Sunday 11th October saw the second ever LSE Fresher’s Tournament at JFK’s Pool Club in Peckham. What a spectacle it turned out to be; players of all levels, upset victories and hill-hill matches all round. To get as many games played as possible we first went through a group stage: 8 groups of 4 with the 2 best going through to the last 16. Due to some latecomers and no-showers (that is: noshow-ers, not people who don’t take showers a.k.a. the French), we needed some creative reorganisation of the groups, but we got there in the end.
The matches were played first-to win 3 frames in the last 16, first-to 4 in the quarters, and then 5 in the semis and final. Also entering in the last 16 were the 4 “big guns” of LSE pool; Will Dee, Martin Rydland, Dan Steene and Alpesh Varsani who played for the 1st and 2nd teams in the All-British Universities tournaments last year, winning the LSE massive glory in university pool circles.
The last 16 started out with no great upsets, but not much can be told from a 5 frame match. Winning 3-0 does not make one three times better than the opponent, as I can tell from personal experience when Rifeng missed more or less three blacks, handing me victory on a silver platter.
A grueling match was simultaneously taking place at table 5 where Michael Dalgado defeated Will Xie 3-2 after a great safety battle in the final frame.
However, the first upset came in the quarters where experienced traveller Dan was beaten 4-2 by Yibo after a convincing display. One table away Michael was put through another exhausting match when he beat seasoned veteran Martin Rydland 4-3 after a lovely little 5-ball clearance to land him perfectly on the black.
Will Dee seemed to have shaken off the early nerves and won convincingly against fellow Waterloo league team player Hadi 4-1 to go into the semi-finals facing tournament favorite and ladder-league topspot Alpesh Varsani.
The two contestants followed each other diligently, with Alpesh one step ahead throughout. In the final frame this was however reversed as Alpesh missed a difficult black to leave Will in a similar position. Will kept his nerves in check and sank it after rattling in the jaws for what must have seemed an eternity.
The final frame had it all, great potting, quality tactics and an intense finish .On the neighbouring table thetwo newcomers Michael and Yibo were also playing for a spot in the final and when that game also ended 4-4 before the final frame we knew we were in for a thriller. However, due to the excellent potting of both players it was over before we knew it, with Michael clinching the spot in the final.
Sadly the final ended with somewhat of an anticlimax (particularly compared with the semis) and it was clear from the second game how it was going to end up. Will played a superb match, hardly making a single mistake, while Michael seemed tired from the exhausting previous games (in all fairness, winning all previous matches by by virtue of deciding frames takes a lot out of you). However, both players took their time and when the final score (5-0) was announced it had taken 50 minutes.
In general it was an amazing tournament with lots of players announcing their potential for one of the team spots for when the LSE once again travels to the almighty metropolis of Great Yarmouth to compete at BUCS in February next year. However, everyone will have loads of chances to show us what they’re worth as there are plenty more tournaments coming along after the success of the Fresher’s tournament.
The next LSE tournament is the Autumn 9-ball Championship (free entry) on Sunday 1st November – to sign up, email Lee Mager (a.l.mager@lse.ac.uk)
The video of the entire final is below for everyone who wishes to check it out: www.lsepool.co.uk
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