Photos by Eric Guy, click here for photos

 

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The penultimate qualifier of the 2008 BNBF competitive season was the Central Championships held at the Alban Arena, St Albans . A big venue for a very big qualifier, with the entries numbering into the seventies it was approaching the size of a final and the natural physiques on show where of a standard where it was as much quality as it was quantity.
The raucous crowd of the northern two weeks early were going to take some beating for atmosphere but many where giving it a good go, especially one woman in particular who seemed to think the many unclothed male competitors where to be treated with the same heckling as a Chippendale – luckily she gave all the male competitors the same attention so no one should have felt left out.
The BNBF have to be applauded as much of the atmosphere is owed in part to the high quality production values, with the quality lighting show casing the physiques and the show atmosphere they generate it aids in getting the crowd going.

 

First up was the massive Novice class which originally had seventeen competitors but ended up having a stage jammed to the hilt with sixteen.

First up was Louis Bacon who was big and had great peaks to his biceps but unfortunately would be too soft compared to the rest. Michael Bannan had a nice compact physique but his patchy tan coupled with him not having the natural width of many of the others, having said that he sported great calves and flaring quads which with more separation could have put him in for a shout for the best wheels, Michaels good condition meant he come on more during the muscularity round. Peter Batai was the third competitor to come on stage and had great structure with full muscle bellies, unfortunately his legs did not show the same condition as his upper-body and his running tan blurred some of his fine muscularity. Next up was Mark Burles who was balanced but soft and needed to keep his legs tighter in many poses, the next competitor was Paul Callighan who once again was too soft and become lost in the larger physiques of the class. Wesley Griffin was thick especially in his upper-body which tended to overshadow his weaker lower half but a few pounds tighter would have seen him pushing for higher spots. The most ripped competitor within the class was Mathew Harrington, although smaller than most and weaker in the lower-body his superb conditioning made him stand out. Rob Harris doing himself a disservice as his front relaxed was over exaggerated this hid the shoulder width he did have, softer than many in the class he did seem to get harder come the evening.

Tom James showed an evident physique but was far too soft and somewhat pale especially standing next to Jason Meeks who had great structure and was balanced with cuts everywhere, his fault was he hid his width from the rear in the back poses by scrunching his shoulder blades together which marred an otherwise superb physique.

Taiwo Ashungure had a good chest but like many in this class was too soft to do there physique justice. Again James Shield was big but soft and his well balanced physique could do with just a longer diet to show his quality. Tony Sheen was balanced in terms of his development but his lower body was softer than his upper which showed good vascularity arching across his good chest and shoulders. Simon Stevens was more balanced than he was last year but held his front relaxed awkwardly which threw his symmetry of he had great vascularity on his arms and had clearly improved since last years novice showing.

Christopher Trendowicz was thick but too soft and needs to learn how to spread his lats in the rear shots.

With some polished routines the places where announced with Simon Stevens retaining the fifth place he won last year, Mathews ultra ripped physique assured him of fourth place with Michael Bannans ripped compact physique edging him into third. Peter Batai’s classy structure and full muscles took him into second place and with greater conditioning this guy could be a top contender in the open classes but today it was Jasons massive ripped and balanced physique which took the win within a competitive and judging nightmare class.

Luke Seabrook was the lone Teen entrant but his size and good balance meant he didn’t look out of place when he came on with the juniors, he will need to be harder come the British.

The first of the eight juniors was Jamie Barnard who had good balance but needed to keep his legs tighter in the front poses as they where evidently hard from the side, next up was Ayub Choudry but my notes are limited as he went home before the evening class started!
Anthony Francoisy had great size and structure and seemed to harden up for the evening and performed some classic posing in his routine. Sean Gardner was well balanced and a few pounds harder would have seen him move up a few places. Benjamin Greenblatt was again a well balanced junior but needed to be a touch harder. Chris Hutchfull was massive for a junior but far too soft otherwise he would be competitive in most open classes with his size and balance and once again a junior who performed a nice classic posing routine. Ollie Mathews had great legs but needed to be harder in a competitive junior class, learning to alter his poses would also aid in his symmetry, finally for the juniors was Flavio Mendoca who was one of the juniors who didn’t have to worry about conditioning and was big and balanced to go along with it.

Jamie Barnard edged into fifth place, the massive potential of Chris Hutchfull muscled him into fourth with Benjamin taking third. Anthony’s size and structure edged him into second with the clear winner being Flavio with his balanced muscular and shredded physique taking the junior title.

