Cip Stops Sunny From Shining
London’s Finest Pool hosted the weekly Monday Night Tournament at London Snooker Tooting last night, where no other club can boast a gathering of such mighty talent in one place on a Monday night. The smell of sweat, testosterone, and kebab rolls lingered in the club’s atmosphere as 31 players rolled in to cause upsets, create magic, and ultimately…win.
First off, Paz “the Punisher” Brennan got pulled out of the hat for the Break and Run. Only pulled out of the hat two weeks ago, and broke as dry as the Sahara desert that time, could he possibly pull it off this time? Nope. Another dry break, and an opportunity missed. Maybe that chance, next week, might fall to someone who has entered every bloody week since it started and STILL hasn’t had even one chance to have a go.
Anyway, onto the first round, and there was relatively little drama. Alex Vilmanis and Krishen Sookhraz produced a match up where Kris threw everything he could at Alex. However, Alex is a seasoned player who can play under pressure, and despite Kris’s decent showing, Alex came through to win 5-4.
Some really impressive, but ultimately, easy wins in the first round. Marius Dandu, the ladies’ favourite, seems to have slowly started to turn his form around. Normally a slow starter, and having been in poor form lately, he came out of the blocks to win 5-0 against Arul Ellappan. Marius has all the ability, and this might well be the start of an upsurge in his fortunes, as his ranking doesn’t reflect his ability.
In the battle of the Hassans, Hassan overcame Hassan 5-0, which was surprising as Hassan can be a slow starter, whilst Hassan has shown good determination and fight in previous MNT. Hassan will be disappointed with his performance, whilst Hassan gained plenty of confidence having started the tournament with a positive performance.
Meanwhile, Sunny Boy Garib kicked off his evening with a 5-0 win over Marc Harris, and Ramesh “Ramma Jamma” Gokhul also made light work of Ervin Demiraj.
The second round also only saw one match go to the wire. Saman Gholami faced up to Kostya Ivanov, who turned up to the tournament looking like a dodgy teen pop idol auditionee with his new hair colour. Saman has all the ability to play well, but can be a bit inconsistent at times, whilst Kostya produces some absolute magic at times. This was always going to be a good game, and it wasn’t a surprise that it went to hill hill. Despite the chances that Saman had, Kostya scraped through, leaving Saman wondering how he lost the match.
In other key results, Marius Dandu continued to wow the audience with a second whitewash win of the evening over Glen “THE Hitman” Hargreaves, Hassan Mehedi also pulled out his second clean sheet of the evening by beating Henri Linainmaa, and Ram also pulled out his second thrashing of the evening against Alex Vilmanis. Phenomenal stuff from these three, and not an easy feat to achieve.
The quarter-finals is where it gets really tasty. Marius Dandu against Hassan Mehedi. Ciprian Dandu against Martinho Correia. Rod “the God” Altes against Sunny. And Ram against Kostya.
Marius and Hassan engaged in a gritty battle, but Hassan was building up a head of steam and was starting to play pretty well. Marius just couldn’t take his chances, and was ground down by Hassan 4-2.
Cip and Martinho seemed to produce a poor quality match by their high standards, and Martinho lacked his usual flow. Cip managed to get himself together, and came through 4-1.
Rod and Sunny had a really interesting match-up as Sunny is slowly and surely getting back to a level that he might be happy with. Rolling back the years, Sunny is making some nice progress, but Rod’s a different proposition and there was no way Sunny was going to get easy chances. And Rod didn’t provide many chances at all. Not really even missing any pots, but Sunny created his own chances by break and running 3 out of the 4 times he broke, to win 4-3. Stunning stuff.
And in the last quarter, Ram was displaying some fine form, making the most of every opportunity in the way that he does. Very few mistakes and Kostya is yet to beat Ram since August of last year.
The semis saw both matches go to the wire. Hassan and Cip had a really good but tense game. Cip was still yet to fire on all cylinders, whilst Hassan battled hard and played well to keep it tight. With Cip about to either turn it on or run out of steam, in the final rack, he absolutely flicked a switch to run out the last 3 balls with absolute precision and mastery. Cip showing glimpses of his A game again.
In the other semi, Sunny had no fear. Ram might send a shiver down most people’s spines, but not Sunny. His languid style covers much of the competitive spirit that he possesses, and as he’s been showing his improvement of late, this was the time to demonstrate it. With both players on the hill, Sunny took his opportunity and waved to the crowd as they celebrated a hard fought victory.
