From todays Cavendish Bulletin (hope its ok to post this....):
Changed Days, Indeed
by Sam Leckie
Most of you know of my success in naming the winners of
this event. I have been coming to this tournament for the
past nine years. Six out of 9 can’t be bad. I have surprised
even my modest self, but perhaps my greatest triumph was
a couple of years ago when WBP asked me not to name my
selection until after the auction as it could affect the prices.
Hell, did I not give you a complete profile of the winning pair
(Gitelman-Moss) the year they won?
The one pick I have never made in all these years is
everybody’s favorite player—Zia. I have always been of the
opinion that the method of scoring and other factors made
him a no-go and my judgment has been spot-on because the
best finish he has ever achieved was second place in 1998,
playing with Steve Weinstein. Believe me, even I could finish
runner-up playing with four-time champion Steve. This year
I feel is different. The other factors have been reduced (this
venue is an expensive taxi ride to the strip) and his teaming
up with Andy Robson (I swear, the kid is still growing!). A few
years ago they were a very successful partnership all over
Europe and the fact that Zia has gone to all the trouble of
reinventing it must be a pointer.
What finally decided it for me was an incident that happened
Tuesday evening. Zia was having a meal with a few of the
players when suddenly he announced he was going to bed.
The time was only 8:45 pm. This was surprising enough, but
the clincher for me was that all the other players actually
believed him!
http://www.thecavend...FRIBULL2006.pdf