The BNBF Central Championships

The Alban Arena, St Albans was the venue for the BNBF Central Championships for the second year running. As always the show was well attende by both competitors and a very enthusiastic audience.
The Judges were all PNBA Pros and included two of the best ever Natural Pros Rob Hope and Nigel Davis. The show was hosted by PNBA Pro and amateur Mr Universe Pete Chown.

Novice
The novice class was the first on stage, it was a large line up of 14 athletes with some really promising physiques and entertaining routines.

1st Frank Mensah
Frank displayed a well balanced physique and was in very good condition. Frank had great abs and tight mid section. His shoulders were wide and gave him a nice taper. Frank however needs to work on his compulsory poses as he looked excellent free standing and was sometimes disappointing when hit poses.
2nd Clive Letts
Clive was a very close 2nd to Frank only one point split them on this occasion a battle which I am sure they will resume in the finals. Clive has great full muscle bellies and is very well balanced. Clive did relax a little too often on stage which can lose the attention of the judges and sometimes was posing to his friends rather than the judges. Be careful as this sometimes means you are not showing the judges your physique from the best angle.
3rd Andy Hallahan
Andy has a great chunky physique with a lot of mass. He displayed his upper body well and had good abs. Andy looked to have good legs but omitted to pose them possibly to the detriment of his final place. With better posing he could be a real threat at the finals.
4th Stephen Bannan
Stephen has a well balanced physique and was well conditioned. He has a great pair of calves. Stephen needs to be more confident on stage but this should come with experience.
5th Simon Stevens
Simon displayed a good shape and large round pecs but need to be much harder for the finals.
6th Anthony Potts
Anthony was in great condition but his height meant he looked slight compared to some competitors. He will fill out in time he is well balanced and will be someone to keep an out for in the future. Anthony’s posing routine to the muppets theme was very entertaining and appreciated by the enthusiastic audience.
Top 4 were invited to the Britain

Teens
The next class up was the teen class with all 3 competitors receiving an invite to the British finals.

1st Michael Goodwin
Michael displayed a good balanced physique with great shoulder width, good arms, a great chest and a nicely detailed wide back. He will still need to improve on his condition for the finals. He needs to look at they way he poses his legs and his side chest pose as often they were not showing these assets of to there best.
2nd Atal Qayoom
Atal has a well developed upper body with a great V taper and massive biceps but lets himself down with very poor leg development. If Atal is to achieve his goal in bodybuilding he will have to work much harder on his legs.
3rd Sean Cookney
Sean is a big led with a well balanced physique but really lacks condition. If he can bring a well conditioned physique to the finals he should make a bigger impact on the higher placings.

Juniors
This year’s junior line up was very strong all these lads had worked hard and entertained the crowd with some great routines. The top 4 received invites to the British finals.

1st Mark Claxton
Mark was excellent on the day displaying a very well balanced physique and terrific condition from every angle. He has good shoulder width, well developed legs with great hamstring detail and a wide detailed back. This great package was well presented and he was a deserving winner of both this class and the best presentation award.
2nd Anthony Rodrigues
Another great physique with great back width, tiny waist, excellent biceps and big sweeping quads. Anthony has great potential but would have needed to be harder to challenge Mark
3rd Tom Brooks
In third place was Tom Brooks, Tom has a lovely upper body with a good V-taper and tiny waist, he had a well detailed back and was in good condition. On this occasion it was his legs that let him down,not that he didn’t have developed legs but definitely didn’t want to show them to the judges. Better posing especially of his legs would help show his physique to its full potential.
4th Flavio Mendonca
Flavio has good development in his upper body with great side chest and very good abs, but needs to open up more in his front poses. Flavio was in good condition but like Tom did not want to show his legs. Flavio is also slightly weaker in the rear poses in comparison to the front and should watch that he doesn’t allow this to continue and spoil his balance.

Masters
This class had 3 over 40’s competitors and 1 over 60’s competitors.

1st Richard Bannaghan
Richard enjoyed himself on stage and was very confident in his presentation. He displayed a well balanced physique with huge arms and good quads he will need to be harder to challenge at the finals.
2nd Robert Large
Robert was in good condition with a good upper body with a detailed back. His routine was entertaining and presented his physique well. Robert needs to keep working on thickness and better leg development.
3rd Jonathan Travers
Jonathan displayed good balance and looks to have plenty muscle but unfortunately was far too soft to display it.
Over 60’s winner
David Brice
David was the only over 60’s competitor on the day but showed some improvement since last year with great arms, nicely capped delts and good abs. Well done David

Guest Star
The indefatigable Chris Nsubuga
What can you say about Chris he is an entertainer of the highest caliber he is a huge man with massive chest, arms and butt, he has great sweeping quads and an awesome smile.
Chris will make his debut as a Pro at the Natural Olympia this year and I am sure it will be one to remember.

