UK Open Qualifiers
Good day to everyone visiting our website:
Details for the UK Open qualifiers that London's Finest Pool are hosting at London Snooker Tooting, should be released on Wednesday 28th February.
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London's Finest Pool
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End of Year School Report
Another successful year at Tooting Grammar School, with a refurbishment of the facilities that the School governor, Mary, approved, and was managed very well by the caretaker, Asif, even though some of the old equipment (English pool table) was somehow left behind and interferes with the pupil’s studies. Despite this, the boys have all really enjoyed the new facilities and have already shown marked improvements since the refurb.
Ciprian “Spin King” Dandu:
Cip has had an excellent year, despite not being allowed out to practice as much as he’d like. He’d started the year feeling quite sorry for himself, but knuckled down to play some excellent pool. However, his lack of practice has meant he has been a little inconsistent, and as he is renowned for being a perfectionist, comes into class either ending the day top of the class, or somewhere near the bottom.
Cip has also been moved to the back of the class, as it was discovered he needed glasses, so doesn’t need to sit so close to the whiteboard anymore. Since his move to the back of the class, Cip’s form has improved and is starting to terrorise most of the other boys in class.
Cip tends to sit at the back of the class and bark orders at other students when they don’t do as they are told, and still has a tendency to shout loudly when his classmates are late.
Andrew Phan:
Andrew continues to excel in media studies, especially with streaming live events, with action replays and improved graphics. His career officer continues to push him towards a career in video-making, although Andrew’s suggestion of adult themes is not recommended.
Andrew has also shown huge improvements in his general studies, rising from being near bottom of the class last year, to the upper quarter. Still has a tendency to rush around and answer questions before they are asked, and is also found to be using the wrong equipment during PE lessons, especially using a jump cue instead of his normal playing cue.
Andrew, as deputy head boy, has shown good skills in maintaining discipline amongst his classmates, but has occasionally gotten into arguments with other boys, especially over time-keeping.
Andy “Banks” Curzon:
Andy continues to have exceptional enthusiasm for school, especially homework where he is found to be repeating exercises over and over again. Is still running in the corridors, but a little less than last year. Tends to go from one extreme to the other, as he can be found sitting cross-legged in the classroom, with his eyes closed, waiting for his turn. It’s an improvement in any case and it is hoped it continues into next year.
Andy’s overall performances continue to be inconsistent, but has pulled off some superlative performances at times, showing that he has all the ability to get to somewhere near the top of the class. Andy’s absence record has been exceptional, missing no classes at all throughout the year.
Ramesh “Ramma Jamma” Gokhul:
Ram continues to be a model pupil at Tooting Grammar, and broke the school record for a winning streak with an unprecedented 30 wins. Due to his model behaviour, is occasionally picked on his height, but continues to do his talking with his results.
This year, Ram has benefitted from new equipment that was provided to him by our sister school in Japan (Hayakawa Koubu), although it would be good if Ram stopped skipping the Japanese language classes if he is to maintain a long relationship with our sister school.
Ram enjoys his school exchange visits, and notably has had very positive experiences in the US, Japan, and Korea. On his return from the Far East, after being bullied by a young girl in Korea, Ram was spurred him on to regain his place at the top of the class, despite being overtaken for one week by Rod Altes.
Rod “the God” Altes:
Rod certainly has had an interesting year, as he massively underperformed in Easter term, losing to a number of boys who seemed to destroy his confidence for a while. Having said that, Rod worked very hard to regain his confidence, work hard to maintain his number 2 spot, and took advantage of every opportunity when his arch-rival, Ram, was away visiting other schools.
It was really pleasing to see Rod actually surpass Ram whilst Ram was in the Far East, but the short-lived top ranking was only for one week, but will give Rod plenty of confidence going into the New Year.
Rod continues to have plenty to say, especially during lunch breaks, and occasionally gets into long-winded debates with Andy Curzon. Rod’s housemaster did ask Rod to stop provoking reactions out of Andy, and Rod responded very well. The school counsellor has also advised that Rod seeks Apple Juice Anonymous, as appears to have increased his consumption of Apple Juice throughout the year, leading him to slur his words.
Muhammed “He’s the Greatest” Ali:
Another one of the school’s most committed students but has struggled to meet the high standards he had set himself last year. The school is delighted to see that he has finally changed his equipment to a more orthodox cue, and whilst it has taken him time to get used to it, we are confident that it will translate into a very positive 2024 for Muhammed.
