Mr Smith returns as the Mega Drive Champion. The Third Tournament saw a comprehensive triumph for Mr Smith who dethroned his rival, Lord Dilks, by 9 clear points. The biggest change to the competition was the arrival of a fifth member. Baron Von Hooton arrived to the Theatre of Dreams from the Courtyards of Hootonsville to pick up his controller and engage in 16-bit battle. Expectations were high heading into the Third Tournament; Lord Dilks and Mr Smith were set to battle for the title, Captain Maltby needed a significant improvement if he were to climb out of last place, Doc Shakib seemed set to finish in third place for the third successive tournament, however, added to this was the unknown element of Baron Von Hooton.

The Third Tournament exploded into life from the off! Rookie, Baron Von Hooton, took part in the first two games and was defeated by Mr Smith on Sonic 2 and Captain Maltby on Pete Sampras Tennis. The biggest shock in this early stage came on game three when Mr Smith beat Lord Dilks on Golden Axe 2, with the real shock being the massive 8-0 scoreline. Doc Shakib picked up two wins, before Lord Dilks gained his first victory of the competition (a 7-0 hammering of Captain Maltby on Golden Axe 2) before Mr Smith rounded off the first leg of the tournament with an 8-0 win over Doc Shakib on World Cup Italia '90.

The end of the first leg saw a very interesting early league table. Mr Smith headed the race to be Champion with a 100% record. Doc Shakib was second, winning 2 of his 3 fixtures, while Lord Dilks, Baron Von Hooton and Captain Maltby all had three-points and were separated by goal difference. Appetites were whetted for the second leg, however, due to unforeseen circumstances, defending Champion, Lord Dilks, was unable to attend and with him went the only copy of Pete Sampras Tennis in circulation among the tournament members. The four remaining contestants decided to press ahead. This was a big advantage to Lord Dilks's rival, Mr Smith, who won his next three fixtures, Doc Shakib too performed well in Lord Dilks's absence with 3-wins from 4, while Baron Von Hooton secured 2-wins, both on Golden Axe 2. Upon his return for the third-leg, the situation looked hopeless for the defending Champion:

So, with a mountain to climb, Lord Dilks returned to the Theatre of Dreams with a mountain to climb and got off to the worst possible start with a 5-1 defeat to his rival, Mr Smith, on Sonic 2. Lord Dilks's next three-games (all on World Cup Italia '90) saw him return to form, battering Captain Maltby 21-0, Baron Von Hooton 16-2 and Doc Shakib 15-5. Mr Smith, meanwhile, kept his 100% going: a narrow 7-5 victory against Captain Maltby on Pete Sampras Tennis and a narrow 2-0 triumph over Doc Shakib on Golden Axe 2 were followed by convincing performances on Sonic 2, Pete Sampras Tennis and Golden Axe 2.

With only the postponed fixtures left to play, Mr Smith held a clear advantage over his competitors, while Lord Dilks seemed favourite for 2nd place; 3-points behind Doc Shakib but with three games in hand. After beating Captain Maltby on Pete Sampras Tennis, Lord Dilks ended Mr Smith’s 100% record with a victory on Pete Sampras Tennis. This put Lord Dilks back into second place, however, Doc Shakib was not about to throw away the opportunity to finish in second and, in a stunning display on Golden Axe 2, Doc Shakib’s Mike beat Lord Dilks’s Hannah, 2-0, to ensure Doc Shakib levelled the points tally. Lord Dilks then faced nemesis, Mr Smith, on World Cup Italia ’90. Previous encounters had seen Lord Dilks win 5-0 and 5-3, however, this time Lord Dilks’s Argentina we unable to command a strong lead over Mr Smith’s England and, the score was so tight, by half-time the pair were inseparable at 1-1. The second half saw Lord Dilks grab a goal, before Mr Smith successfully equalized. Going into the final few minutes and the game stood on a knife-edge, but it was Mr Smith who broke free of the Argentine defence. One-on-one with the goalkeeper, Mr Smith shot, the ball sailed towards the goal, the keeper was beaten, but the ball hit the post and bounced clear. The final score was 2-2. With Doc Shakib beating Mr Smith on Pete Sampras Tennis and Lord Dilks unable to beat Baron Von Hooton on Sonic 2, the players went into the final fixture with Mr Smith as Champion, Captain Maltby in last place and Baron Von Hooton in fourth. Lord Dilks and Doc Shakib now faced each other on Pete Sampras Tennis with the winner destined to claim second. Doc Shakib had a two-point advantage, but he would need to defeat a man who was, thus far, undefeated on Pete Sampras Tennis. The top-two Pete Samp players now went head-to-head. The game was intensely tight and neither man was able to hold onto a lead. 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 the games totted up, but who would win the set and match? The pair pushed all the way into a tiebreak at which point coffees were handed round to steady the nerves. This was the tightest game of Pete Sampras Tennis the tournaments had ever produced, but the final blow went to Lord Dilks, as he achieved second place and pushed Doc Shakib back into a predictable third spot.

The twists and turns of the Third Tournament made it the purest to date and we look forward to news of the Fourth Mega Drive Championship.

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