A Cambridge University professor has retained his world tiddlywinks title after seeing off an American challenger nicknamed the Dragon.
Tiddlywinks is a game in which players try to get small plastic discs into a cup by pressing one piece against another to make it fly through the air.
It can be traced back to late Victorian times, but the birth of the modern game stems from a group of Cambridge undergraduates meeting in Christ’s College in 1955, the English Tiddlywinks Association said.
Prof Patrick Barrie, 61, won the World Singles Tiddlywinks Championships on Thursday, with the seven-hour match held at the Castle Inn pub in Cambridge.
Reigning champion Patrick Barrie faced challenger David Lockwood at the Castle Inn pub in Cambridge (Joe Giddens/ PA)
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Prof Barrie, of Cambridge’s Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, described the fixture as “like a boxing world title” in its challenger format.
“You have a champion and only a national singles winner can challenge you,” he said.
His opponent was American tiddlywinks veteran Dave Lockwood, who lives just outside Washington DC.
Prof Barrie said of his 26-23 victory: “It’s a curious mixture of elation and relief. I’m very pleased.”
The glittering prize awaited Prof Barrie (Joe Giddens/ PA)
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He continued: “It was a long old match, it went on for seven hours. It was close, hard-fought.
“The relief is because I was favourite to win and expected to win, which puts you under a different type of pressure.
“I know Dave, I’ve known him a long time, and he’s a formidable opponent on his day.
“I had to do my best to make sure it wasn’t his day.”
Tiddlywinks is a game in which players try to get small plastic discs into a cup by pressing one piece against another to make it fly through the air (Joe Giddens/PA)
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He said that the pair “have a rivalry” and he was “glad to come out on top” and win the trophy.
Prof Barrie said tiddlywinks is “a nice mixture of physical skill, but with some intellectual thinking”.
“You’ve got to think about strategy and tactics, you have to control your nerves,” he said.
“It doesn’t take long to become good at all the shots.
Prof Barrie said challenger David Lockwood was a formidable player (Joe Giddens/ PA)
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“If you practice the shots a lot you become good at the shots fairly quickly, within six months or so.
“But knowing when to play the shots is what takes quite a lot of years to develop.
“When I was young I took up lots and lots of hobbies and I little thought the only one I would still be doing decades later would be playing tiddlywinks, and competitively.”
American challenger Mr Lockwood said he had been due to play the fixture earlier this year but was admitted to hospital with a subdural haematoma – bleeding inside the brain – so it was postponed until this month.
Reigning champion Patrick Barrie from Cambridge, left, with challenger David Lockwood (Joe Giddens/PA)
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The 73-year-old, who has worked for three airlines and been an entrepreneur, said he had “10 staples in my skull, there’s still a two-inch trench where the incision was, it was significant”.
He said he was “at least 99 if not 100% recovered” but “I will probably greatly reduce my winking activity after 56 years of doing it after this series of matches”.
He added: “I have been the best in the world in the past and I can’t quite match the level of skill and consistency that the best players can, so I think it’s a good time for me to emphasise some other parts, grandchildren and maybe some more travel.”
Mr Lockwood said of his opponent: “I give all congratulations to Patrick, he’s possibly the best player of all time and I’m glad I gave him a challenge, a good battle.”
The final scores crowned Prof Barrie as the reigning champion (Joe Giddens/ PA)
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He said he was “putting myself under four intensive days of massive winks” while visiting the UK, competing in pairs championships in the coming days, separately alongside two of his sons.
Harley Jones, who is chairman of the English Tiddlywinks Association, was the umpire of the championships.
The 34-year-old, of Ely, Cambridgeshire, said tiddlywinks was “like chess if you could miss” and Thursday’s game was “really nail-biting”.
He said there are just two national singles championships, the English and the American, and there are “about 120 people in the world ratings which is the number of people who’ve played in a tournament in the last year”.
So much at stake on the hallowed felt mat during the 2026 World Singles Championship (Joe Giddens/ PA)
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Mr Jones said it was a “privilege” to umpire and “observe this high level of play”, adding: “I think I learn a lot myself for my own game by watching these things.”
He continued: “It’s a game that really rewards the time you put in and the thought you put in, the training and practice.”
Titleholder Prof Barrie said he has a challenge booked against Tim Hunt, “the current British champion – I only came second last year”.
He said the pair will meet this weekend to discuss arrangements for the next World Singles Tiddlywinks Championships, possibly to be held in the spring.