I had the great pleasure of meeting Solowka at the 1992 Andorran Grand Prix, great chap. I remember he gave a fantastic after dinner speech, reminiscing of girls, psychadelic drugs and fortnight long parties with Pink Floyd. Indeed he had no memory of the 1981 Albanian Open, despite solidly overwhelming the favourite, Billy "No Blink" Fink. Since the sport was professionalised in 1997, no doubt such wild antics are a thing of the past, but we can still look back to a more innocent time.

Not only is this a genius surreal idea but the names they come up with are brilliant !

Can't express how fantastic it is to see Benny Kiang back. I was really shook when he admitted to his PCP addiction, but it helped to explain his transgressions as was alluded to in the commentary. His autobiography "King Kong Kiang - My rise and fall" was an eye-opener to the pressures that competing at world class level brings. Thankfully with the WSO (World Staring Organization) signing upto WADA it will ensure competitors are clean and staring become an official olympic sport.

Nice to see Ted Stead back in the professional game after that appalling incident during a bout of unlicensed staring at the Blue Bullion club in West London. After seven months of physiotherapy he's back to match fitness and able to provide competition to many who thought his glory days were over. Good on you Ted!

Was great to see staring in the Rio olympics. Perhaps people will take it seriously now.

"John" is the great Barry Davies, one of Britain's finest sports commentators, brilliantly sending up the often banal comments you get. The giggling is a reference to an incident at a cricket match in 1991 known as "Legover".

Raymond Sledge the gold standard of staring commentary. He will be missed.

Sledge was old school posh. I met him once a few years ago in a Fine Fare supermarket in Bromley and he was so polite, gave me his autograph - what a legend.

I saw Ted Stead during the UK Championships in Grimsby in 1992 (remember that one? What a final!). I asked him for his autograph and he just walked right past me without a word. Not like Salowka. He spoke to me for two or three minutes - a true gent, and a great ambassador for the sport.

It's more evident in the lyrics to Katrusya, on their Peel Session. A heartrending ballad about a woman who insisted her man choose between stare-out and her. The problem comes at the end, when she asks him to look into her eyes and tell her that he loves her, and he stares her to death.

There's a good chance staring will be introduced at the next Olympics 😂😂😂

I've always found this Tournament *riveting* vewing

Well you need very big knockers for that John.......loves it This is possibly the best parody I have ever seen of anything, spot on and really brought staring into the British consciousness.

I'm glad to see the introduction of staring at the olympics finally. Even if it's only a demonstration event.

Great to see Leonard Hulz and DD the Panda in action again. I once wrote to him via his fan club, told him that I had bought an identical panda and named it 'Stare Bear'. I didn't expect a reply but Leonard's dad sent me an e-mail! How cool is that! He said "Dear Malcolm, Len says it's a bear-illiant name! Yours in Christ, Martin Hulz".

Staring changed my life. When I came out of prison, life held little hope for me. Then at the day centre I picked up a leaflet about the 100 greatest Staring Legends. I was hooked. Two years later and I now stare for South West Region intermediate, Not bad for a might have been looser! My only nightmare is the increasing use of drugs in this noble sport. Why oh why can we not keep it clean.....if only for the kids.

I couldn't tear my eyes away- I was glued!

Nanak and Duran in the finals - those were the days! I must say a lot has changed since, not least because of the vast increase of illegal substances being used by the competitors these days. It takes a lot out of the excitement to know that most of the pros are constantly using eye drops and such to boost their performance. The fact that Uzliam got caught using a glass eye at the European Championships this year just goes to show that it's not about dedication and fun anymore, just winning.

STD vs Sharter haha these were some brilliant sketches

Brilliant how they can get so much commentary from absolutely nothing. Comedy gold!

So fudging good!

Good To see Ken Todd still around in a refereeing role, he was one of the greats for me back in the day. I used to watch this on World Of Sport with Dickie Davis every saturday, I prefered it to the wrestling at least this wasn't fixed.

Did anyone see the BBC4 documentary about the West Indian Lloyd Obidah's "black power stare" at the 1971 WCs? A hero of both stare-out and civil rights.

Kiang even. Christ, all this stare-out training of my own is taking its toll.

