THE 2023 leg of the famous Media Pool competition kicked off on Saturday at the Lamana Hotel, with 20 teams competing for glory. This season boasts a major sponsorship from SP Brewery, and is expected to be challenging and thrilling, with many experienced players participating.
The MCP has a reputation for attracting players from all walks of life, including settlements, suburbs, and the working class. Past seasons have produced players who have gone on to excel in billiards and snooker.
The competition will run for 19 weeks, with the finals scheduled for October. The hot favourites, such as Dataco Pebbles, Tropical Storms, Mirror, Famagusta, Cool Grafix, Spin Doctors, and Auditor General, will be vying for the top five spots as the competition enters its second round of four sessions.
Notably, the competition has always had skilled female players, including Carol Karo (Mirror), Carol Noka (Tropical Storms), Rhonda English (Trenglish), Louisa Vevera (Tourism PNG), Madeline Kaina (Dataco Pebbles), Tanya Laumaea (Famagusta), Joanne Pepena (Mirror), Megan Francis (NMSA), Hane Rebu (Ankit), and Emily Andrew (Famagusta), among others. Meanwhile, male players such as Wala Kopi (Tropical Storms), Pipen Manu (Tourism PNG), Dedily Thomas (Lamana), Kelly Yambi (Tropical Storms), Dominic Iahe (Mining), Bernard Alu (Famagusta), Jackson Ng (Tropical Storms), and Peter Yulu (Spin Doctors) will also be competing.
This week, there will be four sessions played, with the first session starting at 11am and occupying five tables. In session one, Nares Fiance will take on Cool Grafix, while Trenglish will play against Spin Doctors. Poi Nangu will face National Housing, NMSA will play against Ankit, and Auditor General will compete against Mirror.
All players and teams have been given two weeks to ensure they have proper uniforms and look their best.