And to the final. It’s been argued that Cip had the easier run to the final, as Sunny had to overcome Rod and Ram. Was it going to drain Sunny, or was Cip just getting stronger and stronger? As has been said a few times, Cip is one of the best players I have ever had the pleasure of playing against. His A game is flawless and a match for almost anyone in this country, but this man is focused on ensuring that MNT goes smoothly and his game has suffered as a result.
Up against Sunny, this was never going to be anything other than top quality pool, and the final didn’t disappoint. 3-3 and it went to a one rack shootout. Just one rack to decide the winner of what had been an exhausting evening, and in the end, Cip came through for the win. A thrilling encounter and it was great to see more names challenging at the top. Sunny’s on his way back to his best, and Cip is showing signs of getting back to his A game too, so expect some real fireworks over the coming weeks.
Next week is a non-ranking event, the Blind Scotch Doubles! One of the most entertaining tournaments where players are drawn together and play with much less pressure. It’s a good exercise as doubles is very much a part of the scene, and with no ranking points involved, it’s always been an enjoyable evening for all concerned.
Have a great week everyone!
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Tash Back To His Best?
London's Finest Pool hosted yet another eventful evening at London Snooker Tooting, in the weekly Monday Night Tournament (MNT), and for the first time at MNT, TV cameras were present to trial out some footage in preparation for the launch of LFP TV. LFP TV promises not to just be a stream of pool of action, but goes further in depth into the characters and personalities that make up London's Finest Pool community. Supplementing the match reports, there will be more player interviews, more player reactions, and more random action on the tables that somehow get captured unexpectedly at random camera angles. Watch out for further developments over the coming weeks as we hope to develop the ideas and find improvements for the community.
In other news, London's Finest Pool announces a new sponsorship deal with Takini Cloth, from Korea. Some of the tables had been reclothed with these tournament standard cloths, providing a new conundrum for the players. The slide. If you play at clubs where they don't re-cloth the tables, then you might not know that a new cloth reacts very differently for the first couple of weeks of playing. The way balls react off the cushions, the reaction of spin, and many other factors come into the equation and it's difficult to adjust at first, especially if you're not a pro who plays on new cloths at main tournaments on the circuit. Having said that, after a couple of weeks, the tables will play beautifully and the speed will be much more to the better players' liking.
First off, Tomasz Jedlecki kicked off the tournament with his attempt at the Break and Run, trying to win £35 a ball. A mammoth break saw 2 balls sunk, but the big man went for an ambitious cannon, when most would have taken the £70. His greed saw him fail and the pot rolls over into next week. Likely to be £40 a ball, by then, and of course, everyone will be hoping for abject failure unless their name gets pulled out. Such an encouraging community we have at Tooting!!!
Into the first round, and a big upset was on the cards as Dan Jenkins faced up to Ciprian Dandu. Dan is fairly new to the community, and has a bit of bad luck in previous tournaments, as he kept getting drawn against some of Tooting's biggest names. However, those in the know have seen him play well and a potential "one to watch" for the future. Cip was fresh off the back of an impressive showing last week, having reached the final. This was likely to be a excellent test for both, and in the end, Dan came through to win 5-4. A big win for Dan, and showed that he can mix it up with the best. Definitely a rising star.
Another match that went to hill-hill was the match between Ben Venables and Joe Granville. Ben had been absent from MNT since Autumn last year, and was on a poor run in any case, not having won since defeating Dan "the Destroyer" Suh, all the way back in August. Joe is bit of an enigma, in that his potting can be phenomenal at times, so is thought of to be highly dangerous, but can quite easily provide openings for opponents at the least expected times. This was going to be a close one, and it did turn out to be a gruelling affair. Perhaps it was the lack of recent tournaments, but Ben crumbled in the final rack, leaving Joe to win 5-4. Hopefully it won't be another 3 months before Ben emerges from hiding again.
And there was one epic match between Saman Gholami and Andy "Banks" Curzon, the professor of geometry. Saman has started to get used to his new cue, whilst Andy's on a mission to climb up the rankings and show that there's more to his game than being a geometric master. A game of exceptional quality ensued, as Saman ran the table to the 10 ball in no less than 3 racks, leaving Andy with easy finishes. Andy kept up the pressure with some fine play himself, and Saman kept fighting to stay in the game to send it to hill-hill. However, Andy has a new resolve and ended up winning 5-4, but Saman was still very happy with the way he was stroking his wood.
