World 'toad in the hole' championships in South East England

Forty-eight teams battled it out on Wednesday evening (April 18) in Lewes Town Hall, South East England, for the 21st World Toad in the Hole Championships. The sport is a traditional Sussex pub game, played in the county for a couple of hundred years, but now almost exclusively played in the Georgian town of Lewes, although the game does appear to have originated in France. The game involves throwing brass coins (or “toads”) at a lead square tabletop table with a hole in the middle. If a toad goes down the hole, it scores two points, or if it lands on the top it scores one. If it hits the back of the table or falls off, it is void, so a grand total of eight points per turn can be scored. The scoring is similar to darts and teams of four competed. In the early rounds, the hall was packed with competitors. Each team played three matches and then a knock out to find the winners ensued. This game can take minutes to learn but years to master. Those with the most skill display consistency with their throws. There is a technique with shots like dig backs, flip overs, overthrows, so it is much more complex than it appears. In the end, it was “The Black Horse Toad Club” who won.