Back at London Snooker Tooting for MNT, and 30 of the best in London were out in force to see the most gargantuan battle for top spot, as Ram "Ramma Jamma" Gokhul and Gabriel "Fake Taxi" Vasilache have had their war of words throughout the week. But before all the action kicked off, Andri Doci, who seems to get selected for the break and run every week, got selected yet again and with all the well-wishers cheering him on, dry broke and the derisions of laughter and heckles echoed around the arena as Andri looked disconsolate. Poor Andri, it's not his fault that he keeps getting selected.
Onto the main event of the evening, and the luck of the draw saw nearly all of the pre-tournmaent favourites in the bottom half of the draw. This was going to potentially throw up some incredible match-ups in the earlier rounds. First off, was the ever-improving Saman "Salami" Gholami against Ram, who has only been recently knocked off top spot by Gabby. Saman might have lost to Ram at the Sunday Classic Shootout, but pushed him hard then and was determined to win this time round. However, Ram just about tamed the ever-wilting Salami, and won 4-3. Elsewhere, making his debut appearance at Tooting, was Kimoye Weekes. An unknown quantity, he faced up to Jacob Leslie. Jacob had shown a lot of promise last week, despite losing at hill-hill to Obi "Jedi Knight" Anyouku in the third longest match ever recorded in the history of pool, so was determined to prove his ability against Kimoye. Another tight affair, but it was Kimoye who progressed to the next round, leaving Jacob to pick up his pom poms to cheer on his BFF, McKenzie. Nick "LuckboxQ" Ronase has been steadily improving recently, and he will be really pleased to have taken out Dandu 2, who is notoriously difficult to play against. Ranj "Lucky" Sarraj lived up to his name against an out of sorts, Lord Greg Mostyn, with a match that could have been wrapped up earlier, but Ranj blaming his loan cue for some of his misses to win more easily. And Maciej "Crocodile" Kowejsza will be really pleased to have pulled off a major upset against Ciprian "Spin King" Dandu, as the Croc brought Cip into his favourite game, 8 Ball, a game that Cip clearly struggled with.
The second round heated up nicely, as the match of round was Sunny "Boy" Garib against Ram. Sunny has been in imperious form, but Ram is really getting back to his best. Both players slugged it out on table 3, away from the nightmarish scenes of Ram's recent losses on table 4, and Ram edged to victory with a 4-3 win, leaving the potential to set up a clash with his arch rival, Gabriel. Stephen "Outlaw" Stedman found himself up against his fellow Romford stablemate, Kimoye, and with two players who spar against each other in any case, this was going to be an intense affair. Both players fought hard, but it was the Outlaw, who seems to have an edge over his Romford buddies, who came through to progress to the quarters. And the final close match was between Ranj and Dan "Out in the first round" Suh. A strong start from Ranj to go 3-1 up, but Dan came back strong to level it at 3-3. But, with no win since the 1st of July, it was Ranj who ended up going through to face Rod "the God" Altes.
The quarters saw Stephen up against Nick, and Nick really turned it on to put in a fine display to demonstrate why he was the Tier 3 favourite in the Spots and Stripes League before he had to withdraw. Rod took about 5 minutes to breeze past Ranj, playing utterly flawlessly. Obviously he was still sober at this stage. Muhammed "He's the Greatest" Ali has shown indifferent form of late, but was MNT winner only a couple of weeks ago, and he absolutely trounced Usman "the Uzi" Khokhar 4-1. And whilst this was going on, the grudge match was unfolding before our eyes on Table 6, as Ram and Gabriel faced up to each other after their week of smack talking came to a head. After a courteous fist bump between the two, both warriors went into battle. With it being such a short race, it was important to gain and hang onto the lead, and Ram managed to get his nose in front and get the upper hand. Both players determined not to lose this, but in the end, it was Ram who ended up taking the victory 4-2.
