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.