Two whitewashes in the first round too. The man with a big reputation, Zoltan Kojsza, was in town and faced up to Hassan Mehedi. Zoltan infrequently visits Tooting, and all eyes were on him as he's won tournaments all over the UK and Europe. However, Tooting is a bear pit, the kind of arena that tests you no matter what your skill level is. Being a regular means that you learn the nuances of each table, and Hassan used all of his knowledge to win 5-0. Meanwhile, the calm and assured Ciaran Boylan, has been slowly building up a head of steam. The rather large man from Ireland has a cue action of a pro, the kind of temperament that only years of training at a Buddhist temple can provide, and he started his evening off very well with a fine 5-0 win over girls' favourite, Sean "Scarf" Avery.
The second round saw Dan Jenkins continue his momentum. Up against one of the best players in Tooting, Gabriel "Hitman" Vasilache, who has aspirations of finishing the year in top spot, Dan was surely going to get knocked out at this stage? But no, Dan's made of much more than that. When I say he's a rising star, just watch him rise up the rankings and you'll see why he's someone to fear. Not only does he have the ability, but his temperament has been solid. After racing into a 4-0 lead, Gabriel fought back to 4-4, but Dan held his nerve and sent Gabriel home early.
Another top quality second round game saw Joe go toe to toe with one of Tooting's most unpredictable opponents, Dan "the Destroyer" Suh. Joe quickly raced to a 3-0 lead, and with just one rack needed to progress, the Destroyer regained his focus and Destruction Mode was well and truly switched on. 4 unanswered racks saw the Destroyer progress to the quarter and at the post-match interview, the Destroyer had this to say: "I've enjoyed toying with the rest of the guys over the past year. Giving them hope is an important aspect of competition, so I've let them all think that I'm beatable. But put it on record now, Destruction Mode is well and truly on. It's finally time to live up to the nickname and show that 2023 is the year of the Destroyer!"
Only one whitewash in the second round, as Doug "the Shark" Clark pulled off a superb performance against Kostiantyn Ivanov, who couldn't keep up at all, leaving Doug the unnerving reality of having to face the Destroyer in the quarters.
The quarters' saw some great match-ups. Dan Jenkins ran out of steam against Tashunka Schultz, who resorted to wearing headphones to keep the audience noise out. Frequent heckling, especially from the younger members of the crowd, had been putting Tash off, especially the "HEEEE-HAAAAW" donkey noises, so the headphones helped Tash regain his focus, and played some great pool to win 4-2. Andy and Rod played out a tough game, but showed Rod far too much respect and lost out 4-2. Doug, pumped up after overhearing the Destroyer's post-match interview, switched into "Jaws" mode, and ate the Destroyer alive, winning easily 4-0. And Ciaran Boylan and Ramesh "Ramma Jamma" Gokhul played out one of the highest quality matches of the night. Ciaran is fast-becoming a standout player, with his consistency. He played excellently to put pressure on the Titan of Tooting, and showed that he really is top of his class on his day by winning 4-3. Ciaran said, after the match: "there's more to come from me and Ram's the first on my hitlist, everyone else will be beaten by me as my trajectory continues to go upwards".
Into the semis, and Doug the Shark struggled to replicate the same form that destroyed the Destroyer, and was up against an in-form Tash, who even managed to pot the 6, 7, and 8 ball in order, in one shot. Doug looked a bit shocked, gutted, impressed, and happy for Tash. Rather a bizarre look on his face, mixing the different emotions into one facial expression. Tash continued to play well and ran out 4-2 winner where he was to face either Ciaran or Rod in the final. Ciaran most certainly was feeling good about himself, but Rod is God and determined to put Ciaran back in his place after his buoyancy from the win over Ram. 4-0 to Rod but Ciaran certainly will feel good about his game, so watch out if you face him next week.
The final was sure to be a classic. Two players who are similar in class, but so different in style and experience. Rod, rarely ruffled, a monster potter, keeps the game simple but effective. To be challenging Ram for the number 1 spot for so long is an achievement in itself. And then there's Tash. Years of experience, knowledge of the game, and a certain rhythm and flair that makes him unbeatable when he's at his best. And tonight, Tash was back to his best. Virtually flawless play, and capitalised on Rod's struggles with the new cloth. This was not to be Rod's night, and Tash ran out 5-1 winner.
