BUCS-UPC Snooker Championships

DATES

Thursday 14 March 2024 to Sunday 17 March 2024

VENUE

Woking Snooker Centre, Woking: Google Maps link

ADDRESS

Kingfield Road, Woking, Surrey, GU22 9AA

ENTRY OPENING DATE

Tuesday 6 February 2024

STAGE 1 ENTRY CLOSING DATE

“Stage 1” is for the submission of entries ONLY – no reserves should be entered in Stage 1

11:59pm on Tuesday 20 February 2024 – Student/Competitor Deadline (Students/Competitors must apply by this deadline)

11:59pm on Thursday 22 February 2024 – Institution Administrator Approval Deadline (Institutional Administrators are given 48 hours after the student/competitor deadline to approve entries – no reserves should be approved in Stage 1)

ENTRY COSTS

£37.50 per competitor: This provides entry into the Individual Competition, as well as the Team Competition if they enter as part of an institution team.

There will be no accommodation or travel included in this entry fee. It is strongly advised that competitors ensure any accommodation or travel they book has a free-cancellation option to cover the eventuality that their entries are either not accepted due to the ‘team cap limit’, or an emergency means the event cannot complete on these dates.

“Stage 2” will be opened on Friday 23 February 2024 for the addition of reserves ONLY and will remain open until 11:59pm on Sunday 17 March 2024.  Note that this deadline is different to the usual Thursday closing of BUCS Play events to enable institutions to add reserve players (and then use them to replace withdrawn entries) for the duration of the team element of the Championships.

EVENTS AND BUCS POINTS AVAILABLE

There are BUCS medals applicable to all events. There are BUCS points (see Appendix 1 here) applicable to all events apart from the Individual Trophy. There will also be prize money as detailed in the competition rules and regulations on the UPC website.

ENTRY ALLOWANCE

Teams are to be made up of either five or six competitors, with five to play in any given match.

An institution unable to raise the minimum of five competitors needed for one team may enter a maximum of two competitors into the event to play in the Individual Championship only.

There will be a total team cap for this event of 32 teams. This is to ensure we can schedule the tournament successfully over four days, while not compromising the player experience so they still play a sufficient number of frames.

To accommodate this team cap, teams will be accepted and preference will be given to first teams, then second teams, etc then to teams highest in the competition rankings. For example, if 40 entries are received comprised of 20 first teams, 15 second teams, and 5 third teams, then all of the first teams, and the 12 highest-ranked second teams would be accepted (with the highest ranked second team not entered being first reserve, and so on down the ranking list). These rankings are based on the rankings of the previous three seasons from the higher teams from that institution.

All institutions need to send the Tournament Director, Jon Shapland, a Player Details Form, which can be found on the UPC website when uploaded. This form details the composition of each team, and provides the strength of all competitors which are required to rank players for their entry into the Individual Competition. The event is of mixed-gender with no separate Men’s and Women’s sections.

If your institution enters multiple teams then, other than in exceptional circumstances, competitors ascribed to a particular team on the Player Details Form will unable to play for any lower-ranked team in the tournament. As such, please make your team selections carefully. In case of a change/substitution, competitors may be shuffled up from lower- to higher-ranked teams (e.g. seconds to firsts) or from the reserve list into the lowest-ranked team, but no player (including a reserve) can leapfrog a competitor named above them on the Player Details Form supplied to UPC by the institution’s main contact.

There is no maximum number of individuals who can play in the individual competition, but all competitors must either be part of an institution team, or be one of only a maximum of two players from that institution, to play at the event. For example, an institution with exactly nine competitors may only enter a team of a maximum of six players; for this player to play at the event, the institution must find a tenth player so they can play on a second team.

ENTRY PROCESS – INDIVIDUAL EVENTS

To apply for the Individual Competition all eligible competitors must follow these steps:

1. Competitor to apply to the event on BUCS Play (Instructions on how to do this can be found here)
2. Institution administrator approves entry (Instructions on how to do this can be found here)
3. BUCS approves/denies entry into competition and publishes confirmed entry list

Any data will be handled in accordance with BUCS Privacy Policy

Each institution must also appoint one of its attendees to be the institution’s “main contact” for the event. The main contact will be required to email a Player Details form to the UPC Tournament Director, Jon Shapland. This form will include which of their institution’s competitors are ascribed to which of its teams, who the team captains are, whether any competitors require reasonable adjustment, and who will serve as the main point of contact between UPC and their institution’s delegation at the event in case of any matters that are not applicable to the team captain(s).

By participating in this event you agree to adhere to BUCS General Event Disclaimer

To check whether you are eligible to compete in BUCS competitions, please visit REG 4 Individual Eligibility.

ENTRY PROCESS – TEAM EVENTS

All competitors who are playing as part of a team will enter using the previous process for individual events. If that player is part of an institution team as detailed on the institution Player Details Form, then that competitor will be entered into the Team Competition as well.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

A complete set of rules and regulations for the event can be found on the UPC website. By entering the event, competitors have agreed to abide by these rules and regulations.

The entry fee provides competitors entry into both the Individual Competition, as well as the Team Competition if they enter as part of an institution team.

Team Competition: Team Championship & Trophy

• The competition begins with a round-robin group-stage where all teams play each other to determine the final placings. Each player will play a single frame against an opponent as indicated on the team matchsheet.
• Subject to having won at least one match, the top two first teams from each group will progress to the Team Championship knock-out stage. The next highest ranked team, of any    denomination, not qualifying for the Team Championship will qualify for the Team Trophy knock-out stage. All knock-out stages will be single-elimination to determine the champions of both competitions.
• Each knock-out stage match will consist of a maximum of ten frames. Each player will play one frame against a maximum of two different opponents as indicated on the team matchsheet. Once a team reaches six frames, they are declared the winners and the match is over, any frames in progress are stopped immediately. Should a match in the second phase end in a draw after the completion of ten frames, the winner shall be determined by shoot-out. This will begin by the two respective captains nominating three players who will play a single opponent over a single re-spotted black. Once a team wins two of these re-spotted blacks, they are deemed to be the winners.

Individual Competition: Individual Championship & Trophy

• The Individual Championship will be single-elimination throughout, while the Individual Trophy will be a double-elimination format.
• All matches in the Individual Championship will be a race to two frames, apart from the final which will be a race to three frames. The Individual Trophy will be double-elimination where players will be guaranteed at least two frames, where all matches will consist of a single frame.
• All players in institution first teams, as well as unattached individuals, will play in the Individual Championship.
• All non-first team players will by default play in the Individual Trophy, unless the Player Details Form states they would like to play in the Individual Championship instead. Any previous winner of the Individual Trophy cannot play in that event again in subsequent seasons.
• The Individual Trophy is subject to the field being at least a fifth of the total number of individual entrants with a minimum number of 16 entrants in the Individual Trophy; if these criteria are not met there will be no Individual Trophy for that event and all entrants will play in the Individual Championship.