31 people entered this years inaugural University of Warwick Pool Championship, and until there were just two left: Max Burt vs Matt Ross. There was £70 prize money and pride at stake. Max's had a bye in the first round, but nothing about his run to the final since then has been easy. He defeated Bo Liu in the 2nd round match, a close 5-4. Then had to face recently nominated player of the year and BUCS finalist teammate Anthony Church, coming out on top in an impressive 6-3 win. The semi final match saw Max play Joe Wall, where he showed off his class once again in an 8-5 win.
Matt's run to the final started with what was most likely the hardest game he's ever played in his life against yours truly. He narrowly managed to pull through with a hard fought...4-0 win. Next in his way was the dangerous fresher Kabir Sacranie, with Matt coming out the victor 5-3. Quarter finals drew up a tasty clash against at the time club president Sam Burgess, with an eye catching 6-1 win. Arguably the toughest test though came in the semi final, having to dig deep to beat Rob Keogh, in a reportedly scrappy 8-5 win.
The match was a best of 19 frames played on the match table in Riley's. It started evenly with both players grabbing a frame each before max showed some class to win 5 frames on the bounce taking the scores to 6-1. Matt regathered himself for a fresh attack taking 2 of the next 3 frames but it wasn't enough to hold off Max answered by winning what turned out to be the final 3 frames, taking the score to 10-3 and winning him the inaugural University of Warwick Pool Championship. Speaking after the match he congratulated Matt Ross on a great match and said he was "extremely honoured to be the first champion of this competition".
The trophy competition for players who lost their first round matches was also played, with the president Sammy Valder taking on Stu Lucy. This match finished 8-3 the Sammy.
Congratulations Max and Sammy!
