Leach settles for arm wrestling bronze

John Leach (left) shapes up against an opponent at the Auckland championships. Picture by Darlene Hohipa

GISBORNE’S John Leach went to the New Zealand arm wrestling championships in Auckland aiming for gold but had to settle for two bronze medals.

“I got nowhere in the right-arm division after my shoulder blew out in my first match but I was happy to get third with the left-arm in the 80-90-kilograms class, and third in the open left arm,” said the 34-year-old field worker, who runs the Lock and Drop arm wrestling club in Gisborne.

“I was gutted when I blew the shoulder and tore the bicep on my left arm. Last year I got silver on left arm and third on right so I was really hoping to get a gold this time around.”

Despite the injuries, which “are still causing me pain”, Leach is determined to be fit for the Battle of the Beast competition in Rotorua next month.

“It’s named after national armwrestling champion Maateiwarangi (Maat) Heta-Morris, who’s from Rotorua and is known as The Beast.

National open champHeta-Morris, who is 188cm tall, weighs 140 kilograms and has 53cm biceps and 46cm forearms, has been the national open champion for three years running.

The 27-year-old also won the Australasian and Oceania champs and was ranked 11th in the world after competing in the world championships in Poland two years ago.

Leach had hoped to get Heta-Morris to compete here in Gisborne before the national champs but the deal fell through due to lack of entries.

“That was disappointing. Having someone like Maat would have given the profile of the sport a huge lift. It didn’t eventuate this time but I’ll carry on trying to get more people interested in the sport.”

The format for the Battle of the Beast is different to the national champs, where arm wrestlers get two chances to advance. In Rotorua it is the best of five matches.

“You could lose your first two but still make it to the next round,” Leach said.

“Your opponents could peak for his first two then lose the next three. I prefer that format.”