Spencer “Afrotastic” Oliver:
With a better attendance than last year, Spencer finished the year in 3rd place, a notable achievement as he had ended last year on 5.956 but gained the highest number of ranking points by rising to 8.272. A remarkable achievement, and demonstrates that he deserved to qualify for a scholarship.
Spencer has also been instrumental with Sean Avery, in running Wednesday night detentions for the naughty kids. Spencer has, though, to move to the back of the class, as his large hairstyle tends to block some of the smaller kids’ views who sit behind him.
Tashunka “Hee Haw” Schultz:
Tash absence record after summer has been quite high, but performed very well throughout most of the year, despite walking out of school in a huff one day claiming to never return. As always, is exceptionally loud, but remains a very popular member of the class. Finished in 4th place this year, after being beaten to 3rd place by Spencer.
It’s also good to see that Tash excelling in extra-curricular activities, where his carpentry skills will be leading to supporting other students with cue tips.
Gabriel “Fake Taxi” Vasilache:
Despite his quiet demeanour, continues to demonstrate that he is one of the strongest class members. Rumours are that Gabriel has been occasionally absent from class due to starring in an adult soap opera, where he plays a taxi driver whose customers are unable to afford their fare.
Gabriel continues to perform strongly in class, ending the year in 5th place, and still continues to intimidate other classmates with his hard stare.
Sunny “Boy” Garib:
Despite joining the school right at the end of last year, had progressed through the ranks very quickly over the first half of the year. However, Sunny was found to be quite unhappy in Tooting due to the old equipment that was being used and decided to remain absent until the school underwent a refurbishment. After the refurb, Sunny did return to class and is likely to be a strong contender in 2024.
So Shaw:
Despite his notoriety, So has been transferred from Feltham Young Offender’s Prison to Tooting Grammar due to his exceptional ability. Only joined in September, is exceptionally naughty during lessons, distracts other students, and has found to be playing truant.
So also frequently requests toilet breaks, disappearing far too often, and returning to actually increase his distractions to other students with his non-stop talking and demands to “gamble, gamble”.
Saman Gholami:
Saman has an exceptional attendance record and performed very solidly this year. His ability shows that he will generally beat anyone at or below his level, but has yet to step up and win against some of the scholarship students.
Has a tendency to look overly sad when he loses, but his results this year have demonstrated that he is making plenty of improvements after a poor year in 2022. Saman is particularly strong during after-school practice, and has been known to play as well as any of the scholarship students. Great things are predicted for Saman in 2024 as he continues to make improvements, but must do more to perform against boys who are ranked higher than him.
Ranj “Lucky” Sarraj:
Ranj is another student boasts an excellent attendance record. However, he does likes to talk and distract other students during class, is easily distracted, and shouts obscenities out of frustration. Has done a lot to improve his behaviour, though, and remains a popular member of the class. In terms of performances, Ranj has really knuckled down since the end of summer, and performed far more consistently.
Dan “Turnip” Jenkins:
After transferring to Tooting Grammar at the end of last year, Jenkins showed a lot of promise by starting this year very strongly. However, his negativity, and constant muttering to himself saw his performances drop off. However, he recently buddied up with head boy, Ramesh, and started to display far improved performances of late and 2024 should see a much improved year for him.
Martinho Correia:
The oldest student in the school, who shows phenomenal appetite during his studies. He excels during geometry classes, with his excellent knowledge of angles. However, has a tendency to lose concentration at crucial times against some of the scholarship students.
Martinho has also been moved to the front of the class, as he is struggling to see the whiteboard on occasions.
Sean “Scarf” Avery:
Sean is an underperforming student who could and should be performing better, but is easily distracted, has let his standards slip and has been told to get his head down and demonstrate his true worth in 2024.
Sean remains a very popular student, likes to boast about his amazing coffee, and is always happy to help the janitor with small tasks around the place.
Ervin “Vini” Demiraj:
Despite finishing bottom of the class, Ervin shows a very positive attitude in class and has occasionally pulled out some monster performances. Ever since the refurb, Ervin has good improvements in his potting skills, and has a 3 wins out of 9 record since the beginning of November. Much improved and his positive attitude rubs off on other students.
Arjon “the Beard” Hasi:
Arjon is an old boy who returned to Tooting in April after moving away from the area in 2022. Arjon has a very lazy style, but immense ability as he frequently beats scholarship students, but also has the ability to lose to almost anyone too. It is hoped that he maintains his high standards in 2024, as we have very high hopes for him.
