Jouster takes top title

A FULLTIME knight and key figure at Kryal Castle has ridden his way to the top spot in one of England’s most prestigious jousting tournaments.

The attraction’s experience director Phillip Leitch has returned from this year’s Arundel International Tournament in England with the top spot of Champion of Champions.

Held every five years as the elite component of the annual competition based at the titular castle in West Sussex, the event saw eight of the world’s best jousters racing head-towards-head throughout six days of rounds.

Leitch qualified for the 2023 event when he won Arundel’s individual Champion of Champions title as part of the Australian team in 2019 and said it’s an honour to now have the top title.

“It feels very special” he said. “It’s difficult to win at the best of times. Even the best of jousters can come away multiple times without a win.

“To get invited to the Champion of Champions, you have to have won it once already and then you get invited back to compete against a really high level of competition.”

With three sessions per day, Leitch competed in eight rounds of jousting as well as two skill-at-arms side competitions.

He said taking part at such a high level brought many challenges.

“There’s a pool of horses and you ride a different one each session so you don’t get to choose nor become familiar with your horse,” he said.

“The difference between winning and losing often came down to who could get a perfect score. There was little opportunity to make a mistake.”

With the top spot taken, Leitch will no longer qualify to return to the Arundel competition, which he said brings mixed feelings.

“I’ve kind of completed it,” he said. “I’m very happy to have won it but the opportunity to go again is very limited now.

“It’s my favourite tournament to go to. It was my first overseas tournament so it has a special place for me.”

Since first competing at Arundel in 2014, Leitch has jousted in England, Germany, France, the United States, and Canada.

With a lifelong love for the Middle Ages and fantasy, Leitch has been jousting for 14 years once he saw the sport as the perfect combination between his interests in martial arts and horse-riding.