After the match, Rod was quick to get his excuses in, citing the new cloth as the main reason for his inability to finish the night as winner. And to be fair to Rod, playing in these conditions is challenging to say the least. Many struggled on the night, but it won't take long for the tables to settle and there'll be less distractions. Tash, on the other hand, is not new to playing on new cloths or tables, and adjusted quickly to play consistently. After his win, he told LFP TV: "I played ok, but I'm not playing enough to play my A game, but it was ok for a donkey. I could see Rod was struggling with the table slide, but I'm fairly used to it, so I took my chances." With Tash unable to make many weekdays, it'll be interesting to see his form when he's next back at MNT, but one thing is for sure, Tash didn't finish 3rd in 2022 without good reason.
Finally, please don't forget that there is a membership fee for 2023. It's less than £2 a month (£20 for the year), and ALL money goes back into the tournaments, including free table time, and website and rankings maintenance. Membership will give you access to all the weekly tournaments, and have a track record of your results/rankings on the website. Without the membership, you will have access to 2 MNT throughout 2023.
Please note that this is not the same as London Snooker Membership. You may need to check that your membership is up to date or pay guest fees, as this is a licensing issue that the club may be checking on.
We have requested that monies are paid either at the tournament or send it via PayPal to: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/londonsfinestpool and then add your name as reference.
Any questions, please privately message Cip or Andrew on WhatsApp.
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- Written by Dan Suh
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A Final To Remember
Last night, MNT was its usual explosive self, with a finish that will forever be recorded as the greatest end to an MNT ever. More on that later. As usual, many of London's Finest Pool players gathered for the weekly tournament at London Snooker Tooting, for a big showdown. This, after a controversial week where players had come out accusing the LFP Organisation of fixing the ranking points, but after an independent investigation, the LFPO was cleared of all accusations. In addition to this, some players had also come out reminding players to check racks for gaps, as some "might" be racking with micro gaps. Please be aware of this and opponents are very much within their rights to check the rack.
Phew, after such controversy over the week, could the drama be fulfilled, leading up to this week's MNT? Well, hell yeah! A very healthy line-up of 32 entered, all desperate to push themselves up the rankings, unless you're Ram, and the intention is simply to stay top. First off was the Break and Run. Yet again, despite entering every single week since it started, Dan "the Destroyer" Suh is yet to be selected, and instead Rod "the God" Altes stepped up to the mark and broke off, sinking a ball off the break, getting a combo with his next shot, but decided to turn down the next shot to call it quits at £80. A polite round of applause rippled through the arena from the other entrants as Rod played it safe to ensure that he got enough from the pot to fund his magic apple juice habit for the next two tournaments.
The first round proper saw most of the favourites progress with relative ease. Suk Gohil, who has hardly played since October, produced a great result against an under-par Saman Gholami who looked devastated as he went through three racks without being able to pot a ball. Krishen Sookhraz and Andy "Banks" Curzon (Professor of Pool Angle Geometrics) played out a tense and nervy match, that reached hill-hill. Despite Kris's struggles at MNT, and Andy's recent excellent form, Kris held his nerve to progress to the next round. Glen "THE Hitman" Hargreaves gave Tash Witko Schultz a big fright, but Tash somehow recovered his form and also progressed. Pistol Pete Cloherty produced some excellent pool to overcome an out of sorts Ciprian Dandu 6-1, and Ali Haidery almost secured his first win at MNT, but lost in the final rack to Ranj Sarraj. Only one whitewash in the first round, with Sunny Garib taking advantage of Sean "Scarf" Avery's current and temporary slump in form.
The upset of the second round came as Suk faced Rod the God. Suk is well-known to be a fearsome opponent, but hasn't been playing much recently. However, he was delighted to get through the round with a 5-3 win, using all of his years of experience, which left Rod stunned as Suk romped home. Dan Jenkins is continuing his rich vein of form, and whilst his battling style leads to many of his matches being close, he has shown that he can compete with almost anyone, and he progressed to the quarters by grounding out a win against Kris. Elsewhere, Pistol Pete fought out a tough battle against Andy Adams, who hasn't made many MNT's, but has shown decent form in previous events. This one went to the wire, and Pete showed off his class and nerve to edge this encounter. Meanwhile, Ranj and Shadi Ed, two stable-mates and sparring partners, had a real ding dong of a match that also went to hill-hill. Despite losing his tip before the evening started, Shadi had to get some emergency re-tipping performed by Doctor Tash to save his evening. With the new tip to contend with, the man described by some, to have one of the best cueing actions in Tooting, still pulled through against Ranj, and won 5-4.
