Contestants Gather In West Sussex For The World Marbles Championships

TINSLEY GREEN, ENGLAND - APRIL 07: A boy holds a marble to his nose before dropping it to decide who plays first during the British and World Marbles Championship on April 7, 2023 in Tinsley Green, England. The tournament dates back to 1588 when marbles was chosen as the deciding game of a legendary sporting encounter between two young suitors, Giles and Hodge, over the hand of a local milk maiden named Joan. Marble tournaments have purportedly been played at Tinsley Green ever since. Local historians have concluded that around 1930 many individual county marble championships were amalgamated to create the British Marble Championships, which was only renamed as the British and World Marbles Championship for the first time in 1938. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)