The 57th World Conker Championships was played yesterday, and the new World Conker Champion is Kelci Banschbach from the USA.

Kelci, the Women’s World Champion, defeated the Men’s/ Open World Champion David Jakins in the Grand Final. Kelci said: ‘I’ve never won anything like this before, and am amazed I have done this. I’ve not really played conkers before, and this is just a surprise!’

The men’/ open champion, David Jakins, is perhaps better known as King Conker. He has competed for over forty years, but never won before. He said ‘This means so much to me. I’m 82, and my legs aren’t what they were, so to stand up there and become Men’s World Champion is wonderful.’

In other competitions, the intermediate (11-16) World Championship was shared between Enija Butane from Leicestershire and Clara Axmacher from Huntingdon, after they couldn’t be separated in an excellent final. The Junior World Champion (7-11) is Sebastian Sheffield from Northamptonshire, who defeated Nicoda Hutchinson from Cambridgeshire in the final. TheTeam World Champions were The Skuumkoppers from The Netherlands.

Chairman Jim Packer said: ‘This has been another wonderful day in which the sun shone and the crowds came out. Everyone seemed to have a lovely day and really enjoy themselves. To have a winner from the USA and team champions from the Netherlands shows how truly international we are. King Conker becoming Men’s World Champion at the age of 82 is a great story. We are also very grateful to our sponsors, Allica Bank and also Conker Clothing, who have enabled us to invest in new infrastructure and secure the tournament for future years.’

There were representatives of 10 countries taking part, and the 256 places in the adult competition were sold out well in advance. Around 100 juniors also played, and the attendance of 2,000 was also at its maximum.

The World Conker Championships is played annually at Southwick near Oundle in Northants.

World Conker Championships 2024 Winners

  • World Conker Champion – Kelci Banschbach, Indiana, USA
  • Men’s World Conker Champion – David Jakins (King Conker), Northants
  • Men’s Runner Up – Alastair Johnson-Ferguson, London
  • Ladies’ Runner Up – Rosie Burbidge, London
  • Team Champions – The Skuumkoppers, Netherlands
  • Team Runners-Up – Oakleys Nuts, Northants
  • Intermediate Joint Champion – Enija Butane, Leics
  • Intermediate Joint Champion – Clara Axmacher, Huntingdon
  • Junior Champion – Sebastian Sheffield, Northants
  • Junior Runner Up – Nicoda Hutchinson, Cambs