The quarters may have the lacked the drama, but not lack the quality. Ram came out of the traps, and swiftly dealt with Suk. Suk may have exhausted himself with his previous round win over Rod, but Ram was flying high and looking good. Another of the old boys, Sunny Garib, also progressed through to the semis. Sunny has been slowly been getting back to form, and his ability is starting to match his years of experience, with flashes of brilliance. Up against the battling Dan Jenkins, Sunny really dug deep to win 5-3, to face Ram in the semis. In the other half, Gabriel "Hitman" Vasilache and Tash faced each other. Two of Tooting's Titans. Gabriel has started off 2023 slowly by his standards. Tash started off this evening slowly, but was motoring by this stage, looking pretty unbeatable. And so it proved. Gabriel upped his game, but Tash simply played that little bit better and came through 5-3. With the prospect of having to face Tash, Shadi and Pistol Pete went at each other in their quarter, but Shads was playing really well by this point and there was nothing the big man could do about it. 5-1 win to Shadi.
And so to the semis. Ram and Sunny was going to be an epic. Sunny on the rise, and Ram's the man to beat...for a reason. Sunny has the game, it's all in his head and when it flows into his arm, he'll easily compete with the Tooting Titans. (The term "Titans" will be explained later)
Ram looked dangerously hot. But Sunny's one to pounce on any mistakes without doing anything too flashy. He kinda creeps up on you and before you know it, the 9 ball is disappearing into the pocket. 4-4 between these two dawgs, whilst Sunny is coming into form, Ram's already there. 5-4 to Ram but Sunny can be happy with his evening's work. On the other table, Tash was making light work of Shadi. Shads just hasn't shown the kind of form that has earnt him a machine-like reputation, but once he's on a roll, he plays the kind of pool that makes you feel like you're in a vice-like grip. But Tash has the experience and ability to get through that. Any lesser player would crumble, but not Tash. Tash took advantage of the little openings that Shadi provided and won 5-3 to progress to face Ram.
Pre-match, Tash was bang up for it. After beating Rod the God in the final last week, Tash was keen to beat Ram and show that he had all the ability to be number 1 in Tooting also. "I've beaten Rod and now Ram's going down. I'll show you that this donkey's the best in town." (LFP Publications may or may not have made up this highly cheesy rhyme)
It was no real surprise that the quality on offer was of the highest available. The crowd swelled as everyone in the arena gathered round to watch this display of pool artistry. Both players going to toe to toe until they reached hill-hill, with only two balls to go. Ram had played one of the best safety shots of the night to leave the 8 and 9 on opposite short rails, both balls virtually frozen on the cushion, in roughly the same diamond position. Ouch.
At this point, we've decided to print Ram's description of events:
"He looked perplexed and I swear I saw Tash say a prayer to Rod the God for his guidance, but Rod had gone home by this point. Anyway, he got down and I thought he was going to attempt a safety but no...the man fired the 8 back cut cross corner...crowd goes mad! Unfortunately though, he's left with bad shape on the 9 which was on the long rail between diamond 3 and 4. Cue ball was in the middle of the table with no bank to side pocket. What does he do? He says another prayer to Rod, lines up a long cross corner, and fires it in at 1000 mph to win! Imagine the scenes, crowd going mental...best finish to an MNT ever. Safe to say, it will be told for generations to come". (Thanks to Ram for taking the time to describe it out)
Others who were there to witness such a legendary match all agreed that it was the best game played out in LFP history, and in his own remarkable and honourable manner, after picking up his jaw off the floor, Ram was so happy for Tash too. Great to see Tash give some skin back out to the crowd, lapping up the atmosphere, which was the best ever seen at the MNT's. Tash only had this to say at the end of the match: "Shit or bust, man"
So another MNT ends, but what an end it was. Tash has now moved into 2nd place in the current rankings, and has hit an all-time high of 8.323, the highest points he's attained since rankings began, but still below Rod's 8.753 and Ram's 9.327, the only other two players who have reached 8 points or more. For Ram, and as Rod has recently found, points are very hard to come by and dropping points becomes very easy. This pretty much shows the approximate ceiling of points unless you're SVB or someone like that. So for now, without it being taken too seriously, Top Guns are those who have attained 8.5 points or over at some point or another. Titans of Tooting are anyone who have managed to attain 7.5 points or over at some point. Hope that's clear, nothing too serious. And yes, that means Top Guns do get Top Gun badges!!!
