President's Bulletin: Updated 7th October 2024
And so home to the rain, bringing the bins in & thinking about cutting the hedge & arranging to start the excavation work I agreed to start this week for the winter. Time moves fast. Just 2 days ago I was living at the seaside, overseeing the triumph of our heroic team who battled all comers from around the world. Some of the team are now world champions - others have work to do with a route to achieve it having been shown the standard to achieve.
DAYS 1&2: JUNIORS & MASTERS
MARIA HANLON had some nerves before her match with Kylie the Canadian. A big contingent from Canada were present all the time so any of their team got full support for their efforts - us - not so much. We have a rag tag bunch of drunkards & waywards who will mostly turn up just in time for their matches & then depart swiftly once their goldfish attention spans have expired. It can be lonely up there on the stage for the first time against unknown opposition. Maria had not cause for concern as it turned out - she smashed herself into the final & then won convincingly gaining putting us on the board for the medals on both arms.
Less outwardly nervous was JULIA JABONSKA who had gained medals at the EUROS in June & had the obvious benefit of a programme of how to improve on it by father Kamil who was very proud to see the work pay off for gold on both arms. The junior teams of other countries have a greater advantage due to the structures & support of their countries & more importantly governments. Schools in Sweden & many other countries have armwrestling in schools as part of the education curriculum. Here, we chase balls around & have red tape & regulation.
JOSHUA MORGAN accompanied Stephen Kirlew & became a surprise late entry. He held his nerve, didn't score a pin but conducted himself wonderfully & I'm sure he gained from it. Being a spectator is different from being in the mix, one of the team. He earned his place behind the scenes a few times & we will see him again I am sure.
ELIJAH FINNERTY was unknown to me & we'd only eyeballed each other briefly during the weigh in shortly before the flag ceremony was about to be underway. He happened to be in the right (or wrong) place as I passed & shanghai'd him to carry the fabric on stick onto the stage. Speeches were being made as I joked about with a few of my pals at the back & he went on to get a Bronze medal & credible fourth. I reckon he'll be back with more in future.
An injury forced MAGDA JABLONSKA to withdraw, but we enjoyed her presence all the same. Hope to see her next time again.
Initial disappointment for AGY GORZYNSKA after the other six women who were registered as competitors in her left hand class decided not to compete. The IFA way is that if you train, turn up & then the opposition withdraws they give you the gold medal or you can compete in the weight class above. There being no weight class above for Agy to compete in the first gold medal was a formality. Happily two of the opponents decided to have a go the following day & showed up to be fodder for Agy's second gold medal which was swiftly earned.
JAMES WALL's prodigy JACK ORME gained a pin on the left arm to give him 8th place on the left, finding the right a bit more difficult. To get a pin internationally is hard to do - so one at Worlds is a fine achievement.
JOE FINNERTY smashed his way to a GOLD & SILVER with maximum noise & aggression. Unfamiliarity with the system is what caused his losses - a hard lesson to learn when it is obvious to all he was strongest in the class - but to play the game, you have to learn the rules & there will be a good number of his opponents who will groan when he returns again if they are called against him.
TEOO WIETRZAK hadn't got the memo about not wearing shorts so it was between fights in the GM 78 class that we had to find him a pair of trousers to pull in - despite the distraction TEOO's 2 wins got him the bronze on the left & suitably dressed on day 2 he fought back from the b side to win the gold. Teo is amazing - he sort of drifts into the tournament inconspicuously & whilst others are getting hyped up he casually walks on stage & decimates most of his opponents, then strolls back to his seat.
HITMAN DAN HANLON, STEEL HAND STANLEY HAMILTON & a returning RYAN FINNERTY shared the masters 86 class against some fierce opposition. COREY FLASH MILLER from the USA didn't make weight for 78 so had to go 86. I put a bounty on him for any of our lads to pin him & get him out of the finals. Corey told me he would keep me rich by smashing any of our men - I told him he'd only eaten his way out of danger because of CRAIG SANDERS attending in the 78's. Such is the banter of friends at the worlds. Dan scored three pins on left to get him BRONZE in a hard fought match - it could have gone slightly different for a place in the final & an injury as well. The next day two wins got him fifth & the opposition was fierce. STANLEY's left got a pin for 8th place whilst RYAN's pin placed him 10th as the draw sometimes happens. Anything past 6th is subjective really depending on the scoring system used - but getting a pin at this level of competition is something to be pleased about. On right both STAN & RYAN got two pins - this time the order of gaining them meant RYAN gained 6th whilst STANLEY gained 7th.