 

From the juniors to the first of the old timers classes with the over- forties Masters – a massive class jammed with class physiques showing the natural game is often one of patience as many of these guys where still clearly improving. Lazaro Almerres just making the check in time to bring some entertainment to the class with a routine which suited the aforementioned women in the audience, luckily his physique was jam packed with dense ripped muscle to back it up, although his legs could do with a bit more to balance his impressive upper-body. James Blyth showed a balanced and thick physique but needed to be a bit sharper, Gordon Clark was far too soft to show the muscle which was there. Henry Elsom was probably the most ripped physique in the whole show, and his incredible condition highlighted the thick balanced physique he had and with better posing to show off the class physique, this guy could be a real threat to many in the Masters class. Mark Houghton epitomized the X frame style physique with massive flaring quads, tiny waist and broad shoulders packaged with excellent condition, the one real criticism would be for such massive and clearly conditioned legs he failed to show much separation. Ritchie Hutchinson has a good upper-body with nice conditioning but needed more leg and calf size to push the top places.

Charlie McKee again had a great upper-body with razor conditioning but wilted in the lower-body department to balance out his physique. Lee Ottey had great balance and posed really well but needed to be harder to show off the physique he had. Jose Ruiz venturing from the lightweights in 06 to the masters class had a balanced physique and showed great vascularity across his impressive chest and shoulders and had nice feathered thighs, but was just out-massed in a highly competitive class. Dean Wellington was big and balanced and had clearly taken steps to improve his condition since last years novice showing but still was a good five to ten pounds away from the conditioning needed.

James Blyth took fifth, Charlie’s outstanding chest and shoulders muscled him into fourth with Lazaro energetically taking third with his dense and ripped physique. In the end Henry was very unfortunate to take second as his muscularity and conditioning was a sight to behold and come the finals with improved posing could easily reverse the decision.

Mark Houghton though thoroughly deserved his win in an ultra competitive Masters class with many of the open classes probably glad these guys are of the age they are, as they would have troubled many of the Mr classes.

 

Continuing upwards in the age brackets was the over-fifty Masters with the ever charismatic and youthful David Brice showing age is but a number as his physique was still improving and showed good balance, conditioning and for a man in his sixties has a great taste in music as he posed well to a classic Guns-n-Roses track. Tommy Campion’s small but well conditioned physique was well presented but he needs to add more leg mass to gain better balance.

Ade Coker had great size and conditioning but his long limbs and awkward posing meant it wasn’t shown to the best. The judges can only judge on what can be seen and if you don’t show the judges then they cannot award you for it – a note for all competitors is to get yourself to a BNBF club near you, as an hour’s work with an experienced poser can make you look like you have gained ten pounds of muscle!

Lastly in the class was Mark Duckett – this guy was pushing Henry for most-conditioned athlete in the show and he was thick and balanced to go with it. The one criticism would be he was fairly laid back in his posing, which he will need to improve for the final.

David took fourth but garnered a British invite as he was the only over sixties competitor there, Ade took third but with better posing could have moved ahead easily. Tommy with his well presented and conditioned physique took second and lastly Mark dominated the class to easily take the title.

 

Next up was the guest poser with the 2007 Junior British Champ flying all the way back from Malta to do a guest spot, before jumping back on a plane to head back out there again. Andrew ‘Mushy’ Chappell provided an entertaining routine and his thick vascular physique showed good condition for someone who claimed to be in full off-season, which was verified by the fact he was more concerned with finding food than getting his tan sorted out earlier in the day. For someone who is only twenty-one he has a great physique and will surely turn pro before long.

The second part of the show was kicked off by the first female class with four figure contestants.

First up was Trina Chee-a-Kwai who had nice shape but needed to be harder especially in the lower-body, but performed a nice confident energetic routine. Next up was KT Coates who was tall and elegant with nice shape and balanced conditioning, she continued to display herself well with a flamboyant routine. Katie Fisher was confident far too soft to challenge for top honours, as its stated in the rules ultra shredded physique type bodies aren’t what’s being looked for, but a level of conditioning which shows clear abs and leg separation is and Katie has the balance but needs to just tighten up. Kristelle Sammons had great structure in the upper body with a beautifully defined midsection coupled with confident posing culminating in a fluid routine highlighting her upper-body shape. If criticism could be levied at such a stunning physique, it was that her legs were not as defined as her upper-body and the slightly shorter proportions of them threw off her symmetry slightly. However, come the evening her legs did seem to become harder and more separation was evident. Its difficult with Kristelle as with her upper-body would her physique start approaching more of a Ms physique when she achieves the level of conditioning in her legs?

In the end Katie took fourth, Trina took third and the battle between two top quality figure girls had Kristelle being edged into second by the tall and elegantly structured KT who took the winner trophy and title, with her routine also garnering her the best female presentation award which she seemed ecstatic to receive.

 

The men resumed their battles with the first of the open classes as the Lightweights filed on stage. Stephen Bannan had good balance but scrunches his back which hides his width from the rear, nice bulbous calves and biceps – both him and Michael Bannan need to sort their tans out though! Helder Barruso had a great physique with massive arms and top conditioning, however his legs, although improved since last year were still below that of his amazing upper-body – he performed a entertaining routine although its style was perfectly aimed at the heckling woman in the front row who I thought was going to jump on stage and start sticking five pound notes in Helders trunks. His presentation in both the evening show and during the mandatory round earned him the male best presentation award. Next up was Carlos dos Santos, as he came on stage I thought who has pinched half his waist!!! The smallest waist imaginable coupled with sweeping shredded quads and thick delts gave him a stand out front relaxed as his X-frame was show stopping. The next lightweight was Chris Flannagan who had a balanced physique with good condition but lacked the mass to challenge the top few. Iqbal Hussein again had nice balance but needed to be harder, a nice fluid posing highlighted the potential that was clearly there.

