Horses throw toads to win quirky British pub championship

[April 21, 2018]    LONDON (Reuters) - With the final brass "toad" nestled at the bottom of the hole, team members from the Black Horse club jumped in the air to chest bump after becoming world champions at one of Britain's more obscure pub games.

Toad, which is said to have originated in France hundreds of years ago, involves throwing four large brass coins, or "toads", at a small hole on a lead square nearly eight feet (2.44 meters) away.

Two points are awarded for throwing a toad in the hole, with one point awarded for landing it on the lead table.

"Is toad skilful? Absolutely. You'll see players with varying techniques and skills that they've honed over a period of time," competitor Bryan Vaananen told Reuters.

"You can't just rock up and chuck it in the hole."

The Black Horse came out victorious at Wednesday's championship at a hall in the team's home town of Lewes in southern England. More than 50 teams vied for the title, an increase on last year's entrants.

The game is hugely popular in the East Sussex town, having waned elsewhere in English pubs amid competition from darts and pool.

(Writing by Patrick Johnston in LONDON; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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