Pool: Nine Ball Championships 2025-26

Dates:

Saturday 22 November 2025 to Tuesday 25 November 2025

Venue:

Northern Snooker Centre

Address:

92 Kirkstall Rd, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS3 1LT

Times for registering for the individual competition on Saturday 22 November 2025 for each competitor will be published on the UPC website. Any competitor not registering by the time stated on the draw will be scratched from the individual competition. All competitors in the team competition must register before they play, although players only need to register once during the whole event.

A more detailed timetable will be published on the UPC website. If any players are uncertain to the schedule for the event, they should ask the UPC officials who will be able to advise. The timetable is subject to change during the event.

Saturday 22 November: Individual Championship up to the last 16 players; and the Individual Trophy up to the last 32 players.

Sunday 23 November: Team Championship/Trophy group-stage: First round of matches and the winners’ bracket first round; followed by the Individual Championship and Individual Trophy down to the last four competitors in each tier.

Monday 24 November: Team Championship/Trophy group-stage: Completion of every group; followed by the completion of the Individual Championship and Individual Trophy, followed by individual presentations.

Tuesday 25 November: Knock-out stages of the Team Trophy and Team Championship to completion, followed by team presentations.

BUCS Sport Specific Regulations

UPC 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

• There is a single ‘round-robin’ group stage containing all teams at the event. This will consist of a double-elimination format, where all teams are guaranteed to play at least two matches. The final placings in the group will determine which teams qualify for the knock-out stages.
• Subject to having won at least one match, the top two institution first teams from each group will progress to the Team Championship knock-out stage. Note that only institution first teams can participate in the Team Championship.
• The two highest ranked teams who have not already qualified for the Team Championship will qualify for the Team Trophy knock-out stage.
• If there less than three institution first teams in every group in the group stage, the above two bullets will change so that only the highest placed institution first team will qualify for the Team Championship knock-out stage, and the next highest three teams rather than two teams will qualify for the Team Trophy knock-out stage.
• Both knock-out stages will be single-elimination to determine the champions of both competitions.
• All matches shall be composed of three sets where each set involves a player from the first named team playing against an opponent from the second named team as determined by the match card. All sets are races to five racks. All three sets will be played simultaneously. Once a team wins two sets that team shall be declared the winner.

Individual competition: Individual Championship & Trophy

• Both the Individual Championship and Individual Trophy will be single-elimination throughout.
• All Individual Championship matches will be races to five racks, while all Individual Trophy matches will be races to four racks.
• 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 Team Details Form sent to the UPC 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 sixteen 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.

Please see REG 7.9 for the BUCS withdrawal policy

All competitors that an Institution Administrator has approved on BUCS Play by 11:59pm on Thursday 30 October 2025 and is later approved by both BUCS and the UPC will be charged the entry fee. If a competitor later withdraws then a reserve from that institution can be promoted into a team to ensure the number of competitors remain the same. Player changes will only be accepted if the proposed replacement has been added as a reserve on the BUCS Play entry system in ‘Stage 2’ entries. This ‘Stage 2’ BUCS Play entry system will go live when ‘Stage 1’ entries have closed. These reserves will only play at the event if they are replacing withdrawn players and can only be entered into the bottom ranking team from that institution.

The institution main contact will also need to message the Tournament Director, Thomas Malins, via e-mail detailing the replacement. The UPC will then confirm the replacement as well as the detail the amendments made to the individual competition draw following this change.

Any replacements after the entry deadline on Thursday 30 October 2025 but before the publication of the draw, which is usually the Sunday before the event, attracts a £10 surcharge. Any replacements after the publication of the draws attracts a £20 surcharge. These surcharges must be paid before play starts at the event, either by cash at the event or by bank transfer before the event. There is no cost for listing any reserves on BUCS Play who are then not used to replace a withdrawn player. Any withdrawn players not replaced at the event will forfeit their entry fees.

Dress Code

The competition dress code is detailed on the UPC website in the rules and regulations for the event. All players must conform to this dress code while playing.

Parking

There is a small car park at the venue with limited parking capacity. Otherwise, there are pay-to-park car parks within close walking distance of the venue.

Changing Facilities/ Disability Access

There are no changing facilities on site apart from standard toilet facilities. The playing arena is up a flight of stairs, so it may not be possible for some physically disabled participants to play in the event. If this pertains to any student, we recommend they contact the venue to check disabled access.

Food Drink

Food and drink are sold by the venue.

Players must not under any circumstances, in any event venue, consume food or drink bought outwith that venue. Regular checks on this will be undertaken by event staff and by venue staff and, while something such as food/drink items in a shopping bag intended for later on at an ‘AirBnB’ or similar will not be penalised per se, anyone found in any event venue consuming food or drink bought outwith that venue will have the offending food and drink confiscated and destroyed immediately without further discussion on the matter.

There will be both an individual presentation on Monday evening and a team presentation on Tuesday evening for those who have won BUCS medals shortly after the close of play for that day.

All players finishing in medal positions must attend the presentations in the correct dress code for the official event photographs. Failure to comply may result in medals and prize money being forfeited.

Anyone wishing to take photos or video at this event must complete the BUCS Media Accreditation Form prior to the event.

BUCS reserves the right to prohibit photography equipment being used at a BUCS event. BUCS reserves the right to request that the individual ceases to take photographs, deletes any images and, if considered necessary, leaves the venue.

There are local buses links and the venue is within 30-minute walking distance of Leeds train station.

All event information is provided online and can be accessed on a phone – There will be no paper copies of information which is in the public domain online, which minimises paper use.

We suggest all participate bring refillable bottles if they wish to drink tap water from the venue, which saves helps sustainability by reducing glasses being washed on site.

BUCS’ mission is to provide exceptional student sporting experiences that inspire, develop and unite. 

Critical to our success is our commitment to always providing safe, friendly and enjoyable environments for all participants. Whether competing, coaching, officiating, volunteering, working or spectating at these events, the welfare of all is critical to our mission. 

To find out more or report a concern, please click here.