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• At the annual World Conker Championship in Southwick, England, veteran player Dave Jakins, 82, won the men's tournament, the Associated Press reported. (Conkers is a traditional game played using the seeds of horse chestnut trees threaded on string; players try to strike and break each other's conkers.)
But controversy followed when Jakins was found to have a steel conker in his pocket.
His opponent, Alastair Johnson-Ferguson, said his own conker "disintegrated in one hit" after Jakins struck it.
"He was very closely watched by four judges," said St. John Burkett, chair of the event's organizing committee.
"It looks like it was absolutely impossible for him to cheat."
Jakins has denied cheating. [AP, 10/15/2024]