Long since absorbed by the Challenge, the Golden Leaf Super Cup has had its last tournament outing. Although it was introduced at the Fourteenth Mega Drive Championship with the re-vamp of the compeititons, the origins of the Golden Leaf Super Cup is considerably older, and can arguably be traced back to the introduction of the Tournament Knockout at the Ninth Championship.

ORIGINS - THE TOURNAMENT KNOCKOUT AND STREET FIGHTER CHALLENGE

It was after the Eighth Championship, when it was decided to increase the league to two divisions, that the concept of a knockout emerged. The original idea was a simple three rounded knockout that required eight members to work and the individual games were drawn at random as opposed to in bulk, unlike the league at the time. Although there were reservations that the Tournament Knockout would take some of the shine of the league competitions the Knockout was added to the Ninth Championship and was a resounding success. By the Twelfth Tournament, however, the Knockout had become too impractical to continue. The collapse of Division Two following the Tenth Tournament and the length of time it had taken to complete the Knockout at Eleventh Tournament (6-months after the league finished) were the soul reasons for putting an end to this competition.

The Street Fighter Challenge appeared at the start of the Twelfth Mega Drive Championship and acted as a "warm up" without any official status. In the style of the Tournament Knockout, the four league players went head-to-head in an elimination contest. Doc Shakib won the first ever Street Fighter Challenge, beating Mr Smith in the final. The competition was repeated at the Thirteenth Championship, with Doc Shakib once again beating Mr Smith in the final.

FROM THE GOLDEN LEAF SUPER CUP TO CHALLENGE CUP

There was some confusion over the future of the Street Fighter Challenge when it was decided to re-introduce the Tournament Knockout for the Fourteenth Tournament. Eventually it was decided that it should stay as a third competition within the Tournament. A mirror competition was added for division two, with the only change being the game used was switched form Street Fighter to Eternal Champions, as Super Street Fighter 2 was not used in the lower league. However, with less than a month before the Fourteenth Tournament was set to start, it was decided to link the Street Fighter and Eternal Champions Challenges by having the winners of the two challenges qualifying for the Golden Leaf Super Cup. The Golden Leaf Super Cup takes place on Super Street Fighter 2 (although originally there were plans to use Golden Axe 2). The individual identities of the three competitions faded with time as the umbrella term "Challenge Cup" subsumed them all. A third placed play-off between the losing finalists of the Street Fighter and Eternal Champions brackets was added at the Fifteenth Tournament.

THE FUTURE... THE CHALLENGE

Lord Dilks won the Challenge Cup at the Seventeenth Mega Drive Championship. So much have the component parts been absorbed by the Challenge Cup, that it will probably go unnoticed by tournament history that Lord Dilks' victory over Earl Holbrook will probably go unnoticed as the last ever Golden Leaf Super Cup game and Lord Dilks its last ever winner... the Challenge Cup still serving as little more than a warm-up before the league event. From the Eighteenth Tournament onwards, the Challenge game and winning conditions will change with each tournament. Qualification is still expected to be the same as with the old Challenge Cup with entry limited to the top four ranked members from divisions one and two. At the Eighteenth Tournament qualifying members will be paired off into one Division One member and one Division Two member and will battle in teams on Elitserien '96 in a 2 versus 2 knockout! Plans are also in their infancy for the Challenge for the Nineteenth Championship...