Chinese Crokinole in the Canadian Press
May 25, 2007
PRESS RELEASE
for immediate release
May 23, 2007
CANADIAN GAME OF CROKINOLE IS BORN IN CHINA
AP - The Chinese Crokinole Championships were held for the first time on May 18th in Dalian, China, which is in the northeastern region of China. The championship is the brainchild of Craig S. Engleson, a Canadian teacher who has been living in Dalian for the past five years. Engleson says that the Canadian teachers who are living here are all keen crokinole fans and he thought that a tournament in China would not only enable his fellow ex-patriots to have a day to celebrate being Canadian, it would help promote the game of crokinole in an area of the world that has never seen it before. Engleson says that the tournament was very successful and “I feel we have definitely started something here that will continue on throughout the years.” The winner, Adrian Conradi, is awarded a berth into the World Crokinole Championship held Saturday, June 2nd in Tavistock, Ontario.
Engleson said that the Championship used the exact same standards as the World Championship. He recently had a custom crokinole board made in China and “did everything within my means to make the board of the highest quality and standard.” He is very happy with the overall product. He decided to have insignias burned on the buttons the light coloured button shave “Hao Ren”, which means good people, and the darker coloured button shave “Hui Ren”, which means bad people. “This way, every game will be the good people versus the bad. I like that!”, he commented.
The World Crokinole Championship (WCC) will host its 9th championship this year. Past competitors have come from all across Canada as well as from New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, California, Texas, Tennessee and Michigan. There has also been representation from the Yukon, Germany and England. Prince Edward Island has their own provincial championship tournament and send their champions to compete in Tavistock. Germany held their first European Championship last year and plans to encourage their winners each year to compete in the World Crokinole Championship.
Crokinole has its roots in Tavistock. Historians believe that the game developed in southern Ontario during the 1860s. That notion is confirmed with the fact that the oldest known crokinole board in the world was made just outside of Tavistock in 1876 by a local craftsman, Eckhardt Wettlaufer, as a birthday present for his five-year-old son, Adam. The board now resides at The Joseph Schneider Haus Museum in Kitchener, Ontario.
At this year’s Championship, there is $5000 in cash and prizes to be won, with the top prize of $1000 being awarded to the Champion Adult Single. The recently introduced Recreational Division, with a top prize of $200, has been well received and will again be a category for those wishing to play in the tournament at a recreational level. It’s one of the goals of the WCC executive to promote crokinole as a game that’s fun for everyone. It is a game with no age or gender barriers or advantages, as many children will play with or against grandparents. Competitors at the World Championship often range in age from 6 to 80.
Registrations are available at the Tavistock & District Recreation Centre, 655-2102 or by visiting www.worldcrokinole.com.
