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Two seasons after losing a semi-final thriller against Carlos Flores at the London International Open, Massimiliano Nastasi made a triumphant return to the English capital.
And unlike that classic encounter in 2004, when Nastasi scored twice in the final minute only to be defeated by an overtime strike, this time there was little late drama involved for the Italian former world number 1, as he made light work of much of a tough field gathered at Millwall Football Club.
The exception was Chris Short - so often a thorn in the side of top Italian players - who forced Nastasi into sudden death in the last 16, following a 2-2 draw in normal time.
But after that, three comfortable wins over the AS Hennuyer trio Nathan Dupont (5-1), Olivier Père (3-0) and, in the final, Jean-Guillaume Einsle (3-0) sealed victory for the man from Perugia.
Despite Laurent Goor's exit to Frenchman Axel Donval in the last 64, the Belgians of ASH again though demonstrated their strength in depth.
They provided three of the semi-finalists, with Delphine Dieudonné also making the last 4, and there the Belgian female was unlucky not to have beaten Einsle.
Trailing 1-0 at the interval, Dieudonné created a host of chances, more so after Einsle had doubled his lead against the run of play, on a breakaway attack, five minutes in.
However Dieudonné - who had found little difficulty in scoring in 7-2 and 8-1 wins over Marcello Bodin and Anders Buhl-Hansen respectively in the two preceding rounds - managed to pull a goal back with 5 minutes to play via a moving ball.
And then barely 60 seconds later she was level after working a good opening from near the by-line, before calmly putting the ball beyond the keeper.
Both players had chances in the final minute with Einsle seeing a shot saved and Dieudonné hitting a crossbar with the final flick of normal time.
Overtime couldn't produce a winner and neither could the first round of shots. But after Dieudonné hit the post from a sudden death effort out wide, Einsle duly sent the ball rattling inside the net on his attempt for his second concessive shoot-out victory, having beaten world number 1 Massimo Cremona in the quarter-finals.
The final though was a match too far for Einsle.
Nastasi took control from the start and the victory was never in question after he took the lead midway through the first half with an excellent strike.
The goal itself typified the Italian's style perfectly with its approach and execution.
An Einsle block flick fell short, leaving a clear shot, though with the ball positioned barely an inch from the keeper. However after a brief moment of deliberation, Nastasi coolly and expertly chipped cleanly over the obstacle and into the net
It was Nastasi who continued to create the chances, though accurate blocking flicks kept him at bay.
From clear openings, Nastasi put one shot wide - when Einsle mistakenly assumed that a figure was offside - and had two further shots saved late in the half.
But within 6 minutes of the second period, the 2003 world champion had put the result beyond all question.
First with under 5 minutes played, the Italian curved out an opportunity before again calmly shooting into the top corner. And then within 80 seconds, he played the ball just behind his opponent’s defensive line, and as Einsle blocked elsewhere, Nastasi found space in which to successfully convert a third goal.
Einsle made a rare positive foray into his opponent's half midway through the half, striking the crossbar from a shot out wide, but Nastasi was soon applying pressure again, hitting a post and having a long-range effort saved.
Einsle - finalist in the Knighton Grand Prix on his last visit to the UK – exerted pressure himself in the closing moments, but by then the game was long since lost.
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Darren Clark returned for his first tournament since the World Cup of August 2005, but unprepared and out of practice, he found trouble with a pair of Thomases.
Peter Thomas consigned Clark to second in their group on goal difference following a 1-1 draw between the pair, before brother Chris beat the 2005 World Cup semi-finalist in the last 32.
Clark's fellow Bristolian Kasper Bennett was the lone UK player to survive past the last 16, when he reached the quarter-finals, only to go out on an overtime goal to Olivier Père.
Chris Short - who took champion-elect Nastasi to overtime in the last 16 - was involved in a bizarre group with Kamilla Kristensen and Panos Stemitsiotis, where all three games remained goalless.
It took a round-robin session of shots before Short captured pole position and Kristensen took second by virtue of having converted more attempts than Stemitsiotis.
Worthing's Shaun Allison forced overtime against Nathan Dupont in the last 32 after taking an early lead then frustrating the Belgian until midway through the second half.
Dupont however scored the winner from a tight angle two minutes into extra time to earn a last 16 match with Chris Thomas, which he won 3-1 in normal time, consigning the England team captain to elimination at the same stage of the tournament as fellow full internationals Short, David Russell and brother Peter.
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Lasse Honere won a topsy-turvy junior event after beating Matt Lishman in a final between the two preliminary group runners-up.
Top seed Honere lost to Lega Liga Odense clubmate Christian E. Christiansen in the first phase, whilst number 2 seed Lishman was condemned to second place in his group after draws with both Brandon Lavender and Dimitrios Stemitsiotis.
But seeding status proved more precise in the semis as Lishman and Honere each got the better of their opponents by the odd goal in three, before the Danish youngster beat edged Lishman 3-2 in the final.
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Enrico Tecchiati went one better than last season in London by winning the veterans tournament.
The Italian had scored 19 unanswered goals in the lead up to the final, where he overcame the host club's Jeff Jordan by a 2-0 margin of victory.
Belgian success came in the U19 tournament as Kevin Dröhsler defeated Templeuve United clubmate Anthony Coppenolle 4-1, whilst Kamilla Kristensen beat Scotland's Susan Wright by a similar score in the final of the female play-offs.
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Massimo Cremona - Jean-Guillaume Einsle 1-1 (ot) - shots: 1-3
Delphine Dieudonné - Ander Buhl-Hansen 8-1
Massimiliano Nastasi - Nathan Dupont 5-1
Kasper Bennett - Olivier Père 0-1 (ot)
Jean-Guillaume Einsle - Delphine Dieudonné (1-0) (2-2) 2-2 (ot) - shots: 5-4
Massimiliano Nastasi - Olivier Père (3-0) 3-0
Jean-Guillaume Einsle - Massimiliano Nastasi (0-1) 0-3
Other finals:
Veterans: Enrico Tecchiati bt Jeff Jordan 2-0
U19: Kevin Dröhsler bt Anthony Coppenolle 4-1
U15: Lasse Honere bt Matt Lishman 3-2
Females: Kamilla Kristensen bt Susan Wright 4-1
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