The Country Club Tug of War team regained the 560kg world title on Thursday February 20 in the Aura Leisure Centre, Letterkenny.

Competing against 15 teams from as far away as Chinese Tapai and Ukraine, the Fermanagh based team finished top of their group without losing a a single pull or receiving any cautions.

Facing into a semi final against Gaztedi (Basque Country Spain) another strongly fought performance lasting three and a half minutes of steady pressure guaranteed a final spot against the home team of Clonmany B for Donegal who are current Irish champions at 560kg.

Fighting against a very strong Clonmany B team and a loud home crowd, the Country Club men powered on to win by two straight ends in a battle lasting over four minutes of steady control pressure.

On Saturday Country Club went on to represent Northern Ireland at International level 560kg following winning the National 560 competition with stiff competition from Chinese Taipei, Scotland, Basque Country (Spain), Ireland, Netherlands and Japan.

After group stages Northern Ireland were placed joint second, going on to pull Ireland in the semi final.

Overpowering them in four minutes of tough pulling to book their place in the final with Chinese Taipei.

This proved to be the pull of the tournament so far with the first end lasting over five minutes, ending in the Northern Ireland team receiving too many cautions while travelling for the finish line only inches from the mark.

The second end was also another battle lasting over three minutes with Chinese Taipei proving too strong and becoming World International champions.

On day four of the competition Northern Ireland competed in the 600 kg weight class.

While under weight, they competed very well to earn a place in the top four in their group and had to face Ireland who were clean favourites for this weight class in the semi final.

This proved to be a fascinating pull lasting ten minutes of great pressure and secured Northern Ireland a place in the final where this time they would meet the current World 600kg champions, the Netherlands.

This proved to be a step too far for the local team who had to settle for a superb silver medal and brought to an end a very successful four days of competition.

Country Club Pullers

Pullers involved were : Stephen Hunter, Simon Hicks, Nathan Thompson, Robert Graham, Emmett Geary, Tom McCusker, Mark Robinson, Sean Colton (Coach), Adrian Russell, Brian Telford, Kane Douglas, Paddy Haughey, Reuben Speers, Sam Rountree, Mark Walker, Nelson Hanna, Davey Donaldson, Matthew Compston, Johnny Compston, Alan Walker (Trainer), Vernon Hurst.