A bar manager from the Bell Inn in Husbands Bosworth potted the winning shot for his pool team to be crowned best in the West Midlands in a regional pool competition, run by pub company Punch Taverns.
The winning team battled it out against seven other teams from across the county at the Punch Pool Competition at the Royal Oak in Tipton.
The competition, which is facilitated by Bar Activity, is the first pool competition Punch have organised and the competition started in April with 26 teams (six players in each) playing home and away matches to reach the final eight.
The Bell Inn walked away with £500 plus trophies. Runners up also received a range of cash prizes, making it a grand prize fund of over £1,000.
Richard Begley, manager at the Bell Inn, said: “It’s great that the team won. We are very passionate about the sport and I’m really proud of the team.
“The finals day was a fantastic friendly event from start to finish and it was great to be refereed by a top class referee and have a ex-world champion present.
“I play on behalf of the Bell Inn, where pool is hugely popular. We have four teams that play throughout the summer and winter; everyone likes to get involved in the games so it’s great for the pub.”
Punch Taverns also organised the world’s biggest pub Quiz and Darts competition every year, a national competition which has seen year on year growth with over 1,120 pubs entered into this year’s competition.
External Affairs Director Andy Slee said that like the Quiz and Darts competitions, pub pool is powerful business driver for pubs:
“The feedback from our pubs is that pub events, like pool nights, are a great way to drive footfall into pubs on the quieter week nights because customers love the atmosphere and create a real sense of competition and community,” he said.
“We are always looking for ways to help our pubs build their business and we’ve seen year on year growth in the amount of pubs eager to participate in our pub sports competitions.”
Punch Taverns is a leading pub company in the UK with approximately 4,200 leased and tenanted pubs nationwide.