Another year of success for university pool and snooker club
Photo: el floz
The Pool and Snooker Club has continued its recent tradition with another extremely successful year in BUCS competitions. Although the club has agonisingly missed out on winning gold several times, the strength in depth and consistency of York’s players has led to a haul of BUCS points and medals.
In their first event of the term, three teams traveled from York to Great Yarmouth for the BUCS-UPC 8-Ball Championships. The major disappointment of the year came when the first team failed to qualify for the latter stages of the championships, following defeats to Cambridge and Lancaster firsts. However, Luke Fleet managed to put in yet another strong run in the individual championships, getting to the quarter finals of a nearly 400 strong field consisting of players from all over Britain.
Despite a tough draw, York thirds produced an outstanding performance in the group stages, topping their group thanks to victory Queens Belfast firsts, the eventual championship winners, as well as recording wins over East Anglia firsts and Reading seconds in the process. This gave them a quarter-final spot in the trophy where a cruel draw saw them up against their own out of sort’s first team. In a very close match they managed to prevail 6-4, leading to a semi-final against Ulster seconds. Unfortunately, this was to be a game too far and ended the third team’s fantastic run.
The second team, expertly led by Captain Tom Birch, was a force to be reckoned with throughout the tournament, topping their group and managing a draw against reigning champions Ulster firsts, as well as victories against St Andrews firsts, Warwick seconds and Kent seconds. They then went on to sweep aside Edge Hill firsts and Cambridge seconds on their way to the trophy final. Unfortunately an incredibly tight and tense game against Ulster seconds didn’t quite go York’s way, with the Northern Irish team winning a play-off to secure victory.
A few weeks later, York’s three snooker teams were in Leeds competing in the BUCS Snooker Championship and Trophy, part of the wider BUCS championships that were taking place that weekend. A very confident York first team qualified comfortably from their group, setting up a tough tie against a very strong Southampton first team in the quarter finals. However, a dominant display saw York book a semi-final match up against pre-tournament favourites Warwick, courtesy of a 6-2 victory. Another excellent performance took the match all the way, with the eventual champions Warwick edging it 6-4.
An extremely tough draw meant York thirds had a tough task of maintaining their trophy status, following promotion from the shield last year. However, thanks to a superb win against Leeds firsts they managed to earn themselves a quarter-final position in the trophy. The second team also qualified from their group before losing out to Imperial firsts in the quarter-finals. Despite being 2-0 down, the thirds managed to turn their last eight tie around against Ulster firsts and book themselves a semi-final spot against the conquerors of the second team, Imperial firsts, thanks to a 6-2 win. In a closely fought contest, the thirds managed to win in the penultimate frame on a respotted black. This led to a final against Warwick seconds, who took control of the match early on. Despite a late fight-back the thirds had to settle for second place, a fantastic effort.
In the championship individuals, first team Captain and current England Universities snooker Captain Michael Walsh played his way into the final, before losing out to a talented player from Sheffield Hallam. In the trophy individuals, Nick Vanner and third team Captain George Hogg reached the quarter-finals whilst second team star Tom Wilson went one better before losing in the semi-finals.
Despite the inevitable disappointment of losing out in two team finals and two team semi-finals, as well as an individual final and semi-final, the University Pool and Snooker Club has still enjoyed a hugely successful year, displaying remarkable consistency and strength as a squad. Competing with teams from all over Britain and regularly reaching the semi finals or better is a superb achievement for the club, and certainly a fantastic platform from which they can push on and go one step further next year. The club now confidently turns its attention to Roses, whilst also looking forward to the latter stages of the University Snooker and Pool Championships next term.
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