It is always nice to see that Arjon never stops smiling and has a fantastically positive attitude in class.
Hassan Mehedi:
Hassan is frequently found at the back of the group when running laps, as he is the slowest student in class. He is certainly a “ponderer” but his precision skills tend to lead to good results, but is still yet to beat the scholars with any regularity.
It is good to see that Hassan continues to provide advice to other students, even when it isn’t wanted.
Glen “the Hitman” Hargreaves:
Despite being absent for much of the year with a bad back, has had a poor year, with occasional glimpses of his true ability. Is another student who likes to mutter negativity to himself, is impatient, and this has not translated into good results. However, with his recovery now complete, 2024 should see a very positive year for Glen.
Glen has also been asked to take extra elocution lessons for his extra-curricular activity, as other students have struggled to understand him.
Danny “Tsunami” Navidi:
A new student to Tooting Grammar School, but quickly settled in with the rest of the class, and has even formed his own clique with other new boys, Alan and Obi Wan Kenobi, as they are frequently seen hanging around the playground together.
Danny has the ability to pot any ball on the table, but seems to have been heavily influenced by Andy Curzon with his reckless style. Danny is also another student who, despite looking quite slow, actually runs in the corridors almost causing accidents.
Ciaran Boylan:
Despite a reduced attendance this year, Ciaran showed an exceptional record in the first half of the year. However, since summer, has been neglecting his studies and his performances have shown. The school had very high hopes for him as he was threatening to achieve the largest improvement award, so it was really disappointing to see him tail off.
Ciaran has a tendency to use his size and friendly smile to a highly intimidating level as he slowly squeezes the life out of his opponents.
Doug “the Shark” Clark:
Another year of poor attendance, which prevents Doug from reaching elite status within the class. However, is well-respected by other students as he can be highly threatening when he puts his mind to it. Still not taking losing particularly well, and tends to sulk for a while after losses, which somehow amuses some of his peers such is his inability to hide his emotions.
Krishen “Kris” Sookhraz:
Rather an unorthodox student who appears to have laser-guided eyesight, and possesses exceptional potting skills, even though his control of the cue ball tends to be wayward. Constantly underestimated by the rest of the class, has performed very well on occasions, although some students have mistaken him for Ramesh, which may explain some of the results.
Marius Dandu:
Quite literally the most enigmatic student. Has incredible ability, can beat scholarship students quite easily, and with consistency would likely earn himself a scholarship. However, he becomes easily frustrated and gives up too easily when things aren’t going his way. Regardless, has shown considerable improvements from last year, but is expected to keep up his improvements into 2024. Teachers have also commented on his use of language, which tends to be "colourful".
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January Round-Up: 2024 kicks off!
First week back, and a fairly rabid bunch of pool-starved LFP members commenced 2024 with a bumper turnout of 31. Always good to welcome new members. Aussie Marcus, Joseph McDonagh, and Ben Grady (geezer who makes the videos for Karl Boyes and Matchroom) were testing out the waters.
As is always the case at MNT’s, plenty of drama in the early rounds. Tash was caught out by Pistol Pete, who hasn’t been around so much lately, but clearly hasn’t lost his touch, as he just about squeezed past Tash, 5-4. The Sniper, Hassan Aljumaili had to face bottom-ranked Vini, but as anyone will tell you, the lower ranked players can and will spring a surprise on anyone if you don’t take them seriously. And Vini really pushed the Sniper all the way, but fortunately, Hassan just about held his nerve to win at the death. In what was always going to be a really interesting match, Cip the Spin King faced Ali Vahab. Two players who are capable of winning MNT’s and both have a really good game to watch. No surprise in that this went to hill-hill, but Ali took out the last rack to push into the next round. And newcomer, Ben Grady, showed off a few of his skills, as he went up against the unorthodox, Falak. Falak, though, is a superb potter, and pushed Ben to the wire, but Ben could be really happy to have won in his debut match at Tooting. The next round saw Ali Haidery push Saman all the way. Ali is really improving of late, and to go hill-hill with Saman is no easy feat. However, Saman is playing very well at the moment, and inched over the line.
