THE sport of rope quoits is one that most of the public will have tried in the backyard without even knowing that it’s a competitive sport.

The Australian Rope Quoits Championships arrive in Coleraine this weekend for the first time since 2016 with over 80 entries being accepted for both singles and team’s events.

The Australian Rope Quoits Council was formed back in 1946 and the championships have been held annually since then. Coleraine was due to host the championships much earlier but of course COVID-19 stepped in to make all plans redundant.

Ian Brown is the convener of the event, and he notes that Coleraine Rope Quoits Club came about from the Coleraine Cycle Club back in 1948.

The Coleraine Mechanics Hall is the venue for the event and there will be six games being played at once across both Saturday and Sunday in singles and teams’ competition.

Players must stand nine feet (2.75m) from the peg and throw the quoit over the peg with the first to 1001 (singles) being the winner.

Each match should last approximately 40-60 mins, with the very best A grade players taking only 40mins or better to ring out 1001 quoits.

Players will converge on Coleraine from Sydney, Melbourne, Bendigo, Ballarat, and Broken Hill which hold the championships on a rotating basis each year. 160607jd006

“We are very pleased with the number of entries this year and we are really looking forward to staging the event seeing as COVID stopped us from holding them earlier,” Brown said.

“Sally Armstrong from Coleraine is the best local hope as she competes in the ladies’ singles.”