The trip to the Southern Open Championships held at Littledown Leisure Centre, Bournemouth, began with Alastair and Jo heading down on the Saturday afternoon to get the weigh-in out of the way and enjoy a good night's rest before the big day. This being Alastair's first competition since his attendance to the Dutch and German Opens in the early part of 2006, Alastair and Jo arrived early to soak up the atmosphere and settle down to what would be a long wait until Alastair's category began. It was a fantastic opportunity to catch up with some old friend's and the morning past quickly as conversation and coffee flowed.

After a short break for lunch, the competition fired up again with the commencement of the senior categories, where the real action began. Alastair's number came up, and he stepped up to the ring anxious to shake off his ring rust and get back to doing what he does best. With a very specific game plan provided by Jo cemented into Alastair's head, the referee began the match, only for it to finish less than 2 minutes later with Alastair scoring an incredibly quick technical knockout by acquiring a 7 point lead. Next! Only a short wait before his second match, Alastair was soon on the mat again. They say lightning never stikes the same place twice. Not true, at least not on this day, as Alastair again dismissed his opponent 30 seconds into the 2nd round with another 7 point gap, resulting in a 2nd technical knockout.

Alastair was now in the final, and faced a high-caliber opponent with plenty of international experience. Despite Alastair giving away a significant amount of height, the battle commenced with both players playing a very dynamic and fast-paced match, more at home on the elite international stage than on sunny Bournemouth shores. At the end of the first round it was level pegging, with both fighters sitting at 3 points each. The 2nd round and 3rd rounds shot by, with action so eye-catching it drew a huge crowd of spectators. Unfortunatly, Alastair's year out worked against him, and despite fighting tooth and nail, the victory was just scrapped from his grasp, the final score ending 10 points to 7. With the objective of shaking off ring rust well and truly achieved, Alastair collected his Silver medal in preparation for the bigger internationals to follow later in the year.

Well done to Alastair, who will continue to fly the Welsh WTF flag throughout the rest of 2007!