It is only half way through 2014 and already cue-sports in Canada has had a banner year. Originally it was the success of the Richler Cup and Le Classique de Billiard. Now the University of Toronto Pool and Snooker Club has continued this positive trend by announcing the first ever Canadian inter-University and College Pool and Snooker Championships, to be held August 25-29 in Toronto.
It is Renjie "Stephen" Lu, a former High School Snooker Champion from China, who is credited with coming up with the idea to organize a cross Canada collegiate championship. It is his connection with Xian Meng (Sam) Huang from the U of T Pool and Snooker Club, as well as Patrick Guigui of Snooker Canada that made this possible.
Huang, a long time player jumped at the idea of being a major part of hosting and organizing this inaugural event. The idea behind this Championship is to promote cue-sports at the grassroots levels, as well as to give competitive minded players an equal alternative to the CBSA Canadian Championships. He explained this when he said,"I've always thought about participating in the Canadian Championships; however, we (students) simply do not have the same time and resources that the top players in the country have. We may play at most 1 hour a day, whereas a pro would be playing maybe 4-8 hours a day.Therefore, this University Championship will level the playing field and determine the best player in the country that's also pursuing a career outside of pool."
When talking about the involvement of Snooker Canada, Huang was complimentary when he said, "Patrick Guigui has been extremely helpful in assisting us with this event. He helped us with the venue as well as negotiating the table fees, and Snooker Canada will also be providing the trophies for the event."
The determination and enthusiasm the Toronto players showed is what got Guigui's attention. However it was their foresight that ensured his involvement with this project. He explains this when he said, "What impressed me even more was when I asked them why they were so interested in doing this if they were all in the latter stages of college and graduating soon ; their response was that they wanted to do their part in keeping the game going for the younger students. I thought that was a very selfless and mature way of thinking."
This project is in its infancy and the finer details still need to be worked out. This is a big opportunity for the expansion of cue-sports in Canada and hopefully as many schools as possible jump on-board.
To find out more information or to register for this event please refer to www.snookercanada.ca. Contact information is also available on the Canadian University Pool and Snooker Championship Facebook Page . In order to qualify for this event you must have been a registered student in the winter semester of 2014. Also the top two in the Snooker division will qualify for next years Richler Cup.
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