Last weekend the team got back on the English tables and had a lot of fun and a bit of success at the Manchester classic!
Liam Troughton, the new destroyer of Warwick players, made the semi finals of the individuals, bagging himself £75 and a medal (that someone broke) too. He lost to Richard Woan of Manchester alumni, the eventual winner, and played really well throughout. He knocked out 3 Warwick players on route to the semis, including Sammy Lee Valder in the Quarter final. Sammy had won all his matches 3-0 up to that point. We also had 3 other players in the last 16. All four of Martin Barltrop 's matches were on the stream table, clearly the organisers know quality. Barri Matharu also got knocked out at this stage (by Liam), as well as snooker president and pool newbie Harrison Whitworth.
This was unprecedented success for Warwick, as we usually love losing in the indies. 8 of 10 won the first round, with 7 making the last 32 in a field of over 80!
The 2nd team looked guaranteed to place 3rd in their group of 4, which contained favourite's Manchester alumni, Liverpool 1, and Bangor 3. This would have meant qualification to the trophy and a great chance of winning that. Instead, they decided to overachieve, beating Liverpool 1 6-4, narrowly losing out to Man Alumni 4-6, and then thrashing Bangor 3 10-0 to place 2nd in their group. Amazing stuff yet again by the 2s! They therefore had a quarterfinal draw against Leeds 1st. They gave it a great go, with Leeds just winning 6-3, but a few games went Leeds' way when another day they wouldn't have.
The 1st team started off with a 5-5 draw on stream against Lancaster 1s. A high quality match which both teams agreed would make a great semi-final rematch were both to progress from the group. So the 1s set about getting as good a frame difference as possible, and did so by winning 10-0 against Manchester 2. Then, some late night drama happened. The team had a long wait, and looked certain not to play. But at 10.28pm, we were called to play Bangor 1s. The team was tired and never really got into the game, losing 3-7. This meant the first team came 3rd, and somewhat disappointingly qualified for the trophy rather than the championship. On the Sunday, the team was motivated to make amends and win the trophy, and they did so in emphatic style. The team won every match 6-0, beating Liverpool 2, Manchester 2, and a strong Lancaster 2 (who knocked out Liverpool 1) in the final.
This is the teams first victory of the year, and the quality on show by both teams bodes really well for next term. To say this was one week after 9 ball, and after the end of our term, you wouldn't be able to tell. We took two great teams and the whole club should be proud!
