Vegas 154

[Paul Maiden]

I went over board on the slimming pills plus ive had the rusty piss for about 3 weeks now so count me in at 154

[Steve Kirlew]

I would love to wrestle you at 70kgs Paul but i think you'd die getting there!!! ;D

[enginterzi]

to be honest i take tsindilliani,iskenderov,grigoriev,martel,sanders,thomas and accardi as my most dangerous opponents.Berriochoa,RJ,beir,Shaloub,soliwada are the ones that can also beat me if i make a little mistake.

Brzenk,klimenko and taras are the 198 favorites.semerenko,bath,larrat and barbosa for 242s,alexy voevoda,girdner and bagent for supers.cobra,babaev,cvetan and remez has the highest chance for 176s.

im pretty sure that most of the non north americans that we have listed wont show up,but a true champion should be prepared for any possibility.

[Paul Maiden]

1ST Engin
2nd craig sanders
3rd Simon b

[simon]

Vern, I am very glad to hear you are feeling more like your old self, though I never doubted your ability to beat this thing. I thought about going to Gould’s event but with the new addition it just makes being away from home very difficult.

It is hard to even fathom what a class loaded with all of these possible people would look like, there will be so many great pullers in and or around each other that it is almost criminal you cannot do this round robin so that everyone gets to pull everyone else, some of these match ups are too great to not happen. There was some talk of us doing it, since that is in June, April should show if I am worthy of such a match up with you yet, I intend to prove I am. I will arrive in Vegas late 4/14 and we are probably going to stay until 4/20, to spend some time after the event with my family. Most assuredly we will get to spend some time hanging out, if you do not mind it would be my pleasure to let my family get to know you a bit at some point.

I wore patches at the Arnold where I pulled a ton both during and after the event in the booth and I feel really good, a little twinge here or there but nothing major at all.

Engin, it would be great if those Eastern European pullers showed up, with your top that creates an interesting dilemma for me, but the other guys like to hook and I like my chances there. A class like that would have more talent than any worlds I have attended or have heard of for that matter. I hope to do my best, win some matches that maybe some people believe I should not and just try and make you top guys put some work in, don’t get me wrong once I get to the table I will be switched on and trying to dominate the match, but from where I sit right now calmly behind my computer I am aware of where I fall in a group such as that one, but anything can transpire, that is why you have to line it up and see what happens after the ready go.

Cheers Mighty, the pints are on me in Vegas mate.

Nothing but my best to all of you gentlemen, train hard and I will see you in Vegas.

[Vern Martel]

Simon ...

You have always been a worthy match up and a guy you do not fool around with! I have greatly enjoyed watching you pull last year at the events I was at .... you are a force to reacon with and have adapted very well into the 154 pound class.

I look forward to meeting your family again and your new addition ... I wish I could bring my family along as well but with 5 kids it gets a little costly. Its good to see you are going to be there for a bit as well...we should have a few good outings ;D

Are you guys planning any tours? Or... is there anything in the works for a bunch of armwrestlers doing any tours. I am looking at going on a Grand Canyon /Hoover Dam paddlewheel tour and a couple other ones look pretty good as well. I don't do a lot of gambling so I would rather spend my money checking out some sites.
Let me know if you hear anything.

Engin .... Thanks for putting me on your most dangerous list....hopefully I can deliver. Looking forward to pulling a lot of the guys mentioned...some I have pulled before and some not. Its by far going to be the toughest event I have ever gone to....and by far going to be the best! Your presence being at the event only adds to the greatness of this tournament. How does it feel knowing everyone is out for you .... I would like to say I could make predictions of how the top placings would look like.... but anything can happen...I have seen it before.
Its going to be great to pull against so many great athletes in this class...as well as watch all the other great pullers in the other classes. Engin...How long are you staying in USA? Will you stick around for a few more event? Also ... when is the European Championships in Bulgaria?

Mighty Paul Maiden ... what kind of slimming pills are you on .... I would love to go and shake up the 132 pound class .... the 154 pound class is getting to tough for this old guy (Master);D

[enginterzi]

i believe that i have chance to beat anyone who weighs 154.but i also know that there will be many who will have chance to beat me too.it would be so stupid to be sure of anything.in fact it raises my adrenalin to feel myself in Vegas.there are ones that i felt their strength before,and there will be ones that i never armwrestled before.so i just dont know if im as good as when i won last time and i dont know if any of those guys that i beat before are stronger than the last time i felt them.

another thing about these kind of very high level tournaments,is that only one tough match can change the results.in 2001 worlds i had a real war against russian in the final.i now think that if i armwrestled him before the final neither of us could have placed in top six.

the one that makes the less mistake and perform smarter will get the top.i really hope that this person will be me,but only if i really deserve it.

Simon,i wish you the best of luck and talk to you after the tournament.i generally be very nervous before the event.

Vern,Thomas and you are the top northamerican pullers and the vegas tourney is already great without me.it will be my pleasure and honour to be part of it.europeans will be heldon june20-25 in bulgaria.i cant stay in USA for more than a week because i have to compete our nationals ten days after vegas tourney.i also wish you the best of performance.

[simon]

Thanks Vern, I could not have progressed in this class without the support and assistance of the many pullers like yourself that have been so generous of themselves in assisting and encouraging me.

You are right about how the brackets will dictate this one to some extent Engin, any match up could be the end of one puller or another regardless of where he should have finished. No matter the extent of who shows or not this will be a very tough class and I am guessing that some other surprises may yet slither into this class as well