The World Conker Championships took place in Northamptonshire on Sunday. Veteran player David Jakins, AKA King Conker, walked away victorious after competing in the championships every year since 1977.
It was a huge win for Jakins, who had been vying for first place for more than 40 years. But now the the 82-year-old has been accused of cheating after a steel conker replica was allegedly found in his pocket. So what exactly went down?
After 23-year-old finalist Alastair Johnson-Ferguson was beaten by Jakins, he accused him of ‘foul play’. Johnson-Ferguson told the Telegraph: ‘My conker disintegrated in one hit, and that just doesn’t happen … I’m suspicious of foul play and have expressed my surprise to organisers.’
King Conker, who helped prepare the conkers ahead of the competition, was also accused of marking the strings with harder conkers. But the long-time player has denied all the allegations.
The Guardian reported he said: ‘I was found with the steel conker in my pocket, but I only carry [it] around with me for humour value and I did not use it during the event.
‘Yes, I did help prepare the conkers before the tournament. But this isn’t cheating or a fix, and I didn’t mark the strings.’
St John Burkett, a spokesperson for the World Conker Championships, told the Guardian the cheating claims were being investigated. ‘Allegations of foul play have been received that somehow King Conker swapped his real conker for the metal one later found in his pocket,’ he said.
‘Players select conkers from a sack before each round. There are also suggestions that King Conker had marked the strings of harder nuts. We can confirm he was involved in drilling and lacing the nuts before the event. We are investigating.’
But the event organisers weren’t convinced of any real cheating. Event chairman Jim Packer told the BBC that he thought Alastair Johnson-Ferguson was just being a ‘sore loser’.
He added: ‘Yes, he had a steel conker with him, which we’re aware of... it’s very obvious it’s not a real one.’
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