BREAKING BAD: ICU Snooker & Pool 2012-13

The 2012/13 season for ICU Snooker and Pool, which brought about the big name change from ICU Snooker, sparked to life with our annual fun-filled Freshers’ Pool Party at Rileys Victoria. Many new stars burst onto the scene including the ‘Shermanator’ (aka Yi Xuan Zhang), for his ambidextrous snooker prowess, and eventual Internal League runner-up and prolific pool player Rob “Rob-ot” Speller. After a tight team trial, our 8-ball English team was sent to the first tournament of the season, the English Universities Pool Championships in Nottingham, where we improved considerably on our debut performance in the perpetually competitive tournament. Although we didn’t escape our group the club can take heart from this showing when we take part in the inaugural Southern Universities tournament in October, which this year we aim to win! Cometh the first major snooker event of the season, Midlands Snooker Championships 2012/13 in Coventry, cometh the “Shermanator”. The man from Shanghai took down some of the most high profile names, including the now notorious Ben Parslew (Manchester 2) who has dismissed many of Imperial’s finest stars in the past! Overall, it was a strong showing from the team, with Imperial 2 topping their group and securing their progression to the knock-out stages. Undoubtedly the star of the weekend though was Mr Speller who reached the semi-finals of the Individual Championship only to be beaten by the eventual runner-up, Jin Foulger (Exeter 1). Many of these star performers will be returning for the coming season so the team can take great confidence into next season’s competitions! The same month brought a trip to a bitterly cold Great Yarmouth with the Vauxhall Holiday Park providing both the venue and accommodation for the 8-ball team competing in the BUCS 8-ball English Pool Championships. This proved to be a surprise-filled weekend with the narrative of the tournament dominated by missed clearances, tactical errors and pot luck. When the tale of the tournament was finally told, Imperial had narrowly missed out on a place in the knock-out stages of the Team Shield, finishing 3rd in their group. However, a young side with a much improved performance from the previous season gained invaluable experience in the BUCS format. For the guys involved, it was an unforgettable experience (although not necessarily for the right reasons!) filled with great banter. This proved to be a necessity to survive the freezing cold caravans, as most of the team cozied together by the warm fire in the living room, while only the elder statesman of the club, Elwin Carlos, braved the unheated bedroom! Onto an enthralling weekend in Leeds for BUCS Snooker Championships where Max Chalmers, making his snooker debut for Imperial 2, had the longest run of all Imperial players in the individual event. His eventual elimination came at the hands of a player from Kent, a side who we enjoy a good relationship with having played a friendly against them at our snooker room, in the Union building, earlier in the year. This match proved to be great practice in preparation for BUCS - whilst the experience was relished by both sides - Imperial 2 losing out to Kent 2 but Imperial 1 victorious over Kent 1. Sadly, neither Imperial team carried this success into their respective team events at BUCS but, make no mistake, the club is in a good position this coming season to ensure that this is an anomaly. Our continued investment in beginners’ and advanced coaching sessions for the 2013/14 season will play a vital role in this. There are many new and exciting opportunities on the horizon including the usual Freshers’ Party, where we will have 3-time European pool champion Rico Diks teaching fun trick shots, along with playing BOTH snooker and pool and free food! An Imperial Women’s 8-ball English pool team may also be formed this season and competing at BUCS so watch out for that! If you’d like to be a part of this exciting and dynamic club, you can see our FREE Freshers events at: union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/snooker_billiards/events/calendar.php