TIM LIELL (mostly famous as HARRY'S DAD) contested the Grand masters 86 & gained a pin on left to be 5th. Right was harder - 8th place, but no less hard fought. Always a pleasure to see TIM.
Also from SWINDON CRUSADERS ALAN MILNE coach of some of our best UK pullers added to his collection of world championship medals & got himself a silver on left & bronze on right. On the seafront afterparty I noticed he was the oldest of those gathered doing one arm push ups - superman ALAN.
A blast from the past in the form of STEPHEN KIRLEW provided the only 95kg puller of the championships. Someone asked me where all the other 95kg killers are - I replied that they either have young families, don't travel, have already committed money to other things or are roided to fuck. Stephen was impressive - all tan & shiny teeth - he blasted through the opposition to get into the masters finals both days gaining silver twice. Could it have been gold - I think a bit of competition rust was the difference - if a flea can jump though a fag papers gap under your elbow & the ref sees it you get the foul. A solid return though & some of the 95's at home have reason to worry if he turns up at the pro nationals this year.
CAPTAIN ANAVAR MARK WALDON took two pins to get 4th on the left & it was a cracking fight that sent him out of the medals. He was set for similar or better the next day in the GM95, but noshing on something poisonous caused him to miss a nights sleep & with minimal fuss (for him), he contested the right despite feeling worse the wear to gain 7th. A lot of cases of food poisoning affected results during the competition. Was it the tap water some asked? Or pink chicken as others reported? I don't know, but the Swedish team also had some difficulties & a few of ours were ill. I drunk the tap water, swam in the sea & was reasonably okay. IRON MAIDEN said that I could ingest stuff that would make a billy goat puke, but I'm not so sure - it can be luck of the draw same as the tournament.
Talking of which, IRON PAUL MAIDEN joined JUDGE DREDD JAMES BEECH (the housewive's favourite) in the Masters 105R. Between them they beat up most of the opposition, PAUL forcing JIM to take bronze with everything set for the final. The ARMGODS ARMY in attendance shouted & roared, but PAUL said he hit a wall in the final & took SILVER. He was characteristically unhappy about that, but shouldn't be - he put in the work, did all he could. Sometimes the other guy is just better on the day. The previous day JIM got silver & proved that the improvements & scraps he has had this past year were no flukes - he is indeed among the best in the world.
MASTERS 105+ had the CREAM OF THE CROP STUART ACTON representing us against the giants with random scrabble bag names. It's tough against the gorillas & STU got 16th & 14th.
In the GRAND MASTERS SUPERHEAVYWEIGHTS left it was me against the world & it didn't go well. Former WAF masters Champion & good friend ION GROSU from Birmingham was my first obstacle & whilst he pinned me swiftly I felt it was less shocking than the previous times that he smashed me. Ion finished a place in front of me - 6th to my 7th - & my other match was against the eventual bronze medallist. I got a brief stop in him but it wasn't enough.
On day 2 JASON BROOKS joined me on right taking three wins to gain 6th place. It was him & ION GROSU playing off for 5th & ION was victorious. I got pinned by the cheerful Italian who put me out of the EUROS & than later the 4th place Swede.
Days 3 & 4 SENIOR CLASSES
Senior 57 THOMAS LILLEY got a pin on both arms in his first international tournament & gained 7th place each day. He took a swift loss from one of the Japanese pullers who had a fierce war in the final so no doubt that he had tough opposition.
70kg class - TOM MITCHELL had a tough draw with 2 & out both days with 11th & 16th. That doesn't reflect the level he is - he had some of the killers including the eventual winner from Azerbijan. Sometimes it's just not your day.
THE ENTERTAINER ASHLEY HARMSWORTH fought hard for his 15th on left & got a pin on right to be 12th. Again, not reflective of the effort but getting the high level starts & feeling what the opponents have gives some insight into the next things to focus on in training.
ETHAN FISHER took a win to gain 7th on the left 78kg class on day 3. On day 4 he got three wins which gained him 6th place. It was a big class & 3 more of our team joined him - DAN SMITH, AD BARNETT & BIRMINGHAM BULLET CRAIG SANDERS. DAN SMITH got a pin to be 15th.
AD BARNETT lost both matches for 17th & was disappointed - it's tough to travel all that way for two short losses. I often get asked what I gain from so many losses & at one time I had a two year losing streak. If you have the love of the sport & competition it is progression that you seek - this is the wrong sport to be in if you can't weather some setbacks & the technicalities of the competition, refereeing & standard of the opposition are all factors outside your control. We train hard, focus our energies & resources & sometimes the score does not reflect the effort expended. AD is improving, he has a lot of fire & intensity & talking to him afterwards showed no lack of commitment to improve.
