Winners Crowned at 2024 British Universities Snooker Championships

Imperial College London overcame a strong field to win the British Universities Snooker Team Championship, while Matei Rosca of the University of Manchester retained the Individual Championship at the Woking Snooker Centre.

The championships are run every academic year by the Universities Pool Council, recognised by British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) as the governing body for university cue sports and affiliated with the EPSB, with any person who is studying at a higher education institution affiliated to BUCS being eligible to enter.

The 2023/2024 British Universities Snooker Championship was held between 14-17 March 2024 at the Woking Snooker Centre with 182 players from 29 different universities across the UK competing for the title across the four days of action.

The 2023/2024 BUCS-UPC Snooker Team Championship winners: Imperial College London: Om Goswamy (captain), Connor Tracy, Bowen Zhu, Humza Bhatti, Kasidit Lauhabutr

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

Imperial College London defeated the University of Leeds 6-1 to lift the senior team title at the British Universities Snooker Championships for the first time since 1996/1997.

Thirty-two teams from 23 universities across the UK competed in the initial group phase to narrow down the field to the last sixteen stage.

Imperial College London fought their way to the title match by eliminating reigning champions the University of Bristol 6-3 in the quarter-finals, and then the University of Exeter 6-4 in the semi-final.

In the final they met the University of Leeds, who made the final in dramatic fashion by winning three consecutive black-ball shootouts against Loughborough University, the University of Cambridge and 2021/22 champions the University of Manchester after each of the matches had initially ended 5-5.

The two teams competing in the final has initially met in the group stage, where victory had gone the way of the University of Leeds.

Imperial College London got their revenge on the most important stage, however, as they defeated their Yorkshire opponents by a comprehensive 6-1 scoreline to secure the title.

The Team Trophy, for teams that did not qualify for the main Team Championship, was won by the University of Edinburgh who defeated the University of Nottingham second team 6-3 in the final.

The 2023/2024 BUCS-UPC Snooker Individual Championship final four: Gold – Matei Rosca (Manchester); Silver – Ruoyuan Liu (Edinburgh); Bronzes – Yan Wong (Man Met) and Luke Davies (Falmouth)

INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Matei Rosca defended his British Universities Individual Snooker Championship title by defeating Ruoyuan Liu 3-1 in the final.

Rosca, from the University of Manchester, faced the University of Edinburgh’s Liu in a repeat of the 2022/23 final. Last year’s runner-up started strong by winning the opening frame, but Rosca then won three consecutive frames to secure the title for the second year in a row – potting a spectacular long-range pink to secure the final frame.

The event winner also took the honour of the tournament’s high break with a run of 66. The losing semi-finalists were Yan Wong (Manchester Metropolitan University) and Luke Davies (University of Falmouth).

The second-tier Individual Trophy was won by Ben Cooper of Lancaster University, who came through the one-loss section of the draw to defeat Thomas Wood (Nottingham) in the final.

The Universities Pool Council wishes to thank the Woking Snooker Centre for all of their hospitality. For more information about the UPC, please visit their website here.