03/12/2019
BUCS 9 Ball Tournament Report:
Individual Championships
Clarence won his first game 5-0 before getting the same treatment from an in form Mark Dearden from Lancaster First Team in the top 32 who broke dish and made two brilliant banks to beat our beloved president.
Kevin, who unfortunately had to forfeit his individual match last year due to train delays (Classic British transportation efficiency) more than made up for it this year by storming into the top 16 beating tough first team opponents Matt Ross from Warwick and Roy Lei from UCL before running into Mark Dearden, the same monster who knocked Clarence out in the last 32. Despite giving his all, Kevin too couldn't overcome Mark who despite being a lovely lad has been taking a dump all over LSE players. Still, top 16 is the best ever result anyone from our young Club has ever achieved and we are very proud of him indeed.
Cheng Wei finished in the top 64, barely missing out on top 32 after losing a gritty match 5-4 to Kent's First Team Captain Jesse Heikkonen. That was heartbreaking for him after a brilliant first round win of 5-1 as well over Samuel Read from UEA.
Miles being the newest and most inexperienced member in the first team did us all so proud by reaching the top 32 after what seemed like impossible wins against Sam Parkinson from Leeds and Jonathan Ede from Warwick. His luck with the draw did not improve as he got drawn with Callum Browne, BUCS Snooker Individuals Champion and 3rd seed of the tournament. If anyone were to put an end to his gallant run, Callum was the man to do it.
Individual Trophy
Randall made it to the top 64, a personal best for him! Zhe Yi also made it into the top 64.
Dafydd, Diego, Chee Meng and Joseph all finished in the top 128 with encouraging performances. It was the first ever tournament experience ever for a few of them and some only started playing pool a few months ago so this was encouraging especially for Chee Meng who only lost 4-3.
Teams
The First Team outperformed expectations by storming out of what could be described as the Group of Death as 3rd place finishers after narrowly losing 2-1 to Warwick Firsts, beating strong opponents like Man Mets 2nds, Exeter 2nds, Lancaster 2nds before losing to Bristol Firsts by 2-1 to qualify for the Team Trophy.
In the round of 16, they beat Strathclydes 2nds 2-1 before going down to a strong Nottingham 2nds in the quarterfinals. It is the first time any LSE team had made it this far in any tournament in the three years since being founded. We are immensely proud of them for waving the flag high for LSE and making people know that the LSESU Pool and Snooker Club is serious about pool and not just memeing around.
LSE 2nds got knocked out in the group stages by Warwicks 2nds and Leeds 3rds although it wasn't an easy walkover for the opponents as Diego and Randall put in impressive wins for us and made it tough for the opponents even if they did go down in the end.
LSE 3rds branded themselves as the MEME TEAM as they only had a few months to learn how to use pool cues properly and how the game was played. Nevertheless, it was a great tournament experience for them as they played the best they could against Stirling 1sts and Birmingham 2nds.
What we learned:
Clarence is the best team captain and president we can ask for. This 9-ball tournament was a testament to the progress the club has made since his first year, setting new club records every year.
Cheng Wei might be a joker and the glue that sticks everyone together whether they like it or not but he can be a very good player when he focuses.
Kevin is undoubtedly the MVP of the team and has carried us through with multiple 5-4 wins at crucial moments.
Miles is perhaps the surprise of this tournament vastly outperforming expectations and has a very very bright future in pool and snooker at LSE.
Diego lives up to his reputation as Pinoy Combo Master while Randall has definitely improved a lot, though he has yet to shake off his curse against female players.
Dafydd is dedicated and enthusiastic in the sport even if he still struggles to combat his elbow drops and weaknesses in his game.
Chee Meng and Joseph learn the game really fast and can definitely become excellent players in the future if they continue training - especially Chee Meng with his snooker table practice routines. Joseph also loves using the magic rack.
Zhe Yi surprisingly loves money matches and is the biggest shark king of all. Jokes aside, despite learning to play pool late into his uni life, he has improved vastly and hopefully will go on to enjoy the game.
Watching Ricardo and Michael Mcdermott in the final was truly breathtaking and inspiring for all of us who got to witness the Individual Championship Finals and definitely increased our love and passion for the game.
That's it from us, we look forward to BUCS 8 ball next February with excitement and optimism in all our players!!
