Oooh, Oooh - 2222 posts. Cool. This'll knacker that up then.
OK. I like Bristol Sunday - 's really the only time in the year we get so many freestylers in the one place at the one time. Great to see y'all, and all the by-standers too. I enjoyed the round-up policy too, no wandering, no clip-boards and no mild frustration at all. Just a big old speaker, a microphone and a couple of shout outs. "Can you hear Al? Get off'v the phone and walk this way."
16 man T.O. started on time with just a touch of minor cajoling and a few more missed out for not being in the right place at the right time. The FA sorting hat has gone missing, it'll be in a box somewhere unpacked as yet, so the draw was down to the 'fickle baccy tin of fate'...
Round 1.
Dave H (Popeye) vs. Tony S - Dave wins. Partly 'cos it was a good, strong opening show from Dave with a DS, and partly 'cos immediate tough tip wraps in the first 10 seconds of the first round don't help. And Old Skool is only any good in context
Jon E Vs. Doc James - Jon wins. Sweet looking CTC vs. one fugly WM.
Good show from both, but Jon has been flying stronger for a while now and pulled through. Great to see Doc back from Down Under walkabouts though.
Al Tanner (Infinitive) Vs. Craig H - Craig wins. Pair of part-timers this year these two
some sweet Akuji style from Craig won through though.
We fudged the draw just a touch next - cheating really, but we couldn't let Cam go out first round to the same opponent 3 years running, and Keith and Vee were going to have to share a kite against each other... Entertaining no doubt, but nah - not really.
Vee Vs. Cameron - Cam wins. Big grin a Vee's face though, flying a new kite.
Craig J vs. Bryan - Bryan wins. Nice round, didn't honestly see what Craig was up to, but top bloke a pleasure to share a field with.
Keith Vs. Chris - Chris wins. Keith had bought a Goff proto in the auction (proto or production? hmmm.) and suddenly looked like a trick flier, then didn't any more - then did again. Ermm only one winner here, but really sharp looking sails on both sides.
Piero Vs. Mike (Bakardi) - Piero wins. Great to see our Northern contingency again - no broken bones this year either.
Andy B Vs. Mike (Ferris) - Andy wins. My fault really, applying mild pressure to get Mike into the Arena for the first time. Well done.
Good show from Andy this round, nice.
Quarter Finals
Dave H Vs. Jon E - Jon Wins. Best and closest match thus far. Smooth moves and strong style throughout. Great show.
Craig H Vs. Cameron - Craig wins. More sweet Akuji style from Craig here. Enough to win out despite some cracking Element moves from Cam, there were just a couple too many mistakes.
Bryan Vs. Chris - Chris wins. 'kin fix, honestly. Recount please. No? Ah well, fair enough then.
In case you hadn't noticed allready - the bottom half of the draw really wasn't the place to be. I didn't actually see what Chris was up to much, too busy running round in circles - there was a goodly number of ooohs and aaahs from the crowd though.
Piero Vs Andy - Piero wins. Yeah, it's that bottom half of the draw thing.
Semi Finals
Jon E Vs. Craig - Jon wins. Another tight round, but I think in this instance, the sharpness of Jon's CTC won over the flow of the Akuji. (Hey Craig, beaten by your own kite - sheesh.
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Chris Vs. Piero - Piero wins. Damn! - just about as good as it gets just now.
Final
Jon Vs. Piero - Piero wins. Jaffa's thoroughly desreved, might need a bigger tube, I'm not sure they got all the way across the front row.
OK, well played everyone and thanks for joining in. We were interupted by little girls with red shoes on, freak weirdos with no sense of direction and all sorts of line issues (missing, dropped, wrapped up - all sorts). We had some slamming tunes out of Mikes Ipy Od, and were generally treated to some fantastic flying to be entertained by. Well done all, and congratulations to sustificate winners (They took hours to print and cut out, I hope you've looked after 'em
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We really should do this more often.
Bryan