Smiling continually throughout it was clear from the cheers of all teams that BIRMINGHAM BULLET CRAIG SANDERS was the most popular man in the competition. He smashed his way to the final & lost it as usual on elbow foul despite dominating the other puller. Another medal to add to the hundreds for CRAIG.
The 86 class was massive with big names & a lot of delays due to protests that seemed to drag on. All those who want to show me videos of their matches after their loss to prove it wasn't their fault often cite the international system of protests - we had three in the tournament & all were upheld giving our men another chance where they might have been out - but the day drags on & the same people who moan about our refs decision is final policy also are usually the ones who complain about the days being long.
Our National Champion HARRY LIELL (TIM'S SON) got two pins on left which put him 13th. It was fouls & technicalities that stopped him which is always hard to stomach. As champion you carry expectation from both yourself & those around you so anything less that the victory is disappointing. It is a measure of the quality of opposition though that has been present in this competition. Very strong established teams are doing well & any victories against them we can muster are worthwhile.
THE QUITE MAN MURRAY WHITEHEAD fared a better, his even temperament perfect for the delays & nuisances of such competition. As challenger there is less expectation, maybe more ambition - who can say? Murray doesn't give much away. What he did do was get 5 pins & 5th place on the first day. I'm not easily impressed. MURRAY impressed me & I told him so. Is this favouritism? No. I want our men to win medals. Day 4 right arm proved even more stressful when the COREY MILLER/MASON DROESSE protest dragged on for about half an hour & in a class of over 30 that makes for a lot of nervous energy for those who have warmed up & are now waiting for their turn. HARRY had five impressive wins & only lost out on a medal by elbow fouls. That's a technical adjustment to be made & his 5th place was hard fought in class of killers. MURRAY, again played the game expertly with six wins & gained bronze. Most impressive was his stop & win over COREY MILLER, which gained him the President's bounty - £10 for the win & £10 for keeping him out of the final. The winner of the 86 class - ISKREN ZDRAVKOV - was an absolute monster. I got to talk to him a little before the final & he was super cool & confident - & his armwrestling is something to be seen. Can HARRY & MURRAY be a threat to him in the future? I think so, but the road isn't easy. They know now what the standard of opposition is & in their battles against each other I think they both can be one & two. Which is which though? I don't have a favourite - I want them in those top spots & they are capable of it.
Whilst not officially in the UK Team as IRELAND is considered separate by IFA (which is only right geographically & politically) we of course have LEVIATHAN ADRIAN O'DWYER as one of our own. Those who don't know, we are the PAA UK & IRELAND because there was a time when Adrian had no local championships to contest so when Paul started PAA he included Ireland for Adrian. Others of course have followed on but so long as they want to be part of the PAA they can be regardless of how IFA classify them. As defending 105kg World Champion & current European Champ ADRIAN was favourite to retain the title, certainly in my eyes. Still, I have obvious bias & realise always that nothing is certain. As it turned out Adrian got 2 pins & was knocked into 4th place. Damn.
Faring better was our JUNIOR WORLD CHAMP (from 2022) ELLIOTT ECCLES who pinned everyone & took the gold medal. How good is that?
In the senior Superheavyweights STUART ACTON & I (DAN EARTHQUAKE) were the only two from the UK to stand against the hordes. On left STUART gained a pin on the left got him 9th - that's a good achievement & if you were there you would understand why. I was put out by the 7th & 11th placers giving me 15th. Right was harder with another 14th for STUART after 2 losses & thirteenth for me. How do these big fat guys move so fast? That's what I was left wondering. Oh well, I will have to do better. We have some giants of our own in the UK, I wish we could have got them over here to take on some of the beasts walking about. A full team of monsters deployed could put us much higher up. If you're reading this & think you could have done better we'll be glad to take you along next time.
I didn't follow the IRISH entrants as closely but can report that ALEX KIRICHENKO representing IRELAND got bronze on left & gained a pin on right & took 5th. ALEXANDRU BUGAN was 19th in 105kg left seniors. Also friends from Ireland representing Lithuania - MACKEVISCIUSS MINDAUGAS was 22nd in senior 86's left & 24th right. BIG DOG JULIUS ZUIRIKAS was 13th on left in same class.
TEAM SCORES. Overall we came 6th by medals for juniors & masters & 10th for the seniors.
OTHER STUFF:
WARZONE YORKSHIRE CUP in LEEDS this coming weekend - details see events calendar. NATIONALS end of month - see NATIONALS page.
See you down the road.