Miss Figure
The Miss Figure class had the unenviable task of following Chris - would any of them be able to gyrate their hips the way he could?
1st Debbie Francis
Debbie has a great natural figure and always comes in very good condition. Her routine and presentation were excellent winning her the class and best presentation trophy. She could however still improve the muscle mass in her upper body.
2nd Flick Williams
Flick had great muscle development in her upper body and had well developed legs that were however too soft on this occasion to do them justice. Better posture would have helped as Flick dropped her shoulders forward a lot rather than lifting up and showing her true shoulder width. Flick could be better suited to the Miss physique class.

Lightweights
Next up was the first of the Mr classes with top 3 being invited to the finals.

1st George Ferreos
George has a nicely balanced physique with big legs and wide back. His side chest pose was excellent and his physique was well detailed all over. Big improvement from last year, George posed well and was a deserving winner.
2nd Andrew Spooner
Andrew has a great shape with big arms and big sweeping thighs. He looked too soft and appeared to be carrying a lot of fluid which detracted from his physique. I am sure that will change for the finals.
3rd Adam Andrews
It was a very close decision between Adam and Andrew. Adam also has big arms and muscular legs but was too pale during the day which hid some of his detail. Could also improve on his posing for the finals.
4th Andy Shipway
Andy was nicely balanced with a good detailed back. Unfortunately Andy has panicked and screwed up his prep in the last few days which meant he just never got it right on this occasion. A good learning experience.

Middlweights
This was a very close class and any one of the 4 could have won on the day each as everyone had different positive attributes.
1st Glen Danbury
Glen was softer than usual, but showed great symmetry and carried a ton of mass on his frame. He has incredibly muscular legs and awesome calves. His quads sweep and his hamstrings hang. Glen is a terrific poser with great stage presence.Looking forward to seeing a 100% Glen at the British Finals.
2nd Paul Emmons
Paul was rock hard with big arms and very detailed legs and great calves these particularly detailed legs won him the best wheels award on the day. Paul needs to keep working on his upper body to balance his physique.
3rd Tshala Kabala
Tshala has an amazing upper body, very Brian Buchanan like, with a tiny waist flaring up to a fantastic lat spread. He displayed awesome rear double bicep and lat spread poses and has massive arms. Tshala really has the most amazing upper body but his legs do not match and looked weak in comparison. He was also in a class where all the competitors had particularly good legs if he can bring his legs up he will be very hard to beat.
4th Jason Conway
Another excellent physique showing great potential. Jason is well balanced and has great arms during the day Jason looked softer but at night he was harder and he really pushed the winner.
The class was so close all 4 were invited to the British finals.

Heavyweights
This looked to be a fun class with the competitors competing with friendly jostling and great camaraderie. All three were invited to the finals.

1st Tygoli Ano
Ty has a very aesthetic shape with very full pecs and great shoulder and arms.He has a great V taper to a small waist which highlights his tremendous upper body. However Ty’s legs were soft and showed no detail. Ty could also try a slower posing routine which would emphasis his physique as he seemed to move too quickly not allowing the judges or audience to appreciate the true quality of his physique.
2nd Seth McNeil
Seth has great shoulder width, good arms and was in good condition he is a bit weak in the legs and needs to work harder on his lower body.
3rd Reece Vige
Reece has a ton of mass and really was a big man with very broad shoulders, big arms and great calves. It would be great to see him come in much harder at the finals. A good effort for his first contest, a very entertaining and very sporting competitor.

Miss Physique

Only two competitors in this class but what we lost in numbers was made up for in quality with both girls thoroughly deserving the invite to the finals.
1st Annabel Ottey
Annie has great potential- She has a lovely X shape with a naturally wide back, great leg sweep and detail.Good balanced physique.Annie has very good stage presence.
2nd Sarah Meek
Sarah was a first time competitor and was very nervous during the day. She however shone at night and performed a lovely routine with props. Sarah has a great upper body displaying good abs and well developed pecs and delts.. Sarah just needs to bring her legs up slightly.

Overall
Glen Danbury took the overall title today. He was not in his best condition but still had the best balance of shape and muscle mass and was awarded the overall win.

This was a great show with a good number of competitors and just as importantly a great, enthusiastic audience who supported every athlete.