Into the quarters, and Marius Dandu pumped Pistol Pete 4-0. Martinho schooled “The Uzi”, whilst Saman could be very happy winning against his fellow compatriot, Ali Vahab. However, all eyes were on the match-up between the top two players in Tooting. Ram vs Rod. They had already played in another tournament, the day before…so Rod was bang up for it. Despite a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes, it was Rod who managed to overcome his demons, although we all know that Ram is not going to lie down and be beaten easily. With Martinho on fire, Marius just couldn’t raise his game to that level, and bowed out at the semi-final stage. In the other semi, Saman went on to show why he’s going to be climbing up the rankings this year, and managed to beat Rod the God. As it was already getting late, perhaps it was going to be a battle of stamina, and it was Martinho who stayed awake long enough to ensure he won the first MNT of 2024.
The second tournament of the year was 9 Ball, and proved to be an absolute classic. Early rounds saw Henri Linnainmaa cause a bit of an upset against Martinho, Spencer “Afrotastic” Oliver demonstrated why he ended last year in 3rd place by beating Rod “the God” Altes, Muhammad “He’s the Greatest” Ali continued his recent dip in form by losing to the luckiest player in Tooting, Ranj Sarraj. Ranj went on his lucky streak by beating Sean “Scarf” Avery in the next round, whilst Richard Vinluan set about sharking players by beating Danny “Tsunami” Navidi and then went on to beat Usman “The Uzi” Khokar to reach the quarters. Meanwhile, Sam Storey and Ali Vahab had a really good battle, with Sam coming out on top at hill-hill.
The quarters saw the very dangerous Greg Mostyn up against Sam Storey. Two players who will be threatening top 10 places or higher this season. Sam has a really good record at Tooting, though, and came out on top 5-2. Henri has shown that he could threaten, but has some horrible levels of consistency, but after his win against Martinho, was confident and came through against Richard Vinluan, who looked pretty happy with himself for making the quarters. The game of the quarters was between Gabriel “Fake Taxi” Vasilache, and Spencer. Two players who, by their own admission, would beat each other as many times as they would lose. As equal a contest between two very high quality players, and it was Gabriel who found himself sneaking over the winning line. And, despite his best efforts, Ranj’s luck ran out against Ram, who set himself for a semi-final showdown against Gabriel.
The semi between Ram and Gabs should be close, but Gabriel took advantage of Ram’s mistakes by playing flawlessly, to win 5-1. In the other semi, Sam’s march continued on as he took down Henri 5-3. With Sam and Gabriel in the final, Sam demonstrated why he’s definitely a challenger, and a 5-2 win made him king of the hill for the week.
Next up in January was Multiball. The discipline where the winner of the lag chooses between 8, 9 and 10 ball. As always, the early rounds are always full of drama, upsets, and provides plenty of opportunity for me to poke fun at people. Namely Muhammad “He’s the Greatest” Ali is having a shocker. No wins since November, and whilst he was up against Greg Mostyn, a younger Ali might have at least competed, but his slump was continue without winning a rack. Surely not long before Ali rediscovers his form and starts to pump players again. Ranj continued his decent form with a griding win over Sean Avery.
The second round saw most of the usual favourites come through. Ram, Rod, Cip, Sam Storey and Greg were progressing through nicely. Meanwhile, Ali Haidery looked intent on putting all of his late night practice into action, and reached the quarters after beating Obi. Pistol Pete was also showing signs of returning to the form that saw him have a very successful 2022 season, by beating Andrew “Speed Pool, one-handed king, I’ll beat you with my jump cue” Phan with relative ease. And Hamza Itum came through a gruelling battle against Ranj, where at hill-hill, neither player seemed to want to win.
The quarters saw Greg give Ram a run for his money, but it ended 5-3 to the dimunitive Guyanan. Rod barely batted an eyelid as he won 4-0 against Hamza. Cip was showing signs of himself as he had a tough one against Pistol Pete. But, all eyes in the arena was on the match between Ali Haidery and Sam. If you thought last week, Richard Vinluan was happy just to be in the quarters, Ali Haidery looked like he was in shock that he was having to face Sam Storey. 7 racks later, and it was Sam who looked like he was in shock, after Ali beat him 5-2! The semi-finals saw Ciprian “Spin King” Dandu trounce Ali Haidery 4-0, but in the other semi, it was Rod who put Ram to his sword, and mashed the Jamma up 4-1. With Rod in his confident mood, he’s always said that if Ram’s not in the final, then it’s his to be won. But not when Cip is in the mood. Cip came blazing out of the traps, and 4-1 later, it was Rod who was left stunned as to why he hadn’t won a tournament without Ram in the final.
