PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO A MECHANICAL PROBLEM WITH THE SCANNER, THE PICTURES SEEN BELOW ARE A BIT BLURRED AND HAZY.

GILES THOMAS' PHOTOGRAPHS ARE OF EXTREMELY HIGH QUALITY AND VERY PROFESSIONAL AND THE PICTURES BELOW ARE NOT REPRESENTITIVE

OF HIS WORK. BASICALLY THE SCANNER BROKE AND I HAD TO USE A DIGITAL CAMERA TO TAKE PICTURES OF THE PICTURES.

SORRY AND THANKS FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING.

EDDIE ELLWOOD TAKES 4th STRAIGHT UNIVERSE TITLE IN SUNNY SOUTHPORT'S
BATTLE OF THE BEEF !!!

Photographs by Giles Thomas
Report by Giles Thomas and Katie Myers

UK TAKES THE MASTERS, THE JUNIORS, MS FITNESS AND THE PROFESSIONAL CLASSES.

Every year, over 100 of the worlds best amateur bodybuilders and figure competitors come over to Britain to take part in the longest running bodybuilding contest on the planet.

MASTERS

From L to R: John Lee and Carl Rung

Always an excellent class at the Universe the standard still continues to improve with guys seeming to get even better as they get older. 3rd place was given to Max Pengari who was in very good condition and a definite contender for the title next year if he gets any bigger. 2nd was awesome new physique, Jon Jordan from the USA. Huge, heavy looking muscularity and received two first place votes, any harder and he could have taken it. Fantastic deep abs. 1st went to the first UK win of the show, the fantastic Carl Rung. The man lacks nothing bodypart-wise with a great shape, granite hard condition and monstrous thickness everywhere. I have actually seen him even harder so if he can maintain that level of condition then there will be no-one to touch him.

JUNIORS

Stuart Core

Along with the Ms Fitness this was a newly introduced class, or should I say a re-introduced class which I was pleased to see back again. I was shocked to see only two competitors, but I was even more shocked to see who turned up to collect his first place trophy. Plymouth's Stuart Core is a junior of such quality that is rarely seen anywhere in the world nowadays. With more mass than the majority of the tall class male competitors it simply goes to show how advanced he already is in bodybuilding. A look at the accompanying photographs says it all. 2nd was Phillip Bell from Scotland who possessed a fine shape although I think he looked better at the Nabba Britain earlier in the year where he placed 3rd.

MS FIGURE CLASS 2

Top 3: Ms. Figure Class 2 From L-R: Maribel Montairo, Lorretta McMillan, Tatyana Korolko

In 3rd place was Belarus' Tatyana Korolko, 2nd place went to my pick for first place, Maribel Montairo from the USA. Others who commented felt that she was simply too muscular for the class but Maribel had shape and great condition that simply shone ahead of the rest in my opinion. In 1st was Loretta McMillan from Australia which seems to produce some of the very best figure competitors. A graceful, attractive looking figure with excellent condition.

MS FIGURE CLASS 1

Giovanna Rosa

3rd place went to new face Claudia Casalini from Italy, a stunning shape. 2nd was the 1997 class winner Bridgette Crepieux who although has definitely improved since then couldn't touch the phenomenal Giovanna Rosa from Italy who was way ahead of all the competition in 1st place. Giovanna is right up there in terms of sheer class and perfection as past Universe winners Pina Theodoris and Suzanna Perez and should be able to hold onto the title for as long as she wants it.

MISS PHYSIQUE

First place winner....Olga Tukhonova

I was told that this was the last ever year that Nabba would be holding the Ms Universe physique class which I think is a big shame. Sure, it's not everyone's cup of tea but respect should go out to all the women who work that hard to achieving such amazing levels of muscularity and definition. Sport of any type is by nature a competitive arena where all athletes are required by their own hands to become whatever the criteria dictates. Bodybuilding of course is predominately a male sport where the biggest, leanest competitors tend to win, so why penalise the women for wanting to do the same ? Still, Nabba's loss is another federation's gain I suppose. 3rd place went to Taylor Young from Australia, 2nd place was Anja Timmer and 1st place to Belarus' Olga Tukhonova.

MS FITNESS

Miss Fitness Line Up

Sadly there were only 4 in this newly introduced class with all girls coming from the UK. 1st place went to Fitness regular Nicole Pitcher. Also my pick for first, Nicole had the best overall combination of fitness and not overly muscular physique. 2nd was ex-figure competitor Laura Church who needed to have been a little leaner to have given Nicole any more to worry about. 3rd was Gina Ford and 4th was Julie Davies.

MR CLASS 4

4th place was comeback kid Mohammed Bhatti after I spotted him in a gym in London last year moving some serious poundage, I encouraged to start competing again. Having lost touch with ‘Shabs' as he is known, it was a pleasant surprise to see him popping up on stage looking a serious threat at a Universe standard. Probably the widest shoulders in the class, another year of improvements to his physique could see him finally after all these years unleash his full potential. 3rd was Warrington's Paul ‘Pitbull' Sutton who although I have seen sharper especially when he beat Gary Lister at a show 2 years back, was definitely looking larger this time around. Having brought up his upper body to match his freaky legs, Paul is still rapidly moving up the ladder of competitive bodybuilding. 2nd was Roy Menig from Holland who I remembered from the '97 Universe. Almost in the same impressive condition, Roy must have gained at least another 15-20 pounds of solid muscle to his frame since his last Universe appearance. Taking the class was 1996 Nabba World Champion Allison Maria also from Holland, who after several ‘just making top 6 placings' at the Universe finally leapt forward in his conditioning coupled with the most thickly muscled body in the class.

