Our 21st Open Show ran under the title of the South East International Show and was lauded by many as the best yet in terms of quality of the exhibits on disply. This we put down to the ongoing 'One man - One vat' policy which not only ensures more exhibitors get a chance to show, but those that do think carefully about the koi they bring. Sadly, 2 of our booked exhibitors failed to turn up at short notice thus depriving others of the opportunity and only 38 of our 40 available vats were used.
As well as the continued improvement in quality the upward trend was also noticed in the size of the exhibits with an increase in the size 5 and 6 categories. Size 7 was introduced at this show for the first time.
Judged by an international panel of judges from Belgium, South Africa & the Netherlands who selected a size 7 Ogawa Kohaku (left) owned by Lee Jeffery as our Grand Champion and the magnificent Kage Showa of Frank Collins (right) as our Mature Champion.
In keeping with our International event and in conjuction with NiskigoiTV we launched the "People's Champion" award where 8 visitors were invited to select a koi of their choosing for whatever reason they liked. These koi were photographed and published on the internet to NTV's subscribers in 22 countries as well as ballots being taken at the show. Voting took place over the 2 days of the show and the winner was a Shiro Utsuri owned by Alan Archer - the first truly global koi award.
Grand Champion : Lee Jeffery Kohaku Size 7
Mature Champion : Frank Collins Showa Size 6
Adult Champion : Des Harris Sanke Size 5
Young Champion : Tony Pittas Showa Size 4
Baby Champion : Matthew Pearson Sanke Size 2
NVN Friendship Trophy : Trevor Childs Kumonryu
SAKKS Friendship Trophy : Carla Bird Hariwake
NVN Trainees Award : Mick Preston Yamatonishiki
OKWS Best Doitsu Award : Frank Collins Shusui
ZNA UK Merit Award : Des Harris G.R.Tancho
Banana Bar Koi Society : Carla Bird Hariwake
Best in Size awards:
Size 1
1st Kohaku Mark Chetter
2nd Sanke tim Fisher
3rd Hikari Moyo Carla Bird
Size 2
1st Sanke Matthew Pearson
2nd Kohaku Tim Fisher
3rd Kohaku Lee Manning
Size 3
1st Koromo Nathan Scudder
2nd Kohaku Tony Pittas
3rd Utsurimono Jason Taylor
Size 4
1st Showa Tony Pittas
2nd Kohaku Gregg Harris
3rd KinGinRin Hefin Jones
Size 5
1st Sanke Des Harris
2nd Kohaku Paul Knapp
3rd Utsurimono Mick Preston
Size 6
1st Showa Frank Collins
2nd Sanke Frank Collins
3rd Asagi / Shusui Frank Collins
Size 7
1st Kohaku Lee Jefferey
2nd Sanke Alan Archer
3rd Kohaku Trevor Childs
Total Fish Entered = 313
2008
Our 22nd Open Show was not without it's problems. But 'triumph over adversity' is rapidly becoming our motto. By the 3rd week in July all of our 40 show vats were booked by 40 different hobbyists, thus maintaining our 'one man - one vat' policy. However, that state of affairs wasn't to last and within a few days the first of the many cancellations arrived and continued to arrive right up until a few days before the show. In the end 4 hobbyists were allowed to take a 2nd vat, and one vat remained empty leaving us with our worst exhibition figures for years; 35 different exhibitors and 259 exhibits.
But we've always put the emphasis on quality over quantity and that was what we got. Our exhibitors came from the length & breadth of the country and provided our visitors with an exemplary display of top class Nishikigoi. Our judges, equally well travelled, from Australia, Belgium, Holland, South Africa & the UK echoed the statements of our visitors by commenting on the improved quality too.
Our Grand Champion (left) was exhibited by John Hellens, a well known exhibitor in the UK but his first time exhibiting here. However, it wasn't John's first visit to the show, he's been checking out the lay of the land for a couple of years. Bringing this koi to the show was an impressive feat of logistics, John living some 300 miles away.
Our Mature Champ was a victory for one of our home grown exhibitors; Frank Collins whose Showa returned to retake the title it took last year. Paul Williams & Jason Taylor, both well known faces on the UK show circuit took Adult Champion with a well known Tancho Showa and Young Champion with a Kohaku respectively, but most of the attention was focused on this year's Baby Champion(right) exhibited by Stuart Toms and bred in the UK by Maurice Cox of KOI UK. Maurice's dream is to win major championships with his koi, and this goes down as his biggest success to date.
Grand Champion John Hellens Kohaku 7 Mature Champion Frank Collins Showa 7 Adult Champion Paul Williams Tancho 5 Young Champion Jason Taylor Kohaku 4 Baby Champion Stuart Toms Kohaku 2 Jumbo Alan Archer Kawarimono 7 Best in size Awards Size 1 1st Sue & Mark Chetter Kohaku 2nd Rowena Childs Koromo 3rd Sue & Mark Chetter Sanke Size 2 1st Stuart Toms Kohaku 2nd Tony Thompson Sanke 3rd Alan Archer Showa Size 3 1st Tim Fisher Kohaku 2nd Tim Fisher Kohaku 3rd Andy Baker Kohaku Size 4 1st Jason Taylor Kohaku 2nd Ron Rance Showa 3rd Glen Corkery Kinginrin Size 5 1st Paul Williams Tancho 2nd John Hellens Sanke 3rd Alan Robson Showa Size 6 1st Frank Collins Sanke 2nd John Hellens Showa 3rd Mick Preston Kohaku Size 7 1st Frank Collins Showa 2nd Trevor Childs Kohaku 3rd Frank Collins UtsurimonoFriendship Awards
Australian Koi Association – Gregg Harris – Koromo – Size 3 Banana Bar Koi Society – Andy Baker – Hikarimuji – Size 7 KLAN (Germany) Friendship Award Alan Archer - Hikarimoyo – Size 5 Koi@Home Best Tategoi – Mick Preston – Kohaku – Size 2 Koi Society of Australia – Paul Williams – Tancho – Size 5 NVN (Holland) Frank Collins – Showa – Size 7 NVN Trainees Paul Williams – Tancho – Size 5 Oregon Koi & Watergarden Society Pete Marvell – Kawarimono – Size 4 South African Koi Society – Mick Preston – Kohaku – Size 2
2008 Selected Variety Awards (Kinginrin) Best Go-Sanke – Glenn Corkery – Kohaku – Size 4 Best Non Go-Sanke – Gregg Harris – Koromo – Size 3 Runner Up – Phil Maxey & Beryl Knox – Bekko – Size 3
Total Fish Entered = 259