Cambridge professor retains world tiddlywinks title

Summarised from 2 outlets · 3 reports · Updated 23 Oct, 13:20 · Archive

A Cambridge University professor has retained his world tiddlywinks championship after defeating an American challenger.

Professor Patrick Barrie, 61, from Cambridge's Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, won the World Singles Tiddlywinks Championships on Thursday, retaining his title in a seven-hour match held at the Castle Inn pub in Cambridge. His opponent was American tiddlywinks veteran Dave Lockwood, who lives outside Washington DC and goes by the nickname the Dragon. Barrie won 26-23.

Tiddlywinks is a game in which players try to get small plastic discs into a cup by pressing one piece against another to make it fly through the air. The game can be traced back to late Victorian times, but the birth of the modern game stems from Cambridge undergraduates who met at Christ's College in 1955, according to the English Tiddlywinks Association.

Prof Barrie described the fixture as 'like a boxing world title' in its challenger format, where only national singles winners can challenge the champion. Of his victory, he said: 'It's a curious mixture of elation and relief. I'm very pleased.' He noted that the match was 'close, hard-fought' and that he faced pressure as the favourite. He described tiddlywinks as 'a nice mixture of physical skill, but with some intellectual thinking', requiring strategy, tactics and nerve control.

How it is being reported

• Meet the Tiddlywinks champion of the world! Cambridge professor lands disc-flipping title after SEVEN hour match against American challengerA Cambridge professor has retained his title of Tiddlywinks champion of the world after seeing off an American challenger nicknamed the Dragon.Daily Mail · 23 Oct, 13:06
• Can he flick it? Yes he can – professor sees off tiddlywinks title challengerThe World Singles Tiddlywinks Championship contest took place at the Castle Inn pub in Cambridge.Evening Standard · 23 Oct, 11:48
• Can he flick it? Yes he can – professor sees off tiddlywinks title challengerThe World Singles Tiddlywinks Championship contest took place at the Castle Inn pub in Cambridge.Evening Standard · 23 Oct, 10:51

In this story: Patrick Barrie · Dave Lockwood · Cambridge University · Cambridge

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