A total of 16 players chalked-up for their chance to win the 2nd Söder Winter Major Championship of 2014/2015 on Friday 5th December. The players were drawn into 4 groups of 4 with a seeded player in each group. Group 1 was a fruit salad consisting of Pinapples, Pear, Larry Lime and Benny Banana with the seeded Banana (The Condo) coming out on top. Pear had a shot on the 8-ball to proceed into the quarter finals, but couldn’t nail it, and that opened the door for Pinapples (Fergo) to slip into the quarters.

Group 2 was the group of death, with both eventual finalists coming from here. Barton, Brissles, Hulk and The Kaj had an even tussle in the group, with Brissles and Kaj progressing to the quarter finals.

Group 3 saw the seeded Jordansson, Murf, Haiku Bob, and Mad Marty fight out an even battle with Murf taking out the group. Mad Marty also had a shot on the 8-ball for a chance to proceed into the knock-out stage but missed, and Jordansson rode his luck through the quarters.

Group 4 proved to be the group of life with iGuts the seed and The Zohan proceeding through to the knock-out stages over new Söder recruit Calle and Bobby Love.

The quarters saw the pool get serious and the shots flowed, courtesy of The Hulk who bought at least 2 (from memory) rounds of hot shots from the bar…

QF1 was The Condo vs Jordo – a classic match-up in which Jordo prevailed over 2012 champ Condo who never really hit form in 2014 – Jordo sailing through to yet another semi final. QF2 saw defending champ Brissles take on The Zohan who went for the tactic of forcing more alcoholic shots on Brissles in order to get him inebriated, and although Zohan landed a cheap blow flush on Brissles cheek, Brissles managed to roll with the punch and cruise into the semi final. QF3 was an old Söder classic with “Söder’s greatest athlete that has never won a Major” Murf vs 2007 ‘Most Consistent’ medal winner Fergo. A very nervous game from both players eventually saw Fergo proceed to the Semis. QF4 saw the ever-confident iGuts spend more time debating his right as group winner to have the honour of breaking than the actual match took! The Kaj swept through the match in clinical fashion, silencing iGuts and blasting the pool comp wide open!

The semi’s saw a rematch of the classic 2010 semi final between Brissles and Jordo. Back in 2010, the match that is know as “probably the greatest ever Söder pool game” saw a total of 3 ‘turns’ and no balls left on the table with Jordo winning that duel before being harPooned in the final. The game this year was far less dramatic, with Brissles progressing through to the final. The other semi final was between The Kaj and Fergo – both players playing in their first semi-final of a major and the nerves were obvious from both players, but The Kaj was able to withstand the pressure and progress to the final.

The final was a good even contest, both players being the form players of the night, and after an even start, Brissles went on a run and cleaned up his last four coloured balls before sinking the black in one turn, becoming back-to-back pool champ.

After such an even and popular competition in 2014, it is obvious that there won’t be any need for seeds in 2015, and the number of participants will need to be opened up to more than 16!