A team of pool players who practice in their favourite Oldham pub has been crowned the champions in a national head-to-head tournament. 

Players at The Junction, a traditional community pub on Ripponden Road, faced off against pool teams from 1,300 pubs across the country to take home the championship and £1,000.

The annual Admiral Taverns pool tournament, which has been running for almost two decades, kicked off in January this year with each team enduring a local knockout stage.

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The final was closely contended between 11 teams and was held at the end of June at the Phoenix Club in Easterton where The Junction bagged the win.

The Oldham Times: The team went head-to-head with other pub players from across the countryThe team went head-to-head with other pub players from across the country (Image: Admiral Taverns)

The 11-strong Junction team consisted of Gary Smith, Aaron Davies, Ryan Davies, Mick Smith, Dean Smith, Aidan Hughes, Jack Mann, Guy Burdon, Steve Heyes, Matt Brierly and Martin Davies.

David Foote, licensee at the Junction, said: “Huge congratulations to the team on this fantastic achievement – it’s a pleasure to host them every week at our pub.

"Even if you aren’t interested in the sport, I would recommend anyone to come and watch, it’s a great evening.

"Thank you to Admiral Taverns for hosting the tournament, it’s a really fun event to be involved with.”   

The tournament is also played simultaneously with Admiral Taverns’ national darts tournament, which was won by the Kings Head, in Walsall.

Emma Cottam, Marketing Manager at Admiral Taverns, added: “What a fantastic event and huge congratulations to the team at the Junction.

"They were very impressive throughout all their games and worthy Admiral Taverns 2023 Champions.

“At Admiral, we want all our pubs to be at the heart of their communities and join together as a wider pub community.

"We are constantly providing events and initiatives for our pubs and their locals to get involved in - the feedback we had this year was wonderful and we can’t wait to host both our darts and pool tournaments next year, marking our 20th year of the event.”  

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