The 82-year-old David Jakins won the tournament on Sunday, marking his first victory since he began racing in 1977.
He expressed concerns after his conker “disintegrated in one hit, and that just doesn’t happen,” according to Alastair Johnson-Ferguson, his opponent in the final, who spoke to The news.
Later, a brown-painted imitation steel conker was discovered in Mr. Jakins’ pocket.
He claimed to have brought it along solely for “humour value” and denied using it at the competition in Southwick, Northamptonshire.
In addition to denying any allegations that he tagged the strings to draw attention to the harder nuts, Mr. Jakins assisted in preparing the conkers that other players used, which are thereafter chosen from a sack.
The only way to tell if a steel conker is authentic is by its weight, according to a tournament spokesperson who talked to News.
The organizing committee’s St. John Burkett stated that while an investigation was still underway, the evidence at this time pointed to no foul play.
We have found the winning conker and the one from the semi-final that was tossed into the crowd, according to the video evidence we are currently analyzing, he told News.