Anyway, please don't forget that there is a membership fee for 2023. As of next tournament, those not paid up will be required to do so or may not be allowed to enter until the fee is paid. It's less than £2 a month (£20 for the year), and ALL money goes back into the tournaments, including free table time, and website and rankings maintenance. Membership will give you access to all the weekly tournaments, and have a track record of your results/rankings on the website. Without the membership, you will have access to 2 MNT throughout 2023.
Please note that this is not the same as London Snooker Membership. You may need to check that your membership is up to date or pay guest fees, as this is a licensing issue that the club may be checking on.
We have requested that monies are paid either at the tournament or send it via PayPal to: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/londonsfinestpool and then add your name as reference.
Any questions, please privately message Cip or Andrew on WhatsApp.
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- Written by Dan Suh
- Category: Home
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Ram Bam Thank You Mam
Monday Night Tournament (MNT) hosted London's Finest Pool players at London Snooker Tooting, with 10 Ball the flavour of the evening. In all the tournaments that I've been covering, last night delivered one of the most dramatic tournaments seen at Tooting, and will surely go down as one of the legendary nights that left the audience silent as the news reverberated around the arena. More to come on that later...plenty more!
Kicking the night off was the Break and Run. £30 a ball, and Henri "Sledgehammer" Linainmaa was "randomly" (this is questionable as I'm yet to be drawn out after entering around 50 times) drawn from Cip's dandruff-laden hat. With the crowd willing Henri on with plenty of encouragement, he smashed the balls and watched the 1 and 9 ball head towards the middle pocket, only for the 2 ball to cannon into them and divert them to safety! A dry break, and disappointment from the crowd could be heard as far as Mitcham, as the fake groans of sympathy and gentle sniggering from the rest of the players echoed around the arena. At least Henri smiled for the cameras, hiding his obvious disappointment.
Into the early rounds of MNT, and there were some notable games that need mentioning. Nick Ronase, having seen off Ranj Sarraj (with a cheeky sidebet of a pool cue case on the line) faced Omkar Chimbaikar, who was making his debut at MNT. A battle of styles, where Nick demonstrated his Filipino flair against Omkar, who has a very snooker style that can be equally effective. However, Nick has plenty of experience in this game and whilst snooker players have a tendency to pot their way out of trouble, it is a very different game and Nick used his knowledge to come through to win 4-3.
Meanwhile, Andy "Banks" Curzon, the master of geometric pool faced Gabriel "Hitman" Vasilache, one of Tooting's titans who has been in fine form and is expecting to challenge for the number 1 spot in 2023. Andy, in the meantime, had turned to Zen Buddhism of late, as he was seeking to turnaround his relatively poor form. Despite even having a neck injury that forced Andy into emergency medical attention from his French neighbour, his meditative state and the distinct slowdown in pace saw him pull off a superb win over Gabriel, winning after reaching hill hill, and on marched the geometric student of the game. After the match, Andy had this to say: "I'm making it to the final tonight, that's for sure." He then looked at his half of the draw and saw he could face Ram, and changed his tune: "Errr, maybe not the final, but semis where I'll face Ram".
Elsewhere, there were two big results involving the two titans of Tooting. Ramesh "Ramma Jamma" Gokhul imperiously swept past Marius "Girl's Favourite" Dandu, 5-0. Marius looked devastated and retired himself into the snooker room and refused to attend his post-match press conference.
