Warwick hosted our very first inter-university pool competition last weekend, the Warwickshire classic. This went down very well, with really positive reviews from many who came.
On Saturday the team group stage went as well as it could, with all 3 teams progressing out of their groups; the firsts and seconds coming top, above Oxford 1 and Nottingham 1 respectively.
The 3rds lost in their last 16 clash 2-6 against Nottingham 1. They ended the weekend the highest ranked 3rd team, and did themselves proud beating Northampton 1, getting a draw against Birmingham 1, and taking frames off of Southampton 1 too!
The seconds and firsts got byes to the quarters as a reward for winning their groups. The 2s fought hard against Oxford, leading 3-0, before it ending in a 5-5 draw. This meant a 3 man play off; Sam Olley, Jonathan and Sammy stepped up, but couldn't overcome a very good Oxford side. They finished as the best 2nd team, with comments from other unis warning Oxford to treat them as a first team before their QF match. Sam Olley finished the weekend with 9 wins in 10 team frames. The best ratio out of the 115 people there! Dan Hunter and Sammy also ranked in the top 10 for team win percentage. Let’s also not forget Jonathan's break dish on live stream! (See YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhh38JaN9Mo).
The firsts smashed their group, winning all our games, including getting two break and dishes against Oxford 1s! They looked the team to beat alongside eventual winners Leeds on Saturday. They then had a long wait (over 24 hours) before their next match. Maybe this, or over confidence, or the fact that everyone helped out so much in organising the event adding tiredness and fatigue, but they couldn't repeat the performances of the day before in their 2-6 loss to Nottingham 1s. It was a shame to bow out in the Quarter Finals, but we should hold our heads high and come back stronger for our next English competition at Manchester later this term. Mak and Liam had their first English comps for the uni this weekend, so with experience there is more to come!
In the individuals Jonathan Ede shone reaching the shield semi-finals, only losing 3-2 from 2-1 up to eventual winner Oliver Scales of Leeds. Jonathan looked really strong throughout and should be proud of his achievement.
We had a championship quarter final appearance for Joe Wall. He also went 2-1 up, twice missing (potable) tricky blacks in the 4th frame, before losing 3-2 to Matt Skeggs of Coventry. There was also a shield quarter final appearance by Dan Ball, who having played well all weekend, lost out 3-0 to captain of Leeds 2 Dale Selby. Dan knocked out Barri Matharu in the last 16, which is where Sam Olley, Daniel Hunter and Bo Liu all also fell.
Overall it was a weekend where we showed great strength in depth, along with moments of brilliance. Well done to all involved!
