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I can confirm for americans that the brit's have been longer at this hobby than we have, and the level of competence (overall) is much greater.(BTW the same is true with bonsai, The U.S. has no National show/competition as the europeans do!)
We certainly have koi kichii's here in the states that would match the best in the UK...but not as an overall group. And i do know of several U.S. exhibitors who did not show at all this year because of the concern over cross contamination.
But for both sides of the pond....the hobby, like the tide.... ebbs and flows and for whatever reason competitors drop out and new ones are added and any one show can find a highly contested year followed by one not even close.
I quess what i'm trying to say is don't worry about the slim years, for whatever reason good koi here in the states are present....just waiting for whatever it takes to get them out of the backyard and into competition.
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