The last tournament of January was an intriguing one. A couple of new players joined in. Sean and Darius, who had been watching MNT but never participated before. Both were given a stern lesson by Sam Storey, as he put Sean away 6-0 and Darius 6-1 in the next round. Tough start for the rookies. Another new players came in from Japan. Yuya Tanaka made his debut, only a day after winning the Premier Pool Promotions Division 1 title in Wycome the night before, beating So Shaw 7-1. Surely he must be one of the hot favourites for his first MNT? However, playing in Tooting is different. It’s a bear pit and despite winning against Marius Dandu, came up against a highly motivated and focused Rod, who gave him a Tooting welcome, beating him 6-2.
Meanwhile, Dan “Seoul Destroyer” Suh came back from 4-1 down to beat Henri, but failed to retain his focus and crashed out to Obi in the next round. Muhammad Ali failed to score a single rack for the third week in a row, as Ram absolutely annihilated him 6-0. Ram continued his momentum, and perhaps it was a good thing that Dan lost to Obi, as Ram didn’t give Obi a chance and won 6-0. Saman also was on fire, as he thrashed Cip 6-0, and that left Sam Storey to win against Ali Vahab for the second time in three weeks.
The semis looked like it could result in Rod and Ram meeting each other in the final, but Sam Storey did it again. Another performance to demonstrate just why he’s so feared in Tooting these days. 6-3 over Rod. Ram then demonstrated just why he’s number 1 in Tooting. A perfect display of pool, giving Saman almost zero chances to register a rack. Saman was left in his trail, and Ram won 6-2. But Sam’s a fighter and confidence was high. Ram had been telling people how he’d been in a slump of late, but after the final, you couldn’t tell. Ram’s number 1 for a reason, and he demonstrated exactly why he is the most consistent performer in Tooting. 6-3 to Ram and apparently he’s still in his slump.
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The Season Comes To A Close
The end of the season has seen a fantastic run-in, and since the last report, the biggest news was that London Snooker Tooting had 8 Diamond Tables installed, with 4.25 inch pockets, which has elevated the entire pool community in London. This now means that London now benefits from the best tables in England, with Spots and Stripes running Rassons, and London Snooker running Diamonds. Compared to what we had a year ago, this is phenomenal, and should be the start of a fantastic new era in London. As far as I am aware, only McGoldrick's in Glasgow can compare in terms of quality tables in the entire UK, so this is a real step forward. Hopefully, other clubs will take note and follow suit, so the UK can benefit from having good quality equipment for pool players.
Anyway, London's Finest Pool has had some mega Mondays since the new installation, which led to an immense showdown in the final week.
6/11 - The first MNT to be held with the new Diamonds means that we had a bumper turnout. Rod the God was a man on a mission, as he could sense that there might be a chance of catching Ramma Jamma, especially knowing that Ram was going to be away in the Far East for a couple of weeks, which would give Rod every chance of nabbing the title of "2023 - MNT Champion" by the end of the season. Rod overcame Ram in the 2nd round, which meant that he had every chance of gaining ground on Ram, but Cip "the Spin King" Dandu was in hot form and smashed Rod up in the quarters and continued his march to the final after overcoming Tooting's number 3, Tash. Meanwhile, relative newcomer, Ali Vahab, was showing consistently good form and won easily over anyone who stood in his way, dropping only 4 racks on his way to the final. He's certainly one to keep an eye on in 2024, but in the final on this occasion, Cip was showing that he could adapt to the new Diamonds very quickly, and came through to win after both players reached the hill.
13/11 - The following week saw So Shaw back at Tooting. So's presence is always welcome, as he possesses some of the most incredible flair in his game, and had won back to back MNT's in September. On this occasion, though, one of the most improved players of 2023, Saman Gholami had demonstrated why he's highly dangerous and beat So in the semis. Meanwhile, one of the stars of 2023 has been Arjon the Beard. Arjon has been a regular since April and has the ability to beat absolutely anyone, with a little wry smile behind his large beard. Arjon destroyed the soul of the Seoul Destroyer, mashed up the Turnip, and defeated the Greatest Muhammed Ali "Greater than Muhammad Ali", to reach the final. In the meantime, God had noticed that Ram couldn't make MNT this week, and knowingly knew that this was a chance to really gain ground on him. Overcoming one of the best players in Tooting, Sunny Boy, he took out Ali Vahab and the So conqueror, Saman, and told everyone who could be bothered to take notice "I won't lose the final...not in a million years". Rod went down 2-0 to Arjon in the final, but this only spurred him on to win the next 5 racks, and start his attempt to overtake Ram.
