New blackball pool league at Miss Q’s

A new ‘blackball’ pool league with a risqué title has been established at Miss Q's Sports Bar & Academy in Rochdale.

The new singles league has been set up for average players, those new to the game, or those who have had a long time away from the game, and those “who play like sausages”, which lead to the title of the league; ‘Miss Q’s Sausage Fest’.

Player James ‘Peaky’ Grimshaw said: “The term ‘sausages’ came from the better players in the club, in reference to the average or not-so-good player.

“We ran with this and one of the group suggested the sausages should have their own league. It has taken off. We have more prize money than the better players, as no-one dropped out mid-season.

“There were no fallouts and we have had a riot.

“We are trying to introduce blackball rules to the town. It is a new format and encourages an aggressive potting approach.”

Under ‘blackball rules’, when potting from break, a player can still nominate any colour, but has to pot. Failing that, the table will be deemed as open. The following player can choose to pot any colour.

When playing a shot, the white ball has to hit a cushion after contact. The exception being when a player is snookered, the player must call this a ‘total’.

Blackball also has a skill shot: you can pot your opponent’s ball if you pot one of your own in the same shot.

 

 

The Sausage Fest league was set up around five months ago, with a finals day taking place on Saturday 17 August. Finals day is a free knockout for all the league members, but to give it balance, the stronger players are handicapped. Prize money was paid out to eight places.

A prize pot of £1,900 was built in the first season, with two-thirds being paid out between first and sixth league laces. The final third goes to the finals day.

The first league season was won by Jamie Ellis, with James Grimshaw as the runner-up. James had been leading the league for over three months and lost the league on the last match.

Finals day was won by Sidney Ash, with Paul Collis as runner-up. Sidney finished mid-table in the league and Paul had never won a match.

James added: “It is a great chance for players of lesser ability to win some money and what a great day out it is. Word of our event is spreading, and the ranks of the next league have increased enough to project a prize pot between £6,000 and £9,000.”

The new league season began on Monday 19 August.