England’s Scott Rider, throwing in front of a packed crowd that included Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip, won the 2012 Braemar Highland Games.



The 2012 Royal Braemar Highland Games
by Francis Brebner


The Royal Braemar Highland Games in Scotland this past weekend, which is annually attended by Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip, also had saw a large turnout with other members of the royal family with the presence of Prince Charles and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall and Princess Royal and her husband Sir Timothy Lawrence.  

More 20,000 spectators flocked to the gathering to get a glimpse of the royal family and also to watch the heavy events which included a a total of sixteen athletes battling it out: Bruce Robb (Scotland), Scott Rider (England), Dominic Zielinski (Poland), Sinclair Patience (Scotland), Pat Hellier (New Zealand), Alistair Gunn (Scotland) , Bruce Aitkin (Scotland) and the young blood and potential future stars of the sport Lorne Coulthart, Kyle Randalls and Jamie Gunn (all from Scotland).
 
In the first event with the 16-lb. Open stone it was England's Scott Rider that took the first win with a very fine putt of 54’ 8-1/2”; this was followed by his second win in the 28-lb. Braemar stone standing putt, with a putt of 37’ 1’’.
 
The following event with the 28-lb. weight for distance was won by Bruce Robb with a distance of  79’ 7’’, and in the 56-lb. weight for distance, again Robb  dominated securing his second win with a throw of 41’ 2’’.
 
In the 16-lb. and 22-lb. hammers, both wins went to one of the future stars in the sport, the young twenty two year old Kyle Randalls, with 129' 3" in the 16-lb. hammer and with a throw of 108’ 8-1/2 ’’ in the 22-lb. hammer.
 
The 56-lb. weight over the bar was won by Poland’s Dominic Zielinski with a height of 16’, with both Bruce Robb and Scott Rider tying for second place with a height of 15’.
 
In the Open caber which was 20’ 1’’ in length and 121 lb. in weight ended in a tie between Dominic Zielinski and Bruce Robb, with both athletes nailing perfect 12 o’clock tosses.  In third place was England’s Scott Rider and in fourth place was Lorne Coulthart.
 
Athletes next moved onto the Braemar caber which was 19’ 9’’ in length and slightly heavier in weight at 132 lb.  This ended in a tie once again between England's Scott Rider and Dominic Zielinski.  In third place was Bruce Robb, with Alistair Gunn fourth.

Scott Rider was the victor of the overall championship, with Bruce Robb second and Dominic Zielinski in third.  It had really been a close tussle throughout all the events between these three, with Bruce Robb going all out for the win, but when it come to the hammers, which are his weakest events, this let him down and he lost the vital points much needed for the overall win.
 
Glenfiddich Championship Series after 15 games in the series:
 
1.  Bruce Robb
2.  Craig Sinclair
3.  John Macleod
4.  Roy Valentine
5.  Stuart Anderson
 
Glenfiddich Qualifier Championship 18-25 years:
 
1.  Grant Sinclair
2.  Jamie Gunn
3.  Greg Walker
4.  Kyle Randalls
5.  Dale Walker
6.  Sam O Kane
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