Bank Holiday at London Snooker Tooting, and out came the big hitters at London’s Finest Pool, to strut around like peacocks, with an atmosphere full of testosterone and sweat, partially because it was pretty blooming hot in the venue.

Most of the big hitters were out last night, with 6 of the top 7 players eyeing each other up across the pool tables, and striking fear into the lower ranked opponents.

First round featured two big matches where all the drama played out.  First off was Ramesh “Ramma Jamma” Gokhul.  Last week’s winner, up against the big-mouthed young Ukrainian, Kostiantyn Ivanov.  Ram holds a 4-1 winning record over Kostya since having first faced each other in August 2022.  Kostya is well-known for being a superb player on his day, and his play with no fear, means he’s a match for anyone in Tooting.  With Ram looking a little off-form, this match went to hill-hill, but it was Ram who took it in the end.

The other featured match was between Dan “Seoul Destroyer” Suh and Saman Gholami.  Saman came racing out of the blocks, but at 3-1, snatched at an easy chance to make it 4-1, and Dan started to use every bit of gamesmanship to claw his way back into the match and brought it to hill-hill.  However, Saman pulled himself together and eased himself back into the match to win 5-4.

Only one whitewash in the first round, as newcomer, Maciej Kowejsza found himself up against the eminent, Martinho Correia, one of the most experienced players on the circuit, and one of the toughest to face if you’re making your debut at the Tooting Arena.  5-0 to Martinho but we’ll surely see Maciej back at Tooting to try his luck again.

The second round was more dramatic as there were some really captivating matches to follow.  Andrew Phan, finalist from last week, faced up to the might of Sunny “Boy” Garib. Getting in his excuses early, Sunny told the gathering reporters that he hadn’t been feeling very well over the weekend, and that it might affect his performance.  Andrew was feeling pretty solid, especially after the unsurprisingly quick-fire rapid win in the first round against fellow speed pool competitor, Andy “Banks” Curzon, and took his chances against Sunny to win 5-4.

Marius Dandu, who had been announcing his semi-retirement for months, put up a tremendous fight against Rod “the God” Altes.  Marius has been blowing hot and cold, but like a tiger eyeing up his prey, knew that he was facing Rod at the best time possible.  And like the little tiger that Marius is, jumped on Rod’s mistakes and devastatingly tore Rod to shreds to win 5-4.  Whether Marius actually semi-retires or not is yet to be seen, but any tournament without Marius swearing lots and claiming he’s going to give up the game is not a real tournament.

Meanwhile, Henri “the Finnisher” Linnainmaa, one of the most consistent players in Tooting, had to face up to the third ranked player in Tooting, Gabriel “Fake Taxi” Vasilache, the man with the hardest stare in all of London.  Gabriel hasn’t been able to make MNT for the last 2 months, but was able to put in a hard-working performance and ran out 5-4 winner. 

And the final close call in the second round was between Saman and Jim “Greecey Slim Penis” Siampanis.  Two warriors and despite the slow start, Greecey Jim turned on the pressure and played some really good quality stuff to win 5-4. 

Elsewhere, Dan Jenkins suffered a whitewash a the hands of Arjon “the Beard” Hasi, and what was supposed to be the match of the night between 1^st and 2^nd ranked players, Tashunka “Witko” Schultz arrived without his cues, and had to borrow one, which was a fine excuse for losing 5-0 to Ram. 

The quarters looked rather promising, and 3 of the big 6 were still in the competition, showing that the chasing pack are performing much more dangerously than a year ago.  First up was Ram against Joe Prince, the rather good English pool player who has taken to American pool lately.  Despite being a top level English pool player, Joe is extremely tidy stroking unfamiliar thicker shafts, but against Ram, it’s a different matter altogether.  A 5-2 win for Ram, but it’s pretty clear that Joe is going to improve and perhaps replicate a bit of what Rod has recently done, in terms of making the switch from English to American pool.

Meanwhile, Martinho demonstrated his silky skills as he tore through Andrew Phan, 5-1.  In the battle of Romanians, Gabriel and Marius promised to be an epic clash, but it was Gabriel who came through 5-3.  And Arjon was making light work of Greecey Jim by winning 5-1.  Arjon has, in the past, threatened to be quite some player, but underperformed to his true level, but this was certainly a top class performance, the kind of performance that the fans had been waiting for.

The first semi-final was a true battle between two of the wisest and experienced competitors.  If you can’t learn something from these two, then there isn’t anything to learn.  However, with Ram being very much a regular player, against Martinho who plays far less, it was evident in the match that whilst experience counts for much, so does regular play, and it was Ram who ended up 5-1 winner. 

In the other semi, the fearsome Gabriel had to contend with a high-flying Arjon, and Arjon was playing at his peak levels.  5-1 winner to Arjon and Gabriel will feel annoyed at not putting up more of a fight. 

And so to the final.  Ram is the King of Tooting for a reason, and yet again showed that it takes a lot more than a decent run to beat him.  An absolute master class was dished out as Arjon was blown away 5-0.  After the match, Ram pointed at the reporters and said “you see, I’ve even got the sniffles.  But man flu won’t keep me away, and the sniffles won’t stop me winning.  Bring it on and I’ll feel even better next week, so one of you will have to step up to the plate and beat me!”

Fighting talk from the diminutive yoda of Tooting indeed, and caps off his second tournament in the row since his return from his tour of the Americas.  What is noticeable, though, is that by and large, players are closing the gaps and there are almost no surprises when players lose, making it a very competitive season at Tooting.

FYI, for those who aren’t aware, there are a couple of Mosconi Cup tickets for the Friday 8^th December session at the Ally Pally, that are available.  If you’re interested in going, please message me, Dan “Seoul Destroyer” Suh on WhatsApp, and hopefully we’ll have some spaces.

Also, don’t forget that non-tournament chat goes on in the Piranhas group on WhatsApp too, so if you want to get quicker news, please join that chat.  Just message me and I’ll send you the link.  However, be warned, you might want to mute the chat and check it out from time to time, depending on who’s chuntering on and on and on.

Also, please see the weekly ranking and points changes below:

Have a great week and see you next Monday!