John Whelan from Co. Wexford has taken second place overall in the reversible class at the World Ploughing Championship in Croatia.

The 71st edition of the annual event brought together 51 of the world's top ploughmen and ploughwomen to compete in Osijek-Baranja County.

John Whelan and Eamonn Tracey from Co. Carlow represented the Republic of Ireland team at the event.

The awards ceremony took place last night (Saturday, September 5) as part of a gala banquet marking the end of the two days of competitions in the grassland and stubble fields.

Ploughing

Whelan was awarded second overall by the judges in the world reversible class, finishing on a total of 374.5 points.

He was in third position following the stubble competition on day one, for which he was awarded 192 points.

The ploughman put in a strong performance on Saturday, claiming second place in the grassland section with 182.5 points.

The winner of the conventional class was Mathieu Cormoreche from France, with Kevin Albrecht from the US in third.

Eamonn Tracey finished in sixth position overall in the conventional class on 325.5 points.

Metej Sinic from Slovenia was the overall winner of the conventional class with a total of 339.5 points.

He was joined on the podium by Bernhard Keferbock from Austria (339 points) and Nigel Vickers of England (337.5 points).

The National Ploughing Association (NPA) congratulated John and Eamonn on their performances in Croatia, adding "you did us proud".

The association also thanked judge Harry Mallon and coach Gary Simms, both from Donegal, for being part of the event.

Championships

Last month, Jer Coakley from Co. Cork topped the podium at the European Reversible Ploughing Championships in Switzerland, while Dan Donnelly from Co. Wexford claimed fourth place.

Attention now turns to the upcoming National Ploughing Championships in Screggan, Tullamore, Co. Offaly.

Over 350 ploughing competitors will take part in a total of 34 classes from September 15-17.

Adding an international dimension to this year's event will be the Five Nations Ploughing Competition which will also take place over two days.