Martinus Durrant is back!
The former Mr Bridgetown put on a show of symmetry and muscularity to snatch the Darcy Beckles Invitational Classic at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Saturday night and silence the sceptics.
Durrant was returning from a ban after failing a drug test and rebounding from a sub-par showing in the Nationals. He was bidding to halt the rampaging four-time champion Hoskin “Biscuit” Worrell and the equally confident Stevenson Belle.
With a large crowd screaming and focusing on Worrell and Belle, Durrant walked away with the most presents, leaving Worrell and Coast Guard officer Belle to paddle off with the second and third prizes, respectively.
The battle was so intense that there was no room in the top six for Mr Barbados Ramon Broomes who lacked form and sharpness. Like Broomes, Guyana’s Mark Perry brought mass, but little definition and weak posing.
Unlike previous editions, this time the top four from the Open Classic were added to the Invitational, where three-time winner Patrick “Mr Granite” Harris scored an unpopular victory over Joe “Runt” Bourne, with steadily improving Dave Archer third and crowd-pleaser Samuel Eastmond fourth.
Harris, the consummate showman, earned the $2 500 first prize with his posing and symmetrically defined body.
“People tend to overlook the fact that I was runner-up twice and won the Open twice before,” he said.
In the main event, Belle went on stage looking to claim territory with his obviously superior and more defined legs, winning the Sydney Frederick Best Legs title for the second straight year.
Reigning Central American And Caribbean (CAC) light middleweight champion Worrell was in supreme form with his music and posing matching a well-proportioned and chiseled body.
But, adhering to his promise of turning up with more than 200 pounds of muscle to dominate the battle, Durrant was overwhelming with his surging abdominals complementing rippling legs, a sculptured chest and a massive back.
“I saw the Nationals as the chance to get back into grove and I believe that tonight I have shown Barbados that Martinus Durrant is back to his best in bodybuilding,” he said.
Worrell was gracious in defeat, admitting that Durrant was the bigger and better man. His focus will shift to the Emerald Cup in Seattle and the 2013 Nationals.
Unfortunately, the usually smoking bodies in the Bikini Model and Female Figure competitions hardly sparked, with many of the competitors looking out of form and condition.
Jeanna Johnson was not at her best but she was still good enough to take the bikini contest, with the promising Domini Alleyne placing second. The basketball break could be responsible for a lack of form by Nadia Bretney but with volleyball season on third-placed Shakira Doughlin had no such excuse.
Some fans were disappointed when Ramona Morgan took the Female Figure title ahead of crowd-pleaser Antoinette Downie, with Paula Boyce third and St Lucian Velda John fourth.
But the females were happy when guest poser Andrew “Dru” Jemmott left the stage and gave them a rippling close-up body view. It almost required the “Jaws of Life” to get one female away from the newly-turned pro while another boldly gave him a manual check over.
Results
Invitational Classic: 1. Martinus Durrant ($4 000), 2. Hoskyn Worrell ($2 500), 3. Stevenson Belle ($1 100), 4. Patrick Harris ($550), 5. Joe Bourne ($250), 6. Samuel Eastmond ($250)
Open Classic: 1. Patrick Harris ($2 500), 2. Joe Bourne ($1 500), 3. Dave Archer ($800), 4. Samuel Eastmond ($650). 5. Cyprian Mallett ($250), 6. Therold Babb ($250)
Female Figure: 1. Ramona Morgan ($2 000), 2. Antoinette Downie ($1 200), 3. Paula Boyce ($700), 4. Velda John ($200 and gifts).
Bikini Model: 1. Jeanna Johnson ($1 200), 2. Domini Alleyne ($700), 3. Shakira Doughlin ($500), 4. Nadia Bretney ($200), 5. Leandre Linton ($200)
