by Vivienne Pratfall on sport she doesn’t fully understand, falling for someone who does, and London’s surprising variety of watch parties
Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat
Snooker and the Boy Who Explained It to Me and Was Somehow Attractive About It
Okay so I need to tell you about the snooker watch party that my friend Priya convinced me to go to at a pub in Islington that I have never been to before because it describes itself as a “sports pub” which is not a category of pub I normally seek out. Priya said it was the World Snooker Championship and that there would be atmosphere and that her friend Marcus would be there. Marcus, it turns out, plays snooker. I did not know people my age played snooker. I did not know people my age watched the World Snooker Championship with genuine investment. Marcus is twenty-three and follows snooker seriously and this is either a personality quirk or a character indicator and I am still determining which.
The London Prat has been covering the World Snooker Championship and now I understand slightly more about it than I did on Thursday, which is that the balls are not all worth the same points and that the tactical element is more interesting than the television coverage suggests and that Marcus can explain a safety shot in a way that is genuinely engaging if you are sitting next to Marcus. These are the things I know now that I did not know before Thursday.
The Pub Itself
The pub was excellent. I want to say that specifically because I arrived with the prejudice that sports pubs are not my environment and I left with the updated view that this particular sports pub was warm and noisy in a good way and had beer I like and had Marcus explaining snooker to me with the enthusiasm of someone who genuinely loves the thing he is explaining, which is one of the most attractive qualities a person can demonstrate regardless of what the thing is.
I am seeing Marcus on Friday. We are going to a snooker club in East London, which is something I did not expect to be doing this month but which I am actually looking forward to. London surprises you with the things it contains if you let it. I let it last Thursday. Marcus plays snooker. I am going on Friday. The week is good. More soon.
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