Nineteen players, one last rack: the Penety Pool Tournament

On Saturday 3 October, nineteen young players signed up at Mashuaz Grill & Lounge in Loitokitok for the Penety Pool Tournament, our sixth tournament and the biggest field we have had. Registration was on the day, and by early afternoon every seat around the two tables was taken.

The tournament was sponsored by Penety Resort Kimana, the resort at the foot of Kilimanjaro, which put up KES 34,000 in prize money for the top five places. For a lot of the players, it was the first time a business from their own area had backed something they love doing.

How the night went

Nineteen players does not divide neatly into a bracket, so three play-in matches opened the night: Jacob beat Tungu 3–0, Fredy beat Kababa 3–0 and Edwin C beat Toret 3–1. From there it was sixteen players, race to 3, single elimination, with the bracket up on the big screen so the crowd could follow every match.

Jacob, who came through the play-in round, was the story of the tournament. He beat top seed Mutwiri 3–2, then Regan 3–2, then Kings 3–2 in the semifinal. Three deciding racks in a row.

On the other side, Country Boy beat Edwin C, Kanai and then Fredy 3–1 to reach his second final of the year. The final was a race to 5 and it went the distance: Country Boy won 5–4 on the last rack.

Results

• Champion: Country Boy (KES 15,000)
• Runner-up: Jacob (KES 9,000)
• 3rd: Fredy (KES 5,000)
• 4th: Kings (KES 3,500)
• 5th: Walter (KES 1,500)
• Players: 19 · Entry KES 1,000 · Prize pool KES 34,000

You can follow every match on the full bracket, and every player's record on the standings.

Why a night like this matters

Nineteen young men spent a Saturday competing in the open, in front of their community, under rules everyone could see. Nobody was hiding in a dark shed. Nobody was idle. That is the whole point of what we do, and it is why we want to go further than one night at a time.