20/11 - By this time, Ram had already travelled to Japan, and was going to be absent for the next 2 MNT's. Rod, fresh off a high from the week before, knew the pressure was on, but had to take advantage. However, some of Tooting's finest were out to stop him. Specifically, there's one player who has been consistently ranked 3rd throughout the year. Tashunka "Hee Haw" Schultz. Resident dogger, but true character of Tooting. There's no way Tash was going to let Rod have his own way, and at first glance at the draw, both were the likeliest to make the final. Tash pumped Ebrar, struggled past Obi Wan Kenobi, breezed past Doug the Shark Clark, and then really had a stern test against Mark Abrigo in the semis, but he managed to pass every test that fell his way. Rod, though, fuelled by Magners, just swatted away Hassan the Sniper Aljumolybob (as Phil Wildman calls him), disposed of Kris, and then put his foot on the gas against Cip to beat him 4-0. Ominous stuff indeed. So ominous that Rod kept his foot on the pedal, which left Tash little to fight back with, and Rod won his second MNT in a row.
27/11 - One look at the rankings before the tournament, and all the talk was that Rod might finally sneak ahead of Ram and go top of the rankings. Another MNT win might just do the job, but he would need to overcome some big names if he was going to finally go top. First up was Dan the Turnip, who put up fierce resistance but lost 5-3. Next came a really big test, Tash. And Tash was out for revenge for the previous week when he lost to Rod 4-1 in the final. A real battle ensued, but it was Rod who came through and won at hill hill. Same again in the quarters, as Andrew Phan was demonstrating why he's actually one of the best players in Tooting by beating Spencer "Afrotastic" Oliver in the previous round, but Andrew just didn't have quite enough to beat Rod. And in the semis, Saman tried but failed to prevent Rod from getting to the final. So, who was going to be the challenger on the other half of the draw? Andy "Banks" Curzon is an enigma. Capable of beating opponents 5-0 in 5 minutes, or losing 5-0 in less time. Quite extraordinary, and he had quite a marathon (by his standards) to get to the final. A hill hill win over newbie, Falak Farhad, another one that went to the wire against Josh Roberts, a really good win over Ali (the greatest one), and then yet another hill hill battle, winning against Joe Granville. Perhaps Andy didn't have the stamina, but by the time he faced Rod in the final, he had run out of steam and couldn't up his game one more time. Another win for Rod and yes, that meant that Rod had overtaken Ram for the first time. Rod was top of the pile, finally. Broken the magical 10 point barrier, and was looking down on Ram (although everyone looks down on Ram in some ways).
4/12 - News of Rod going top had filtered to Korea, where Ram had been travelling to after his stint in Japan. Rumours have it that Ram threw something at the wall and cut short his trip to get back to London. In reality, Ram was snarling, but was in an underground pool hall in Seoul, practicing hard with some of Korea's finest pool players, readying himself for his return to London to reclaim his top spot. So the MNT had a lot of guests in that night. Something to do with the USA fans travelling to London to watch their annual drubbing by Europe in the Mosconi Cup. Loyal fans for sure, but deluded as talk in the arena was that of how USA were going to compete this year. Lots of nodding in agreement, out of British politeness....after all, they were our guests and we didn't really want them to think that we were all confident of another easy European win. Anyway, the tension was palpable. Rod and Ram were staring each other our, giving each other knowing looks across the arena. They both started really well. Rod won 5-1 whilst Ram won 5-0. Both had American guests as their opponents, who were both playing with borrowed equipment, so it was a nice easy win to ease themselves into the competition. And then it started really hotting up. Ram just went ballistic and trounced his wing man in Japan and Korea, 5-0. Ram played flawlessly. Meanwhile, Dan the Turnip, who had been getting coaching from Ram, finally showed some of the form that made people take notice of him when he first started coming to Tooting....and what a time to play some of his best pool of the year, against Rod. 4-3 winner over Rod, with a break and run at hill hill, and Rod could do nothing about it. Rod's heart sunk, and continued to sink has he watched Ram pump his young apprentice in the next round, pump Tash in the semis, and reach the final without having dropped a single rack.