The other result featured Rod "the God" Altes and Tomasz Jedlecki. We all know that Rod's one of Tooting's titans, but Tom is a fearsome competitor when he wants to be, and took home the Goliath of 2022 Trophy, beating Rod in the final MNT of 2022 to earn the giant-killing trophy. An immense achievement, and in the pre-match press conference, Tom reminded Rod of this, as they faced off at the weigh-in. Rod's faced many challenges over the past year, but none more so than Tom. Tom's record in 2022 against Rod was 2 wins and 1 loss. A pretty mean feat, and despite Rod's nervous laughter at the weigh-in, spoke confidently "I practised against George on Friday, and despite the luck I had, I switched it right on and played exceptionally well for most of that practice session." This promised to be fight of the night, and what a game we had. By the time the results had been reported in, the arena was in stunned silence. "5-0 to Tom" was the announcement and the sound of gasps of amazement, dropped pint glasses, jaws hitting the floor, and sheer disbelief, made everyone stop in their tracks. Surely there was a mistake, or some kind of wind-up? Looking dejected, Rod's sullen face confirmed the announcement and indeed, Tom had won 5-0. Sure, 5-4 was eminently believable, but 5-0 was a thrashing. Respectfully, Rod was available for comment after the game. "I missed my chances, but Tom's my new nemesis. I hate these tournaments anyway, and yes, I will be crying over spilt milk." At this point, Rod walked away from the cameras and refused to sign autographs as he went in search of a pint of cider to drown his sorrows. Tom told Sky Sports Arena: "Rod was a little bit unlucky, but I'm playing well. I'll always be trying to win this tournament, taking it very seriously to the end."
Moving into the quarter-finals, and Tomasz "the defeater of gods" carried on his momentum with a fine 4-2 win over Nick Ronase. Craig "Bear" Laurie had shown some excellent signs in the early rounds, disposing two big names: Martinho Correia and Sunny Garib. Simply, Craig is known to be one of the big names too, but this time round, he was up against Ciprian Dandu. Cip is well-known for being a master of the game. As has been reported, he's been in poor form recently, but his A game can beat absolutely anyone, and tonight was another sign that he's slowly coming back to his A game. Cip had gently eased himself into contention and pulled off a brilliant performance to beat the Bear, 4-1. "I can feel I'm getting back to the old Cip. I'm getting my stroke back, and whilst I'm still not 100% back, overall, I've got more good shots than bad. I forgot the feeling of playing good, but this performance made me feel good again."
In the other half of the draw, Alexandru Fechete came up against the geometry master, Andy, and pushed him all the way. Andy continued with his slowdown by walking twice around the table after every shot, and held his nerve to win 4-3. And in the last quarter-final, Kostya faced up to the imperious Ram, but didn't have enough to win, and lost 4-1.
The semis promised to be a one of exceptional quality. Tom vs Cip, and Andy vs Ram. And so it proved to be. Despite all the fine performances from Tom, Cip was looking better and better, as his confidence kept growing. I can't stress enough that Cip is one of the most enjoyable players to watch. An emotional player, for sure, but with more talent in his little finger than I have in my entire body, Cip is a huge huge threat to anyone. And disposing of Tom 4-1, proved that Cip is getting back to his A game. Big win for Cip who would have to wait and face one of Ram or Andy. Bookies had Ram down as the favourite. 1-5 odds in fact, offered by Bet365, and Andy was 4 to 1 on. But the odds don't matter. Every fan in the arena knew that Andy was somehow possessed. Perhaps by his fit French neighbour, or perhaps by him turning to Zen Buddhism, Andy was a man on a mission. 2-0 up to Andy and a bank shot away from going 3-0 up. Ram looked shell-shocked, at least that's what we reckon, because you can't really tell from his face. But despite being the king of banking (can I reiterate that this is real bank shots, not a euphemism for something else), Andy failed to sink the bank and allowed Ram a little bit of a window. And that's all that Ram needs. Andy pulled himself together, but couldn't stop the onslaught as Ram edged the final rack to win 4-3, but Andy could be very happy with his performance.
The final was going to be a test for the resurgent Cip. This was going to be the real test of the night. An in-form Cip would be worrying Ram, but we all know that Ram can up his game under pressure, and so it proved. A fine 4-2 win to Ram, but the respect between the two was evident in the post-match press conference. Cip had this to say: "I fell short and didn't play. Brilliant all night, but with Ramesh, you cannot miss. You might get 1 or 2 chances against other opponents, but not with Ram. Different game against Ram, but hey, tonight felt good. There's much more to come from me, and I'm back to smiling when I'm playing." Ram said: "I got lucky again. I felt really good in the early rounds, but Andy was really determined in the semis and should have been 3-0 up, but lucky for me, he missed a couple of key shots. Funnily enough, same thing happened with Cip. He had the opportunities to beat me, but let me off." As always, Ram being ever respectful of his opponent.
So Ram continues his excellent form. Rod fell away massively with the loss of the year, whilst Andy demonstrated what he can do when he turns to meditation. And finally Cip's on his way back. Be afraid, very afraid, because when Cip really is back, he's one of the names that makes hearts sink when you draw him in the first round.
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