For all those who don't know, there is no MNT next week, on October 30th.  London Snooker Tooting will be closed due to the installation of the new tables and will re-open with an entirely new format for London's Finest Pool members.  Exciting times for us, but until it happens, information will be posted on the WhatsApp group for now.

In recent weeks, we've seen Rod the God dominate proceedings, with Rod winning two tournaments in a row, and on the 16th October, Rod eyed up the opposition, noticed that the diminutive Ramma Jamma was still absent, and told the gathering press: "without a doubt, if Ram's not here, I will win.  Maybe less confident if he's here, but in his absence, there's only one winner."  Such is Rod's confidence these days, the rest of the field looked on and sharpened their knives, hoping to draw him to knock him off his perch.  First up was Ranj "Lucky" Sarraj.  The man with almost as impressive a beard as Arjon "The Beard" Hasi.  The large pectorals were bulging, and up he stepped to take on the local god, Rod.  Ok, maybe Ranj wasn't going to stop Rod this time, as he lost 5-0, but this was only leading to an encounter against one of the most competitive players in the UK, Spencer "Afrotastic" Oliver.  Spencer had already swiftly disposed of the very dangerous Muhammed "He's the Greatest" Ali, 5-1, in the previous round.  So this was likely to be an epic.  And so it proved.  Spencer looked like he might be the one to knock Rod out early, and it wasn't a surprise to see both players stay with each other all the way to hill-hill.  Quite the match that everyone had one eye on, but Rod seemed to accelerate into the last rack and nab that all important frame to progress to face Henri Linnainmaa.

Meanwhile, Cip "Spin King" Dandu was hitting form and playing really good pool, notably against the highly thought of, Mark Abrigo.  Mark's recently been playing down at Tooting, and showing why he's one of the most feared Filipinos in London.  His consistency is unreal, and plays in a very un-Filipino way...by keeping it simple.  But an in-form Cip is truly ridiculous.  Thrilling to watch and makes the impossible, possible.  Cip was bang in-form, and a 5-3 win over Mark showed that he was ready to raise the roof.  In the semis, Cip went on to take out the Sniper, Hassam Aljumaili, 5-1.  Rod was struggling past Henri, but came through 5-3.  Only Cip could take down Rod now.  The crowd had seen Cip lose 5-0 to Rod just two weeks before, but this time, Cip stepped up to the plate.  This made the final a very close affair, and Cip was playing good, whilst Rod had to dig deep to find a way to win.  Fuelled by 8 pints of apple juice, Rod often finds a way, and showed exactly what makes him a minor deity.  A 5-4 victory to Rod, but Cip was pleased with the way he played too.  After the final, Rod slurred "told you, no-one beats me when Ram's away".

And so to this last MNT just gone.  A mammoth field turned up, with 31 in attendance, and just about the strongest line-up I've seen for many weeks.  Ram was in da house, with Rod, Ciaran "Boylan Point", Saman, Muhammed Ali, Spencer, So Shaw, Fake Taxi, Spin King, Ali Vahab, Martinho, and the Beard!  Big hitters indeed.  The place was awash with talent.  Rod wasn't feeling quite as confident as usual, and bookies just didn't know where to turn to work out who was favourite. 

The first round saw a few surprises and some of the big names get knocked out.  Saman out to the highly reputed Daryn Vanhinesbergh.  So Shaw out to the King of Tooting, Ram. Glen "Hitman" Hargreaves beaten up 5-0 by Dan Jenkins.  Into the second round, and Rod won against Martinho (who was off the back of a very good performance at Redhill on the weekend and came in full of confidence).  Muhammed Ali losing to Ali Vahab.  Spin King losing to Freddie Yang.  Ranj beating Fake Taxi for the upset of the night (although in fairness, the Seoul Destroyer softened Fake Taxi up in the previous round).  And notably, Joe Granville managed a win against Mark Abrigo.  All these big names bowing out, and the quarters proved to be spectacular.  Rod had to really get into his groove against Ali Vahab.  For those who don't know, Ali represented Iran, internationally, and hadn't been playing for a few months until two weeks ago.  He's going to be mega dangerous very soon.  

Spencer had to overcome Freddie 4-3, and Freddie is showing that he's going to be a force to be reckoned with also.  The Beard really was on fire, as he took out Ram.  Arjon had said that it wouldn't take him long to do so, and true to his word, he was playing some great pool.  And finally, Ranj couldn't sustain his momentum, against a very strong Joe Granville.  The semis saw Spencer gain revenge on Rod, who was looking more confident knowing that Ram had lost to Arjon, but Spencer is highly respected around the country for a reason.  And Arjon proved that beating Ram was no fluke, and progressed to the final after overcoming Joe.  With Spencer looking fired up, Arjon just couldn't do enough in the final, and Spencer won, much to the delight of his adoring fans.  

So that was the last ever MNT at Tooting in its present form.  Next MNT will be on completely different tables, which will be an absolute game-changer.  Gone will be the SAMs, and replacing them will be the Diamonds.  This is going to be absolutely epic for the club and for us, the players.