By William Vince.
Last weekend saw the University of York Pool and Snooker Club travel down to Great Yarmouth to attend the annual BUCS 8-ball pool championships. The competition included a record 672 competitors from 56 higher education institutions, with the University of York entering 3 men’s teams and 3 women’s teams.
All 6 teams entered the championships with high expectations of success. The men’s 2nd and 3rd teams and the women’s 2nd and 3rd teams continue to play at the same standard as many universities’ 1st teams. The greatest successes of the weekend however came from the men’s 1sts and the women’s 1sts. The women’s 1sts came into the competition as one of the favourites, following their impressive bronze medal win at last year’s championships. They returned this year in excellent form and left as the runners up of the women’s team championship. The men’s 1sts meanwhile entered BUCS as the defending Northern Universities’ 8-ball Pool Champions, and matched the women’s 1sts performance as runners up in the men’s team championship. In addition to these team successes, 1st team veteran Russ ‘The Young King’ Shaw beat several talented cueists to become the runner up in the men’s individuals championship.
York’s journey to several finals began on the Thursday with the first few rounds of the individual’s championships. Many frames of pool were won, with all 15 York men making it past the first preliminary round. The star match of the evening however was undoubtedly Penny Lawn’s Last 32 win over number 3 seed Fiona Smith from the University of Nottingham. Lawn didn’t allow her opponent’s seeding to faze her, and demonstrated early on that the women from York were not to be discounted.
Friday saw individual success from Russ Shaw. In the last 64 Shaw was drawn up against defending champion and number 1 seed Ifan Williams from the University of Cardiff. Williams initially went 2-0 up, but a combination of seasoned tactical play and some incredible clearances allowed Shaw to win the next 4 frames and thus win the match 4-2. Shaw’s excellent form continued with a last 32 win over Southampton’s Anuruddha Higgoda, a spectacular win over Southampton’s Micky Olding in the last 16 and a convincing quarter final win over Nottingham Trent’s Mike Vernon.
Saturday saw the completion of the group stages in the team championships. The men’s 1sts, women’s 1sts and women’s 2nds all qualified to the knock-out stages of their respective team competitions, with the men’s 1sts getting a particular impressive win over a very strong Exeter 1st team to finish top of their group. In the evening, Russ Shaw played his semi-final match against Bath’s Kyle Selman. After a long match with a great deal of tactical play, Shaw came to the table and cleared up in one visit to win the match 5-4. A huge crowd gathered for the men’s individual championship final, in which Shaw faced Strathclyde’s finest in the form of David Farrell. Shaw’s tactical ability which had served him well against multiple strong opponents was unfortunately not enough to beat Farrell, who made virtually no mistakes to win the final 6-0. Regardless of his loss in the final, Russ Shaw is believed to be the first player from York to ever reach an individual final at this BUCS competition.
The final day saw more medals for York. The women’s 2nds sadly lost in the quarter final of the trophy to Lancaster 2nds. The women’s 1sts meanwhile won their quarter final against Southampton 1sts 4-1, and their semi-final against Oxford 1sts 4-2. Despite strong performances from Maria Patsia, Shaunagh MacDonald and Alex Benjamin, they sadly lost to a very strong Lancaster 1st team 4-1 in the final. The men’s 1sts similarly won their quarter final against Southampton 1sts 6-1 and their semi-final against UCL 1sts 6-3.
The men’s final was a tense affair. Early wins from Dale Rout and David Sattaur put York into an early 2-0 lead. Strathclyde responded by winning the next 5 frames to go 5-2 ahead. Under immense pressure, Russ Shaw, Joe Kimbling and Tommy Lewis all showed their class by winning their respective frames to bring the score to 5-5. Captain Tommy Lewis now had to choose three York players to play one frame each in a best of three decider against Strathclyde. Choosing himself, Russ Shaw and David Sattuar, Lewis won his frame after an excellent clearance to put York 6-5 ahead. Sattaur and Shaw unfortunately lost their frames, meaning York lost the final 7-6. While it’s always hard to lose so narrowly, it will be difficult for any member of that team not to feel immensely proud of the way they played that weekend.
If you are interested in playing pool please email [email protected]. Our club is always open to new members, whether you are a seasoned player looking to break into the university side or are a novice looking to get involved in our weekly college pool league.