IFBB/UKBFF North-East Championships

By John Plummer

Photography by Kevin Horton

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Pudsey Civic Hall is one of those venues synonymous with bodybuilding, having hosted numerous battles over the years.

Today it hosted the UKBFF North-East Championships, where invitations for the British Championships and international IFBB events were at stake.

Barry Cunliffe is no stranger to the UKBFF stage, or winner’s trophies. He is a quality bodybuilder, as he proved again today. Well balanced and aesthetic with terrific upper body width, sharp hamstrings and a healthy glow, he was a superb over-40s winner. A great example of what bodybuilding is about.

Sean Jackson is one of the most remarkable athletes on the UK scene today. He first competed in 1985 — 37 years ago and at 53 is still going strong. He had the mass and conditioning to defeat Elton Martin in the masters over-50 bodybuilding and showed enough to suggest he would be a contender in the masters British final.

Kevan Evans, competing for the first time at the age of 47, is a former American footballer and rugby league player who has made the transition to bodybuilding after a knee injury. He’s done a remarkable job, putting on a good amount of balanced mass and bringing condition to the stage, to defeat Nathan McVay in beginners bodybuilding. Like many tall bodybuilders, Nathan looked like he needed to fill out his frame but he can be proud of what he brought to the stage for the first time. The conditioning, particularly in his quads and back, was impressive.

Kevan returned for masters bodybuilding but met his match in Seyed Ravanbakhsh. Seyed is an established international who finished fifth at last year’s IFBB Arnold Classic Europe in Spain. His physique was more polished and complete but the fact that Kevan held his own was testament to his hard work. Seyed has superb flow to his physique, a cracking back and poses well.

Men’s physique winner Vahid Ansaripiri scored highly on shape and aesthetics. He needs more stage time to build his confidence but if he does that and comes in a bit sharper he has the tools to do well.

FEMALE CLASSES

Angelika Prejna is one of the leading wellness bikini fitness athletes not only in the UK but also in Europe. She won this event last year and took the south coast title this year and has also placed in the top five at the IFBB World Championships and the IFBB Arnold Classic Europe in Spain. It didn’t take long to demonstrate why as her voluminous thighs and glutes caught the eye the moment she walked on stage. Excellent presentation as well. An outstanding winner who is just getting warmed up for the year.

Angelika wasn’t the only female athlete awarded international invites. So was and Tanya Nelson in bodyfitness. Tanya finished third at the 2019 British Championships and has clearly gone through the gears since then because boy, she looked a million dollars on stage. Her physique is better balanced and her conditioning was excellent. She also has good stage presence and with a little more hamstring and back width she will be hard to beat.

Masters bikini winner Kelly Theis showed a terrific athletic shape that she’d clearly worked hard for.

RESULTS

Beginners Bodybuilding

1 Kevan Evans

2 Nathan McVay

Beginners Men’s Physique

1 Vahid Ansaripiri

Classic Bodybuilding

1 Nathan McVay

Masters Bodybuilding over-40

1 Seyed Ravanbakhsh

2 Kevan Evans

Masters Bodybuilding over-50

1 Sean Jackson

2 Elton Martin

Bodybuilding under-80kg

1 Sean Jackson

Bodybuilding under-90kg

1 Barry Cunliffe

Bodybuilding over-90kg

1 Seyed Ravanbakhsh

2 Kevan Evans

Wellness

1 Angelika Prejna

Masters Bikini Fitness

1 Kelly Theis

Masters Bodyfitness

1 Tanya Nelson

Bodyfitness

1 Tanya Nelson

Men’s Physique

1 Vahid Ansaripiri

UKBFF NORTH-EAST CHAMPIONSHIPS