Hey Mate! It's so good being accepted into what is, let's face it, one of the most conservative sports, and not feel ashamed to admit having spent a few formative years at Her Majesties Pleasure. Good on you for the lift you gave me! Yes, it was "Kids". Could have been worse. The Judge was sympathetic. Apparently, there was later some scandal with him caught in an under-age stareout. He was using the old "hole in the fence" training method.

Raymond Sledge RIP 1901-2022

For me, I love the competitive edge that can be found on Stare 2013 by EA Sports for Xbox 360, Wii and PS3. The kinect and playstation eye element give it that extra level of competition. Lets hope they bring an IPhone app out so we can stare on the move.

amazing

I have to say I'm quite disgusted to hear the commentators put their childish humour ahead of the serious matter of staring. They missed a clear bit of head movement from Stead, and I thought I saw a bit of worry in the eyes of Hartha as one of those eyelashes threatened to drop again. And I'm sure some young viewers missed that as a result of their shenanigans. I hope they gave a full and frank apology following the event. This is staring, not some comedy sketch show.

In my day all we had was a mirror. none of these new fangeled electric gizmos.

I admire the sheer quality of the competitors

ted the head stead,,,, lmao brilliant

It's not as easy as it looks Simon. The well executed subtle nuances, even at County level, can make or break the entire match. Look at Salowka at 53 seconds and also at Ted Stead trying the same thing at 3.44. Of course, street staring is where most people start. It's altogether more dangerous too. I got into Staring proper after a Saturday night encounter in the kebab shop with a burley fellow who misunderstood me.

3:52 - 4:49 I couldn't stop laughing with them. lol

Hopefully the introduction of Hawkeye into Staring will eliminate the injustices and farces of the past. Remember the infamous WSO Championship Semi of 2003? Kiang clearly diverted his stare towards Diego Mirando's left eyebrow for a brief second, but both judges missed it completely, despite everyone in the Bernabeu crowd being able to see it on the big screen's replay. Kiang went on to win the match, albeit he lost to 'No Blink' Fink in a one-sided Final, thankfully!

I have competed at disabled staring competitions since 1999 when I lost my sight.

It saddens me to say but I have to agree with you. I have travelled regularly to South Korea and Australia,and I find it staggering to contrast the facilities that are laid on for staring training. In Romania you see whole families of two or three generations having staring tournaments outside the bistros and cafes for up to 94 hours as a time. The consistent presence of these three nations in the world championships is no mystery. Wake up Britain!

They need to make this a regular thing.

Who remembers the “Visine®️ Scandal” of ‘79?

We should be teaching kids today to enjoy the sport of staring for what it is, rather than hammering it into them that it's all about the victory. Every weekend I see pushy parents at local invitationals pressuring their kids into winning at all costs. One shining light is the emergence of Beach Staring and Street Staring which may just be the solution to bringing the fun back into the game, and attracing the next generation of Stare Stars.

"He who stares WINS"

Ted'The Head'Stead, classic (esp. the laughing)...

I remember going up against an unnamed competitor with an eyepatch back in 2004, he went on to win the tournament. Completely ridiculous allowing somebody with an eyepatch to participate, it lets him focus on just the one eye, the single eye that must not blink. As such, he was twice as efficient, and even my sudden use of the "eye pulse" technique could not save me. Fortunately, he died in a freak accident involving a cream pie and a glass of chocolate milk a few days after his victory.

"....just stares at himself for ten hours a day...." lol!!

Richard Gere's in the crowd!

I understand you point, I think this is why we are seeing so many more top starers from the Eastern bloc where video games are less accessable, however, who is to say that in years to come Virtua Stareout 4 won't inspire youngsters to take up staring for real?

he who stares WINS

i remember being really dissapointed that Solowka Vs Uzliam was an opening round contest because it would have made a great final (again)

Amazing how times have moved on. Duran would never get away with a move like that nowadays, more's the pity.

the first 4hrs have zipped by LMAO

@barrybas Which one? Rupert Murdoch, David Murdoch, Anna Murdoch (the woman who made the cake mentioned in one of the sketches), or Phil Cornwell (David the Commentator), who would go on to VOICE a character named Murdoc (different spelling)?

tonysuffolk is an inspiration to us all. Thank you for sharing that with us tony. It takes guts to announce to complete strangers that you have done time. What was it? Kids?

It reminds me of a monty python sketch.

