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After just over six-years of competitive Mega Drive battle, Mr Smith hangs up his controller from the tournaments. He was one of the three men who battle in the original Mega Drive Championship in January 2001 and now Doc Shakib and Lord Dilks are left to fight on alone. At the time of his retirement, Mr Smith was the most successful member to date winning the Mega Drive Championship eight times and the Tournament Knockout twice.
Mr Smith's departure was sealed when he and Lord Dilks took control of the Mega Drive Championships as the Tournament Administration. Over a game of snooker it was decided that in to avoid a conflict of interests the two tournament titans must withdraw from the Mega Drive Champions and focus solely on their role as Administrators. Mr Smith volunteered to be the first to go and started a phased withdrawal from the competitions; absent from the Challenge Trophy at the Fifteenth Tournament, in spite of achieving a qualifying place, he ended his league career at that tournament too, but decided to have one final stab at the Tournament Knockout at the Sixteenth Mega Drive Championship.
Mr Smith started his Mega Drive career with a flurry, beating Doc Shakib 8-0 on Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - a high score that can never be beaten. He beat both Doc Shakib and Lord Dilks to the title and was crowned the First Mega Drive Champion way back in 2001. There wasn't a trophy back then to celebrate his victory, but he had the honour of winning the First Tournament. He dominated the early tournaments and by the Eighth Mega Drive Championship had five titles to his name. While it might be said that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was the source of his powers; undefeated in thirty-six games, that is a very simplistic view as although Mr Smith did not dominate as many games as his long running rival, Lord Dilks, he was excellent on virtually every tournament game. Arguably his biggest achievement was at the Eleventh Mega Drive Championship when he won every one of his eight games to secure his sixth title.
Mr Smith's final league campaign at the Fifteenth Mega Drive Championship resulted in him scoring his eighth and final title. Although he finished just two-points ahead of Lord Dilks, this came about when he dropped points in his last league game, when Lieutenant Gareth beat him 2-1 in the Construction Site on Streets of Rage 3. His final game was against long running rival, Lord Dilks, at the Sixteenth Mega Drive Championship, in the Tournament Knockout final where, on Golden Axe 2, a game neither man could confess to an advantage. The game was tight, but in spite of the score, Mr Smith always seemed to be comfortable and in control. In a final defeat against his rival, Mr Smith earned a 1-0 victory, beat his rival and claimed the Knockout Shield as his own. He lifted one arm in the air before his entire body relaxed, six-years of battling at the top were over. Mr Smith was retired from the Mega Drive Championships.
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