Snooker Club is right on cue

This year has seen the rise of a much more active Snooker and Billiards Club on campus. With over 70 members, regular club competitions, a year-round ladder and a team in the local league, the club is growing and the players are benefiting from free use of club tables and regular exposure to competitive snooker.

Catering for players of all abilities and with contrasting strengths and weaknesses, the autumn term saw a handicapped tournament and a six reds shootout, as well as the annual Freshers Tournament.

A few of the Exec team put a new spin on an old game and created Giant Pool; simply put, playing pool on snooker tables which went down a storm with the Snooker club’s members, many of whom also compete with the Pool Club.

The traditional ‘ladder’ style of competition, which began in October, has been joined this term by the Club Championship – a conventional ‘group stage then knockout’ tournament drawn in January and staggered over the term.

Thanks to the efforts of one of the Club’s postgraduate members, the club has been able to enter a seven-man team into the Leamington District Billiards and Snooker Association’s ‘A’ League. At the present time the team is in fourth position in the fourteen-team league and only five points off the third and final promotion place, with a game in hand on Frames 3rd team, who are currently occupying the elusive spot.

The team play on Thursday nights in a variety of places from Warwick to Lillington, Kenilworth to Cubbington, and venues such as Working Men’s Clubs, Cons Clubs, even a Bowling Club.

The team have enjoyed playing against a number of different sides of varying, yet competitive ability and one opposing club (Lillington 3rds) even boast England football international goalkeeper Ben Foster as a competitor.

Having a break away from the table the club has taken a cue from the Pool Club in becoming more socially active; going circling and tagging along with curries and Pub Snooker. Some other off-the-table endeavours this year include having the tables re-clothed in term one, and working towards improving the Snooker Room and implementing an online table-booking system with Warwick Sport. The club has also established links with Coventry University Snooker team and are hoping to get snooker into Varsity next year.

Having held club trials, the Warwick side are now looking ahead to hosting the annual Midlands Cup in Coventry – an inter-university tournament where they will be playing host to nine other Snooker Clubs – before sending teams to the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds for the BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) competition. This is arguably the highlight of the year, where the best players represent Warwick against other British universities. Warwick hopes to continue to do well in the league and carry it forward into Midlands and BUCS.

The Snooker Club’s tables are at the Westwood end of campus and free to use once the £6 membership fee is paid.