I recently heard a rumour that Leonard Hultz is being lined up to join Roger Federer, Thierry Henry and Tiger Woods in the gillette adverts, I was a little surprised at first that they didnt go for a more established player but I suppose they see him as the future of the game and are possibly going for that younger market.

Where can you get a Ted 'The Head' Stead, T-shirt? There's got to be a huge market for them.

Ted 'The Head' Stead is a fucking legend

Just look at, Ted 'The Head' Stead.

That's a very valid point, however have you seen the paper that came out of UCL recently suggesting that screen flicker affects staring ability in the under-fives? Worrying news for the developed world's young would-be starers.

It's a little-known fact that Roman Solowka was the uncle of the Wedding Present's original guitarist.

that IS funny.............tommy

@red1964 I will say that having seeing the new Stareout 2012, the quality of the simulation is almost realistic, the problem is that there still is an uncanny valley situation going on. The games are all well and good, but no contest for the real thing.

4 More will be showing the demonstration Stare Out event at the Paralympics. One-eyed staring is just as engrossing as bifocal but without the commercialism of the Indian Premier-Stare to ruin it.

I'd be interested to hear others' opinions on the decision to introduce Hawkeye in time for the 2012 Tipperton Challenge Cup in Helsinki? Of course there are some that argue that this will totally change the nature and spirit of the game, and not for the best. It is obvously intended to catch out speed-blinkers like the 1984 indoor doubles champ Chavers 'Hummingbird' Tavers, who had a bpm rate of over 30,000, unmatched to this day.

I'd be good at this. I am pretty good at sitting there doing nothing.

@Atheneastro Rupert Murdoch gets the first go, though Colin Murdoch, ex Preston and Hibernian centre-half and Stuart Murdoch, lead singer of Belle & Sebastian are also more than welcome to join in when he's finished

Ed 'The Head' Stead. Quality

I was the man who Benny Kiang hit at the petrol station.....

Ted 'the head' Stead

What can you expect when kids have access to Virtua Stareout 4 and the like on the Xbox? Children nowadays would rather play the simulation than go face to face with a friend in real life like I did. As a stareout umpire of some standing I find it depressing that the UK, once pre-eminent in the sport, has dropped so low in world rankings. I doubt that we will ever recover.

my computer froze so they both won :/

Why can’t we get this sport back on TV instead of the boring tennis and Euros crap

@XxXRazielRageXxX RIP Raymond :(

It's the World Stare-Out Championships, not 'staring', get it right!

Sometimes my friend takes some whizz and he appears scared too blink for many hours ,about 2 days actually, he is tall and wears big fancy shoes and lives in glossop,,is that a record in that area and can he win a prize,? His ne is Donald

They could hardly go with Nanak, could they?

lolz

Thank god the dark days of stare out hooliganism are over. In the 80s my hometown was besieged by rampant hooligans just using this wondering sport as an excuse to have a ruck with some opposition fans. The monks who followed Bishop Seyton of Northampton were complete animals if I remember correctly...

I think giving television rights for this sport to BBC is a bad move... They don't do much in terms of build up to the big matches. I really think Sky should ge this season's rights.

Poor form blaming the table surface, but rather typical of Hulz who's famous for being a bit of a whinger back in Germany. Next he'll be saying he's a right-eyed starer when he drops a clanger with his left.

you couldn't be more wrong onionhead90 the sport needs to be on terrestrial tv otherwise how will it get through to the masses and enthuse the next generation of starers? the live big matches on the beeb draw millions whilst setanta and sky struggle to get up to 5 figures. murdoch can go pogo on the stare out trophy for all I care!

Benny Kiang's performance was disappointing for me in this encounter, but of course he's not on his natural surface here. Everybody know's he's a clay court player.

No he isn't! He's from that well known Jewish community in Chesterfield, is he? Todot Strottengeimer is the only Jew in the game that I can name off the top of my head. Don't call me liar. I will forward Martin's e-mail to you, you can see for yourself. And no, it isn't a fake either.

Very rude commentators 3:51 They should get fired for that.

That's got nothing to do with it. We were promised a grassroots-level review of the sport in our country 2 years ago, and nothing has changed. It's this "win at any cost" mentality that is crippling our country's staring ability, when we should be teaching our kids how to enjoy themselves and be creative with staring.

fake

Is this a piss take ?

How unprofessional. SMH.