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| World Conker Championships held in Northamptonshire | |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| Hundreds of people from around the world are taking part in this year's world conker championships. | |
| The event is being held in the village of Southwick in Northamptonshire, with thousands of spectators expected. | |
| Richard Howard, who is the ringmaster of the day's events, said 10 countries were competing, including Japan, South Africa and the US. | |
| The event started in 1965 and has grown year-on-year ever since with competitors playing on eight podiums. | The event started in 1965 and has grown year-on-year ever since with competitors playing on eight podiums. |
| 'Good eye' | 'Good eye' |
| The winner on the day is led to a conker throne and crowned with conkers - and Mr Howard said whoever won would have gone through several rounds and have smashed many conkers to have gained "the title and the honour" of being a world-class conker player. | |
| He said: "Usually the ones who are good at it are people with a good eye - people who are good at shooting, tennis players, sports people." | He said: "Usually the ones who are good at it are people with a good eye - people who are good at shooting, tennis players, sports people." |
| For those without experience he said the key to a win was to aim for the weakest point of the conker - the part where the lace goes through it, "as close to the string as possible" and not to hit it too hard. | For those without experience he said the key to a win was to aim for the weakest point of the conker - the part where the lace goes through it, "as close to the string as possible" and not to hit it too hard. |
| Some 200 people are taking part in the competition. | |
| Mr Howard said: "It's not often you get the chance to become a world champion." | Mr Howard said: "It's not often you get the chance to become a world champion." |