Arrows and 8-balls*
I spent the best part of a week op narth covering Premier League Darts (in Leeds) and the UK Open Pool Championship (in Telford) - I've often stated my inclination to work on 'pub sports', but I rarely get the chance outside of snooker.
As it turns out, the Leeds leg of the Premier League wasn't much to write home about, but Telford was the main attraction of my week - pool jobs are seldom seen in general, so I was pleasantly surprised to be drafted in for my first pool gig since Atlantic City (Oct '22). I teamed up with Erin at Telford International Centre (the new home of cue sports?!) as we covered the final two days of the UK Open; the entire 256-player tournament takes 6 days to complete but only the latter stages are televised, so we got a manageable morsel of matches to operate over the weekend.
I was able to tick off another new role by scoring some pool matches for the first time, which I enjoyed. I noted several similarities between pool & snooker operating, which helped me pick things up more quickly - I was soon channelling my inner Mr Snooker and flinging stats anywhere I could!
While pool is simpler than snooker, it still requires a significant level of skill and understanding to master it - plenty of snooker pros have tried their hand at it only to be taught severe lessons, and the top players this week demonstrated just how devastating they can be.
None more so than the eventual winner Aloysius Yapp - the sedate Singaporean faced off against swashbuckling Spaniard Jonas Souto in the final, who - despite some impressive performances in his earlier matches - arguably had less involvement in the final than I did:
Before poor Jonas had even had a shot he was 4-0 down - Yapp broke off and subsequently cleared up four times in a row, and things didn't get much better for Souto after that; Yapp obliterated his young opponent 13-1 in one of the most one-sided finals I've ever worked on. He compiled four more flawless breaks along the way, meaning that Souto - despite the embarrassing scoreline - truly didn't do a whole lot wrong.
Team GFX weren't complaining, though - it was great to watch one of the top pros put on a clinic, and came with the added benefit of wrapping things up in record time; we were off air at 8.40pm and derigged so swiftly that I was able to make it back to Hemel in time to catch the last train home!
*OK, so the UK Open was in fact a 9-ball event as opposed to 8-ball, but that's not as catchy a title!