 |
| Persian Tiger growls |
Just as everyone thought “DFWM” was not turning up, the doors to the stadium were flung open and in he breezed flaunting his trophy as if it had always belonged to him. Just as the tournament was about to start there was an audible gasp as Dominic “The Demon Prince” broke wind, gulped down his first pint and brashly declared that he was here to do battle with the best we had to throw at him.
Battle commenced in earnest when “The Persian”, who was the first ever winner of this prestigious tournament, fell to “DFWM” 3-2 in a tense match that could have gone either way. “The Klingon” was in his usual aggressive form when showed no mercy to “The Quiet Man” when he beat him 4-0 with an impressive Gammon. Next to fall was “DJ Mike” who really hasn’t found his form yet when “The Bull” dispatched him 3-1.
“The Persian Tiger” showed his claws were still sharp when “The Body”, who has never really recovered from his humiliation from “DFWM” fell convincingly 3-0. After a series of confusing bye’s in this Mongolian Rules Backgammon contest, “The Demon Prince” took down “The Quiet Man” 3-0 with a series of body blows.
In the next round you could have heard a pin drop as “The Klingon” took out last year’s champion, “DFWM”, 5-1 despite the fact that “The Klingon” apparently still hadn’t recovered fully from his broken nail injury. It was then the turn of “The Bull” to fall to “The Persian Tiger” 3-0 despite his usual cavalier style that has earned him his fearsome reputation, it seemed like there was no stopping “The Persian Tiger” as he clawed his way through the opposition. “The Demon Prince” then kicked “The Body” mercilessly while he was down by annihilating him 3-1. There were whispers that this could be the end of “The Body’s” lucrative Backgammon career as he was last seen drinking methylated spirits wrapped in a brown paper bag to hide his humiliation.
“The Klingon” then met “The Persian Tiger” in the semi-finals, the crowd started chanting their various chants in support of their chosen favourite. “The Persian Tiger” drew first blood and would not let up as he took the next point. The crowd started singing “The Fields of Athenry” when the third and final point was won by “The Persian Tiger” to leave “The Klingon” weeping openly with disbelief at his 3-0 defeat.
In the other semi-final “The Demon Prince” openly mocked “DJ Mike” as he savaged him 3-0 to take himself into the final against “The Persian Tiger”. The capacity crowd were taking side bets and observers were astounded at the amounts that were wagered, fortunes were going to be made and lost depending on whose side you backed.
After only a short time into the first point “The Demon Prince” surprisingly offered the cube and “The Persian Tiger” quickly accepted which is his style but with an audible snarl and a lap of milk, “The Persian Tiger” lived up to his name and reputation. In a tight game “The Demon Prince” went 4-0 down after “The Persian Tiger won a gammon “The Demon Prince” had finally succumbed to “The Persian Tiger’s” animal instincts.
Surprisingly, fights broke out in the stands as the various factions declared war on each other in scenes that were reminiscent of a chess tournament and not the civilised society that is the backgammon world. As order was quickly restored by the riot police supported by the military “The Persian Tiger” was presented with the spoils of his own war against the opposition and in a bold statement that reminded everyone of the scene in the film Troy starring Brad Pitt he screamed “Is there no one? Is there no one else”?
Pundits and commentators around the world are asking each other is this the way Backgammon is going now and is there really no one to stop the Genghis Khan of Backgammon from ruling the world as we know it, only time will tell.