In the other half of the draw, our occasional guest but larger than life character, Del the Highlander Sim, had been over from New York City to pop his head in. If you don't know by now, Del is an extremely highly rated amateur and imposing on the table. In 13 matches in MNT, he had only ever lost once...to Ram. Del had powered past joe Granville, Obi Wan Kenobi, Ramonster Navarro, and Saman, dropping only 2 racks en route to the final. This was surely going to be an epic final between two very good players....but Ram was pumped up. Throwing down his gauntlet, he absolutely obliterated Del in the final, and went home back on top of the rankings.
11/12 - Throughout the week, the calculations had been done, and it was pretty clear that whilst Ram had gone back top, he could still lose top spot to Rod depending on results. During the week, Sky Sports News caught up with Ram and asked him if it was true that Ram might not make the final MNT of the season, to preserve his ranking. Ram replied that it was his duty to do the honourable thing and ensure that he was available. And so it proved. Ram came running into the club last night, looking eager to start proceedings, but actually he only ran in because he was desperate for a wee. Rod's expression hadn't changed as his poker face usually masks his inner emotions, but he was secretly delighted that Ram had fulfilled his obligations. It was just a case of whether Ram could get knocked out early and Rod win the tournament. Like the previous week, Ram and Rod started well. Both winning 5-1. Second round, and Ram faced Danny the Tsunami. A tough proposition, but not as tough as Rod's draw. Greg "the lesser spotted" Mostyn. Not frequently seen at MNT, but one of those really really solid players who has incredible ability at times. Perhaps it's because he's not seen that often in Tooting that some people forget just how good Greg can be, and so it proved. Capitalising on every mistake Rod made by closing out racks, Greg deservedly overcame Rod 4-2. And that was it. Rod couldn't finish 1st unless Ram somehow got thrashed 4-0 by Danny the Tsunami, but despite Danny's efforts, Ram came through to win and that was just about that. Rod was left to rue his mistakes, but graciously spoke to the press after composing himself, and told them that Greg deserved to win, that Ram deserved to be top, and that being clear 2nd in the field that we have at Tooting, was still a decent achievement. Gracious words indeed, and all eyes turned to the battle for 3rd.
Tash knew that it might be tight between himself and Spencer for 3rd and there's something about Spencer that makes him very dangerous under pressure. Spencer had already displayed why he is one of the elite players by overcoming another of London's best, Gabriel "Fake Taxi" Vasilache, 4-0!!! So to the semis, and Spencer and Tash were in effectively their own final. The showdown. The battle for bronze. And what a performance Spencer put on. Tash had come into the semi with a resounding victory over Cip, but had little answer as Spencer just played beautifully to win 4-1. Ram had overcome the god conqueror, Greg, who cemented his reputation by beating Martinho in the quarters, but yet again, Ram was showing just why he's number 1, and went through to the final to face Spencer. Bookies had Ram to win, but the smart punters know that Spencer is a beast when he's in the mood, and despite the tension, Spencer held his nerve to win 4-2.
So this left a big change in the final rankings table of the season. Ram cemented his place at the top, with Rod finishing 2nd. Spencer had powered his way up the table, nicking 3rd place just ahead of Tash, in the final round of the season. Tash had been solid for most of the season and could be pleased that he's still at elite level by finishing 4th. Meanwhile, Gabriel has had a relatively quiet season, but still performed excellently for most of it, to also show why he's another of London's Elite. And making up the other two elite spots, who achieved 7 points or more was Sunny, who was in line for the highest points jump award, but got pipped at the post by Spencer. And finally, bringing up the rear of the elite group is Cip. Someone we all know rarely brings out his A game, but still managed to get to 7 points. Imagine what he could do if he was on his A game!
So that concludes the season. Awards night and Christmas party is Monday 18th December. All LFP members are welcome, and there will be competitions going on throughout the night, as well as the highly anticipated awards ceremony.
End of year reports will be written up closer to the end of the year too.
Thanks to ALL your support and for making London's Finest Pool a truly unique pool community. Please keep supporting us in 2024 so we can keep growing the game in London. 2024 promises to have lots more events and competitions, and it's all down to the commitment and sacrifices that Cip and Andrew continuously put in, despite the moaning from their wives and girlfriends. Without these two guys, there would be hardly any community at all. Please remember this as we truly have something very special, and it's taken years of effort from these guys to make this happen.
See you all next Monday and have a great week.
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