Varsity 2017 Report by Wesley Rawlings (President 2016/17)

OUPSC Pool Varsity Team 2017

Sam Hale (c)

Adam Smith

Alex Wood

Brian Shi

Gwyndaf Oliver

Joseph Lloyd

Matt Kennedy

Peter Hill

Pierre Joffrin

Scott England

Wesley Rawlings

Xuchen Yang

OUPSC Snooker Varsity Team 2017

Adam Smith

Arthur Wellesley

Gwyndaf Oliver

Matt Kennedy

Michael Platt

Scott England

Wesley Rawlings

Will Meng

Tucked away on an unassuming little industrial estate next to a railway line is the Cambridge Snooker Centre. Unbeknownst to the world outside, this Cantab Crucible has recently played host to the closest Pool and Snooker varsity matches in history, both of which were decided on the very last frame. Could the Oxford University Pool and Snooker Club retain the double varsity after two crushing victories last year? Cambridge were back out in force and looking for revenge after a thorough shoeing in 2016, and they made the fight as hard as they could for the dark blues.

The events were played across the 13th and 14th of May; first came Pool Varsity. The first round of singles was a dead heat, with both sides scoring 18 frames. Honourable mentions go to Adam Smith and Sam Hale for dispatching their opponents 3-0. A tense doubles round followed in which the dark Blues stole a narrow 2 frame lead over Cambridge, with further strong performances from Adam Smith and Peter Hill who took their doubles frames 3-0. Moving into the second and final round of singles it seemed there was all to play for, but the light Blues fought back to ultimately take 4 frames back and scrape the overall win. The final score was 46-44.

Sunday saw the snooker team move in to look for revenge for their fallen brethren. The format this time was far simpler; 8 players, with each playing one frame against each of the opposition. Cambridge took an early lead over the first set of frames but Oxford fought back, determined to clinch a win after the previous day’s defeat. After a hard-fought battle lasting long into the evening, the final frames were played out with Oxford taking a few last-minute wins to clinch the Varsity Snooker title 33-31. Again honourable mentions go to Adam Smith and Will Meng, both of whom came away with an excellent 6 victories from 8 frames, as well as Scott England and Michael Platt who followed closely with 5 wins from 8 frames and all other players contributing frames to the winning scoreline.

After a truly stellar effort from everyone involved, it is only left to say well done to Cambridge on stealing away half of our double Varsity title; know that next year we’ll be back and hot on your heels ready to take it away again! And congratulations to all the members of OUPSC that came along and played in both tournaments. This has been an excellent year for the club and a competitive Varsity match was a perfect way (ignoring the loss) of rounding out the season, following wins in the local Snooker leagues and strong showings in all other tournaments.

Top performers: Pool: Adam, Sam, Matt - 7/9, Snooker: Adam, Will - 6/8