You might think that such a big match might have taken it out on Ram for the semis, and Ali exerted all the pressure he could on Ram. With chances to win, Ali fell at the final hurdle, and Ram advanced into the final. Meanwhile, Rod was quietly getting on with business, taking care of Nick's resistance, winning 4-1. And this meant the final had two old foes, two players who have previously dominated the finals, and historically been number 1 and 2 at MNT pretty much since the ranking system was introduced. Whilst Ram has mostly had edge over Rod, Rod felt motivated and was playing some exceptional stuff en route to the final. But Ram's experience often brings through and the final was a really high quality affair between two players who have a lot of respect for each other. Rod did what he could, but despite making some incredible shots, his mistakes were capitalised on and Ram won through 4-3. Rod wasn't too disappointed though, telling DAZN after the final, "it was good to be back in a final with Ram, where we both belong to be", whilst Ram agreed "God played well, some great combos made, and it felt like old times to be back in the final with him".
This now leaves Ram just 0.116 points behind the current leader, Gabriel, which means next week's MNT will be quite decisive, as the top spot could change hands again. We're in the home straight of the year, and we'll expect to see plenty of drama between now and the end of the year to see who will finish the year in number 1 spot.
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Apologies for the enforced absence, but due to the loss of the media deal, we've been unable to report on MNT this year. However, after negotiations, a new media deal has been struck, and we're back reporting on London's Finest Pool's MNT's.
Lots has changed over 2024 as the rankings have shown. In previous years, Ramma Jamma and God shared the top two spots pretty much since the emergence of the rankings, but whilst Ram still owns the top spot, it's God who has slipped down the pecking order as his form is patchy to say the least. Still capable of winning any MNT on his day, regrettably, his day has been somewhat missing over the course of 2024, and he slips and slides down the rankings in an unfamiliar 5th position. Ram can also be disappointed with his form, as he hasn't quite been himself over the year, but still capable of pulling out magic on occasions to retain his top spot, but the chasing pack are closing in on him. Namely, Gabriel "Fake Taxi" Vasilache has been the man in form, and has now firmly established himself as the Number 2. Maybe it's only a matter of time before he reached top spot, but anything can happen between now and the end of the year.
Also of note, So Shaw, in only 4 tournaments played this year, has rocketed up the rankings to number 3, having only lost 2 games in 17. Quite the record, but his lack of participation will likely exclude him from any awards at the end of the year. Sam Storey also continues to impress as he consistently runs deep into comps, whilst Greg "Lord" Mostyn enjoyed a phenomenal year to May, reaching third place and had broken the 8 point mark. But, has since shown a lack of consistency and slipped back down the rankings a little. Jim "Greecey Slim Penis" also has surged up the rankings, along with Henri "The Finnisher" Linnainmaa, Turnip, and Pistol Pete Cloherty.
Onto last night's LFP's MNT at LST. For those new to us, it's London's Finest Pool's Monday Night Tournament at London Snooker Tooting, but that's a bit of a mouthful. 29 of London's most fearsome pool warriors exchanged pleasantries before the battles commenced. Sam Storey had to contend with the ever-improving Saman "Salami" Gholami. Matches between these two are nearly always a tight affair, and this was no exception as they both went at it hammer and tongs. No real surprise as they went hill-hill, but eventually Sam sent the Salami home early. Usman "The Uzi" Khokhar is a vastly improved player and has been showing good form of late. He was up against the enigmatic Carl Locsin, who is capable of the sublime and really should be higher up the rankings with his style and technique. Locsin demonstrated why he shouldn't be underestimated and pushed Usman to the wire, but the Uzi pulled the trigger at the right time, and rattled home the winner to make it 5-4. We're fortunate in that we attract players from all over, including the walking advertisement for different cue companies, Stephen "the Outlaw" Stedman. Stephen hails from Romford, so it's quite the trek to make it over to Tooting, and he's been over with fellow Essex Boys, Dainlus Zvirblys, and Tom "Diver" Daly who appears to have let himself go a bit since retiring from Olympic diving. Stephen had to face one of the biggest/loudest characters in Tooting, Danny "Tsunami" Navidi, and both players played out a very enjoyable match where the Tsunami sneaked the victory 5-4. And finally, in the first round, we had the Thriller from Manila as two of the Pinoy top boys, Ramon "Monster" Navarro faced up to Nick "LuckboxQ" Ronase. Nick can certainly claim to have a lot of flair in his game, whilst Ramon can only be described as very un-Filipino in his style, but nonetheless very effective. These two contrasting styles made for a really tight affair, but in the end, Nick claimed the victory over his compatriot whose famous "twitch" came back to haunt him.