MR CLASS 3

Henk Jan Heyen 1st place

2nd place Ronny Rockiel

Fabrizio Franceschetti 3rd place

This, in my opinion was the least impressive class in all the Mr's classes with it normally being the most hotly contested category. Where was UK's ever improving Ramsford Smith this year ? If only he had turned up in shape he could have won, so Ramsford are you listening ? Next year… 1st place was Holland's Henk Jan Heynen who possessed near perfect symmetry, adequate condition and a nice shape, but no real contender for the overall title. 2nd for the third year in a row was Ronny Rockel from Germany. If only this guy had turned up in better condition he would have walked the class. Possessing massive, full muscularity, he's wasting his limitless potential turning up like he's only dieted for about 4 weeks. In 3rd was 1999 class 3 Nabba World Champion, Fabrizio Franceschetti who many thought with his combination of condition, proportion and mass would win, but the judges had him a clear 3rd, so there you go!

MR CLASS 2

Steve Tylee: 3rd Place

Taking 3rd place was UK's Steve Tylee, which has to be Steve's best ever placing at International level improving upon his fifth place in 1998. Massive lower body and impressive delts, if Steve continues to improve his level of conditioning he could take this class next year with not too many worries. 2nd was new face Guiseppe Cozzi from Italy who was only five points behind the first place winner so it was close. 1st was Jose Costa from Spain who was much much better than when I last saw him at the Nabba World in Spain back in 1998 where he placed 2nd to Britain's Simon Cohen. Brilliant, flowing shape and I felt would certainly be a big threat for the overall.

2nd place winner Guiseppe Cozzi

1st place winner: Joe Acosta

MR CLASS 1

3rd place winner: Chris Wall

2nd place winner: Eli Hanna

Another shot of the huge Eli Hanna

1st place winner Sergei Ogorodnikov

Another shot of Sergei

This was the best class 1 I had seen for years at the Universe with 16 quality physiques lining up on stage. 4th place went to Britain's Eric Hartley with a shocking new super-ripped look. Eric certainly sacrificed a little size for this level of conditioning but what he lost in size he gained in cuts, separation and as for those ripped hamstrings and glutes, outrageous! 3rd place and overjoyed was UK's Chris Wall. Chris was in his most impressive condition and totally deserved his placing, if he keeps gaining more mass, a Universe title is definitely within his grasp in the next couple of years if he wants it badly enough. In runner-up position and probably the freakiest physique to stand onstage at the Nabba Universe for many years was the imposing mass monster Eli Hanna from Israel. Not the best put together bodybuilder with not the prettiest of shapes, but ‘prettiness' is certainly nothing that this bodybuilder ever wants to be associated with. Certainly one of the scariest most-musculars I've ever seen with even the most de-sensitized of muscle hungry fans drawing breath whenever he hit his shots. I reckon his arms measured at least 22-23 inches ! But one good point made by Chris Sneddon was that Eli having been a professional in the Nabba ranks just two years ago, how was he allowed to jump back into the amateurs? 1st place went to the long serving Sergei Ogorodnikov who after years of 2nd's and 3rd's at the Universe finally achieved his dream, a Universe title. With 10, 1st places and one 2nd place vote, it was a clear-cut decision and rightly so. From head to toe, Sergei was covered in striated, sinewed mass and couldn't have been any sharper, a worthy winner.

PROFESSIONAL LINEUP

4th place: Terry Mitsos

3rd Place: Giovanni Thompson

2nd Place: Gary Lister

Gary Lister from the rear: Shredded to the bone!

Eddie Ellwood 1st place winner

Eddie Ellwood was SHREDDED!

Big Eddie hits a most muscular!

Eddie Ellwood: Side Chest

A surprisingly more impressive class than last year but with still only 5 competitors. What does Nabba need to do to encourage more pros to show up, more prize money perhaps ? In 4th place was the return of Australian ex-IFBB pro Terry Mitsos which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. Maybe Terry thought that Nabba would be an easy return to competitive bodybuilding, not so. Outclassed and out-massed, there was however, remnants of a contest-winning physique, I feel he just needs more time back in the gym. 3rd was the elegant-shaped Giovanni Thompson from Holland. Straight from the similar mold of Flex Wheeler, the 1999 Nabba Europe, World and Universe Champion needs to stop relying on his incredible genetic shape and add another 20 pounds of muscle and a lot more condition to become truly unstoppable. 2nd was Britain's Gary Lister who was in the shape of his life weighing in at a whopping 257 lbs totally and utterly ripped to the bone. Gary definitely looked better at the night show than Eddie Ellwood by which time it was too late, but even still, only received one first place vote which in most people's opinion (including Dorian Yates) there that night was not right by any standards. His back shots were especially brutal and I don't see what else he could have done to have looked any better. Taking the professional title for the fourth year in a row was the new-look Eddie Ellwood. Seeing Eddie the night before the show in the hotel lobby I simply did not recognise him, his face and neck looked totally drawn which is a clear indication of his extreme condition. Eddie told me that he was the lightest he had been for quite a few years ‘only weighing 276lbs' !!! Eddie knew that close rival Gary Lister would be in outrageous condition so he had to be the same, if not better. Eddie was, but I don't think the look suited him, I don't think he needed to be any harder than he was than last year where he won clearly and coming down this far made Eddie look small, for him of course.