In the end Chris Flannagan took fourth, Stephen Bannan took third with a Britain invite and Helder Barruso took second place which he seemed uncharacteristically to dislike. The clear winner was Carlos as his physique was well balanced, structurally beautiful and his sweeping quads and thick corded hamstrings captured him the best wheels trophy as well.

 

The Middleweights was again a top quality line up with Jason Conway showing improved conditioning since the Northern although it slipped slightly towards the evening. He has great structure but needs more lat width to balance out his physique especially with his long torso. Chris Drake had great size and structure but needs to be harder to show his great potential although he seemed to harden up come the evening. Spencer Dugmore had awesome shoulder width with great conditioning and again seemed to come in harder for the evening packaged in a classic flowing routine, he had a thick heavily muscled physique but could appear blocky at times. Simon Howard was balanced but didn’t have the size or conditioning in what was a difficult class, he posed gracefully in the evening.

Tshala Kabala was only slightly behind Carlos in the tiny waist contest, tight and broad shouldered but needs more leg mass to balance out the wide impressive upper-body.

In the end Chris Drake took fourth, the impressive Tshala took third and the shape of Jason Conway with his improved quads took second. Spencer’s dense muscle and ripped condition took the win.

 

The Heavyweights were up next and luckily the civic centre had reinforced stages as it must have been creaking under the sheer mass of eight seriously heavyweights. The heavyweight class has been sparse in previous shows and it appears they where all waiting to do the central. First up was Afdabi Adbul-Salam who had a good chest and nice structure but needed to be harder. Marius Alcide was extra big, balanced with the most hanging hamstrings – the guys was a freak but will need to improve his condition, if he had he would have easily nabbed the best wheels trophy from Carlos as they where big balanced tree trunk thighs. Last years Heavyweight winner Tygoli Ano had a great physique but was far too soft to repeat his win again. Damien Miller had great structure with a tiny waist but needs to be harder with more leg mass. Justin Peters had impressive width but again needs to be harder for someone with such a nice physique, it’s a shame. Steven Pickles, the Northern winner must have wondered what he had done coming from his comparatively easy win at the Northern into this behemoth battle, he is tall with long limbs which need filling out but was by far the hardest heavyweight on stage. Alastair Stewart was big and hard with a balanced physique which was hard to fault although he could present himself better and like the whole line up, except Steven, could do with a few more weeks of dieting to get that shredded look. Will Uelese – the title calfzilla doesn’t do this guy justice as they where literally the size of most peoples head! But this just matched the rest of his titan physique which just needed to be harder- his tan looked better come the evening.

The battle of the big men had Will taking fourth due to his sheer mass and balance, Damien Miller’s structure taking the third spot and Alastair Stewart unlucky to get second, however there was no denying the mass monster of Marius who took the win and prepared himself for the overall.

 

From the men back to the women with Donna Jenkins on first in the Ms Physique class. She was really hard in the upper-body but less so in the lower, she had great shoulders and arms but unfortunately she didn’t present herself as well as could and tended to look smaller and squarer than she actually was in the symmetry rounds. Sarah Meek presented a balanced physique with ample muscle on great structure but will need to be harder for the British. Nicola Mitchell showed good improvement since the Northern as she looked fuller and was by far the hardest on stage but she will need to bring up her legs and overall size to be competitive. Annabell Ottey had great structure with wide shoulders which she showed off well with nice posing but her condition wasn’t the same as when she won last year. Rachel Temple had nice wide shoulders but was far too soft to challenge, but has the shape to be very good if she dials it in.

In the end Nicola took fourth with Donna taking third, with better posing she could have placed higher. Annabel took second as a jubilant Sarah took the Ms Physique title

 

The overall was a testament to the class of the whole show with so many stand out physiques, Jason Meek from the Novices, Luke Seabrook from the Teens, Favio Mendoca from the Juniors, Mark Houghton from the over-forty Masters and Mark Duckett from the over-fifties Masters who both showed that age is but a number as both looked to be among the biggest and conditioned in the line up. Carlos, Spencer and Marius rounded out the men from the open classes and it was obvious that the open class winners and Jason, continuing the novice run of good showings in the overall, who started to take the lead. In the end Carlos with his immense structure, big flowing muscles and top quality condition pushed past the bigger Spencer and Marius to take the title of overall BNBF central champion 2008.

 

With one qualifier to go it looks like being a big and quality Britain final up in Glasgow – roll on the Southern show!