Highlights of the second round, and Sam Storey made light work of Henri, The Uzi gunned down God easily, whilst Kostya Ivanov (The European U18 Champion) eased past Lord Mostyn. In the battle of Romford, Dainlus Zvirblys took out Tom Daly who was making his debut at MNT. Finally, the Arjon "the Beard" Hasi managed to overcome the ever-improving Loui Suarez, not to be confused with the buck toothed cheating Uruguayan striker who has a taste for biting defenders. Into the quarters, and the Uzi continued his fine form as he shot down Sam. Turnip was starting to show some fine form against Kostya and took him out 5-3, the Beard had a tough match against Cip "the Spin King" Dandu which went all the way, but Arjon creeped over the finishing line, and the Romford posse's run at MNT came to an end as Gab easily won against Dainlus. Long journey home, but we hope it was worth it for the Romford posse. That left Turnip to face the Uzi, and Gab to take on the Beard in the semis. Gab, as often is the case, was warming up throughout the tournament, and was playing virtually flawlessly, as he quickly disposed of the Beard. That left a meaty encounter between Uzi and Turnip, where Turnip also showed that despite his depressing and morose expression, he can play a bit. A rather tactical affair that Turnip has become accustomed to, but perhaps that suits him and he won 5-3. That left the final to be played between Turnip and Fake Taxi, and there's a reason why Gab is closing in on the top spot, and he saved his best to last and won 5-1. No complaints from Turnip though, as he told our roving reporter: "yeah, well, I played ok I suppose. Not much I could do about Gabs, but no doubt that I'll be back playing shit again next week". As always, plenty of positivity from the man they call Turnip. Gabriel said to the cameras: "well, y'know, I played ok. I can play better, and I will show that as I get the number 1 spot in the next few weeks."
So that concluded yet another MNT, and it was great to be reporting from Tooting again. We look forward to next week's MNT, which may well see Ram back in action to secure his position at the top, whilst Gabriel seeks to take him down.
Have a great week!
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Monday night means MNT at LST by the guys at LFP, and as usual, 32 players travelled from all corners of London to climb up, or fall down the rankings.
The first round had some really interesting results, as Obi "Jedi Knight" Anyouku caused a nice little upset over Marius Dandu with a 4-1 win. Sean "Scarf" Avery almost pulled off a bit of an upset against Andrew "I play better with my jump cue" Phan by taking their match right to the wire, but couldn't quite get over the line. Danny "Tsunami" Navidi really piled on the pressure against Tom Jedlecki and took the match to hill hill, but it was Tom who finished off the stronger. Henri "the Finnisher" Linnainmaa has been playing well of late, and was probably favourite going into his match against the Ramon "Monster" Navarro, but despite the famous monster twitch, Ramon went through to the next round. Josh Roberts also nearly caused a mahoosive upset against Ciaran Boylan, but not taking his opportunities when the big Irish Shrek with hair was a bit cold, cost Josh the win.
Certainly, the win of the round belongs to Turnip. At 1-0 up, he was kindly informed by Greg "Lord" Mostyn that his beloved Southampton were losing 3-0 to Bournemouth, and Turnip suddenly went into complete overdrive. Totally beat up Ram "Ramma Jamma" Gokhul, who will be very disappointed not to have progressed after a decent showing at Total 9 Ball on Saturday. Well done to Turnip, who had to fend off the disbelief, but we all know he's got that game within himself. He obviously just needs to get a bit wound up!
