It promised to be a good one. The question of what would happen if you replaced the regular cue ball for a joke ball and tried to play a frame of snooker with it. The results were brilliant fun, with plenty of joy seen by everyone watching and the players themselves.
For those who don’t know, a joke ball – sometimes known as a crazy ball – is a cue ball that has been crafted with its weight off-centre. This means that when you hit it, it won’t go straight as intended. Whether small diversions or large, it would always arc its way across the table. Across this frame that had been played, the cue ball took all sorts of wild paths – including a few wobbly jumps across the table.
Played at Snooks, located within the Halesowen area, the event had been arranged by my dad – Mr. Martin Searle – to help raise awareness and support of the University Hospitals Birmingham Charity. The UHB Charity do great work in helping support the four hospitals under its name, one of which being the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham – where my dad has seen a lot of great care during his two kidney transplants of 1997 and 2015.
One of the projects being funded by the money raised by the charity is a state-of-the-art transplant centre which will be opening next year. Raising awareness of not only the charity but also of transplantation has always been something my dad has been working towards ever since his first which helped save his life back in ’97. This event has been just one of many that aim to do just that.
The owner of Snooks – Mr. Mike Rizzo – is a long-time friend of my parents, so he was willing to not only allow the event to take place at his club, but also be the one to face my dad in the challenge. A raffle full of prizes and a guess the highest break challenge were on offer for those who came to the event. A pound from the sale of every beer or ale also got added to the total amount.
A lot of people turned up, including current Halesowen North Labour councillor Parmjit Sahota, the previous councillor Hilary Bills, and donator of the trophy – Aaron Tonks. Sophie Westlake from the charity had come along to watch, along with a few from the Birmingham Adults Transplant Sport Team. There were regulars of Snooks and others who wanted to check the event out. And from what I could see, all of them enjoyed the night.
With my dad announcing the opening of the event, along with the return of Elvis – who would be the referee, it was time for the frame of snooker to begin. My dad managed to get an early lead but was soon overtook by Mr. Rizzo. There were some great shots played by both, with laughs being shared by everyone in attendance upon shots being sabotaged by that crazy cue ball – and especially when the cue ball and the green shot off the table. A great game was played by both all the way through, but the ending was completely unexpected.
The points were close, it was down to the black. My dad had missed, but the two balls ended up near enough touching. Mr. Rizzo would need a great shot to be able to get that black in. With a lot of power came a lot of speed, with the black ball shooting right to the other end of the table and into the lower right pocket. No-one at first seemed to notice the lack of a white ball on the table, but it didn’t take long until people realised what had happened.
The white ball had also ended up in a pocket, and with it being the last ball, a foul was given, points awarded to my dad, and the frame had ended – as the last ball does not get reseated upon a foul taking place. It was a victory for my dad then, who then had to announce himself as the winner and be presented with the trophy by the one who had donated it.
The raffle was drawn for all prizes but the football shirt. After all, plenty of West Brom fans who might want to win a signed shirt on the team’s first match of the season. The total I had named on social media after the event had finished was almost right, with the end total being £740. More donations are always welcome, and you can give to the charity, too.
By heading over to the University Hospitals Birmingham Charity website (the link will take you directly to the donation page), you can give to the charity who are making the lives of staff, patients, and families of those patients easier through plenty of support methods across the hospitals of Birmingham. If you do donate, please make sure to reference Martin Searle – Transplant Fund in the more information box. The website has plenty of information regarding what the charity has done should you wish to take a look.
The event has been a lot of fun. I certainly had fun taking photos and videos of the snooker game as it was happening, with all the photos you see in this article being taken by me. I probably should have brought a tripod to attach the camera to, even if I only used it as a bit of extra support rather than fully extended it to the floor. Before the game began, I had a few shots with that crazy ball, and while I’m not the best at snooker, I could tell how the ball was affecting my shots.
A thank you goes out to everyone who turned up to watch the event and offer their support, to those who donated the prizes for the raffle and guess the highest break challenge, to the staff of Snooks who were great in their support of the event, a special thank you to Mike Rizzo for accepting the proposal of hosting the event and for being the one to play against my dad, to Elvis for returning to be the referee, and a big thank you to everyone who has helped raise support and awareness of what UHB Charity does, and to anyone who does so in the future.