Great time. Thanks so much to everyone that came this year. Totally different and much more enjoyable than all those years I've been going solo or with just a couple of us. There's already talk from a few in this crowd about coming again next year, and I expect a few new faces could be up for it too?
I was over the moon about Andy's fantastic run here. I've been saying for a while I think a few good British players could do really well here, and Andy absolutely smashed it. For his first tournament in the USA he's already started to make a name for himself when you hear the likes of Colin McAlpine talking about the round that he played with Andy, where Colin only managed 3 points because Andy crushed it. And then following up his great Pinburgh run with a similarly deep run in the Intergalactic (the second largest tournament in the world). Amazing stuff. That moment we were all sat around the table and waiting for the results to come in, and we realised Andy just (just!) made the A finals cut will live with me for a long and happy time!
Although none of the rest of us managed to make finals day, I think (with one or two exceptions, myself certainly included) we've all done pretty good. I know all of us expected Craig to do much better, and I think with the experience he's picked up from this year, if he could be persuaded to take another shot at it he'll smash it just as hard, if not harder than even Andy did.
Max, Simon's son had a pretty staggering qualifying day to go from bottom seed all the way up into C division. On that first day, and especially from bottom seed, you're playing against some of the top seeds. So to be taking points from those guys and coming out above the rest of the pack is pretty impressive.
I think there's plenty more talent, both young and .. not so young, that can do well here. And so once again I'm going to say - come on! Start making mental plans to get yourself over here in 2020! Even if you're not a super serious top ranked player, so long as you love a friendly but competitive atmosphere - you'll not find a better comp on this planet. And even if you're not into the comps *at all*, there's a staggering collection of pins to play. And it's an ace holiday.
See you all next year I hope!
Waving Back 