Moving deeper into the comp, and Round 2 saw some really good ties. Usman "The Uzi" Khokar was pushed the ever improving Obi, Muhammed "He's the Greatest" Ali won two games in a row for the first time in ages by beating conqueror of Dan "out in the first round" Suh, Hassan "Wolverine" Mehedi after coming back from 3-0 down! Arjon "The Beard" Hasi, was fresh off a really good showing at Total 9 Ball on Saturday, as he got to the final and only lost to a very in-form Mark Capito. The Beard carried on his fine form by overcoming Lord Mostyn, who put up a good fight. Saman "Salami" Gholami also was pushed hard by Phan, which went right to the wire, but Salami is showing consistency and came through to win.
Into the quarters, and Rod "the God" Altes was looking ominous as he cruised past the Uzi. Ciprian "Spin King" Dandu couldn't quite get past Ciaran, whilst Ali kept on his winning streak as he was the one to stop the Beard in his tracks with a 4-3 win. And finally, an epic between Spencer "Afrotastic" Oliver and the Salami, as it was noticed by officials that Spencer was doing his best to get both himself and his opponent as drink as possible, and in the end the Salami wilted and shrivelled, as Spencer won 4-3. At this stage, Rod the God was looking pretty confident as he thought he had a good chance to win this week's MNT. But, despite the tough run to the semis, Ali was a man in-form and despite the close match, Ali managed to sneak the win 4-3. Meanwhile, Spencer was unable to convince Ciaran to get drunk with him for the semi, and lost out 4-1.
The final, therefore, was against Ali and Ciaran, and it was potentially going to be a real dogfight. However, Ali was on fire, and Ciaran could barely get to the table, and a 4-1 win ensued for Ali. As in his previous win in MNT a year ago, Ali jumped up onto the table to celebrate and shouted to the fans "I told you so, I am the greatest! There ain't nobody like me!" In the press conference after, Ciaran said "I think Ali only missed one ball in the final, but whilst I may not have prevailed, the consensus is that I am more handsome". Meanwhile, Ali launched into an attack on Ciaran as he retorted "That ugly fool...he's too ugly to be champ". Both had to be led away from the press conference as they hurled insults at each other, creating quite the scene.
Anyway, a big congrats to Gabriel "Fake Taxi" Vasilache, who was sadly absent from yesterday's MNT due to his filming on location in his taxi, which we understand to be released on adult themed websites very soon. But Gabby has become number 1 for the first time, and in fact, is only the second person since, what seems forever, to get to the coveted Number 1 spot! Only Rod has achieved it in recent times, when he was top for a week last November, only for Ramma Jamma to reclaim his place. All to play for before the end of the season, and we're pretty sure that Ram ain't gonna give up that top spot easily. Good luck to whoever draws Ram next!
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With immense regret, we announce the passing of Steve Norris, one of the first participants at the first Monday Night Tournament, who was a genuine, caring and kind character, who could also be seen playing at Tooting on a regular basis. Whilst he was unable to participate too much on Monday's after a while, Steve continued to play against LFP members and you couldn't fail to hear him laughing and joking if he was in the club. Steve was one of those who was happy to share, talk to anyone who went near him, and made people feel welcome just by being an all-round great guy.
As London's Finest Pool has always striven to be a community, we very much hope that everyone will join us for the Steve Norris Cup on Monday 17th June at the usual place in Tooting. If it's possible, please add yourself through the normal way in the WhatsApp group. We will be donating all money to Steve's family, and will be accepting any donations whether you are able to attend or not. It will be a Scotch Doubles event and there will be no cap on players. The format will be decided on the night depending on numbers, but we ask that everyone can get there before 7pm, as we hope to have a moment together, as a community, to remember Steve. There will be no prize money, but hope that as many of you can make it to celebrate his life and have an evening of laughs, exceptional potting, and exceptional misses. Kinda sums up Steve.
We'd also like to thank those who have sent donations in already, who are unable to attend on Monday, for your immense generosity and support. Anyone wishing to donate may do so through PayPal www.paypal.me/londonsfinestpool
Many thanks,
London's Finest Pool
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