World Conker Championship cheating claims blamed on ‘sore loser’

The World Conker Championships have said accusations of cheating come from a “sore loser”.

David Jakins, known as King Conker, won the men’s competition during the tournament at Southwick, Northamptonshire, on Sunday.

A Telegraph story included claims that the 82-year-old had cheated by swapping his real conker for a metal one and was also a head judge for the tournament.

Mr Jakins denied cheating and event chairman Jim Packer also rejected the claims, saying: “We don’t know where this story has come from. Somebody’s a sore loser, I think.”

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.”

Kelci Banschbach, originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, was overall winner of the event.

She defeated Mr. Jakins in the final match to win the women’s title and title “Queen Conker”.

Competitors who spoke to the Telegraph thought it suspicious Mr Jakins had “obliterated opponents’ nuts in one hit”.

However, Mr. Packer defended Mr. Jakins, describing him as “a heavy hitter” and explaining that it was not unusual for conkers to be destroyed.

“We’ve had numerous players more than capable of smashing on the first hit,” he added.

Mr Jakins told the BBC he had been playing in conker competitions for 40 years and carried a metal conker to amuse children.

“You get them to hit it with their conker and then their conker breaks and they can’t believe it,” he said.

“It’s impossible to cheat at conkers – it’s a load of nonsense.”

On Monday, tournament organizers said in a statement: “David Jakins, previous finalist and long-standing committee member, very much deserves his King Conker title.”