Craig Sinclair and Bruce Robb were neck and neck at the Dufftown Highland Games–Sinclair took the contest win and Robb held onto his overall lead in the Glenfiddich Grampian League Series.


2011 Dufftown Highland Games
by Francis Brebner
 
The Dufftown Highland Games this weekend pulled bumper crowds to the eighth Games in the Glenfiddich Grampian League Series.  On a glorious day of sunshine and with grounds filled to capacity and standing room only, a top standard of throwing was displayed by the Scottish athletes.  The lineup totaled eleven heavies, including Bruce Aitken, Bruce Robb, John MacLeod, Stuart Anderson, Craig Sinclair, Grant Sinclair, Kyle Randalls, Pete Hart, Neil McKenzie, Ernie Weir, and Steve Clark.
 
The 16-lb. hammer was a heated event between the top two Scottish hammer throwers, C. Sinclair and Aitken.  C. Sinclair, who has been having a great year with the hammer, won with a fantastic distance of 133’.  Aitken was second at 132’ 2”, Robb third at 122’ 3”, and Randalls fourth at 117’ 6”.
 
The 22-lb. hammer again was won by C. Sinclair by a clear margin at 111’ 7”, confirming his status as Scotland’s number-one hammer thrower.  Second came Aitken at 107’ 3”, third Robb at 101’ 7”, and fourth Randalls at 100’ 7”.
 
Robb won the 16-lb. shot with a put of 47’ 2”.  In a close second spot was C. Sinclair with 46’ 2”, followed by Aitken in third at 44’ 4” and MacLeod in fourth at 41’ 6”.
 
In the 22-lb. shot, Robb again claimed the victory with 41’; close on his heels was C. Sinclair at 39’ 10”, trailed by Aitken at 36’ 7” in third.
 
In the 28-lb. weight-for-distance, C. Sinclair came alive and pulled out a throw of 78’ 2” with a very dour weight for the win.  Having three extra attempts, C. Sinclair upped his mark and came within 1” of the ground record of 82’ 2-1/2” held since 1991 by Francis Brebner.  Looking at the progress this fine athlete is making from season to season, I am sure it won’t be long before the record changes hands.  In second place was Bruce Robb at 77’ 9” and in third, Aitken at 68’ 11”.
 
Robb displayed his talents with a winning throw of 38’ 5” in the 56-lb. weight-for-distance, leaving second to C. Sinclair at 36’ 2” and third to MacLeod at 31’ 8”.
 
In the caber event, with a caber 19’ in length and 130 lb. in weight, Robb won with a perfect 12:00 toss.  Second equal were C. Sinclair and Anderson with 12:05.
 
The 56-lb. weight-over-bar ended in a three-way tie at 15’ between C. Sinclair, Robb and Aitken.
 
Overall placings:

Glenfiddich League points to date:

Sinclair summed up his progress in throwing:  “Hopefully I will just peak for the IHGF World Highland Games Team Championships in Pleasanton [California] at the beginning of September and the IHGF World Championships in Loon Mountain, New Hampshire a few weeks later.  These are two of the biggest and best on the international circuit and I am looking forward to these great Games.
 
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