-edged stones were kicked out of the skimming tournament in Scotland on September 6.
Now worried tiddlywinks chiefs are carrying out checks for oversized or sharpened metal ‘squidger’ discs – used to flick the smaller winks – at the game’s biggest tournament of the year, the National Pairs, at Oxford University this weekend.
Andrew Garrard, secretary of the English Tiddlywinks Association, said: “After what happened with conkers and stone-skimming, we are on the lookout.
“It’s our biggest tournament of the year so quite prestigious. We don’t want anything to go wrong and we expect everyone to conform with the rules.
“Players can bring their own squidger but we have suspicions some competitors break the 51mm maximum width rule, giving them better control of the winks.
“We are checking players’ squidger sizes.
“Sharp metal squidgers which scratch winks are also illegal, and players will be disqualified. Our umpires will be watching closely.”
Bog-snorkelling bosses plan extra scrutiny on the ban on all swimming strokes apart from doggy paddle at their World Championships, held in Llanwrtyd Wells, Mid-Wales.
Event organiser Bob Greenough said: “We’ve don’t want cheating in our event. Marshalls will check competitors stick to the permitted stroke.”
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