Euro championship challenge for Pettie
Perth potter in Scottish squad out to retain title
The tactical element of the sport is what brings Jay Pettie back to the table time and time again.
And next week the Perth potter plans to out-smart a host of top under-23 pool players at the European Championships, this year being held in Bridlington, Yorkshire.
The 20-year-old is part of a Scottish squad hoping to retain the same title they scooped up 12 months ago. But that will be no stroll in the park.
Pettie has been putting in a power of practice to sharpen up his game before heading down south for his first match on Wednesday.
“This is the first time I’ve been to the European Championships, but I’ve been to the Nations just last year in November,” he told the Perthshire Advertiser.
“The team I’m away down with won this event last year so I can only hope for a similar outcome.
“The standard will be extremely high in Bridlington. I know a lot of the guys who we could be up against, it’s always usually the same people involved.
“I’ve been putting in at least five days a week over the last few months, with three, four or fives hours spent at the table.
“It depends what day it is but if I have enough time off, I’ll be down practicing at the Ball Room.
“I’ve put a couple of years of solid practice into this game and have managed to get myself to this level.
“And I 100 per cent want to keep going. If I could break into the top 32 in Scotland then that would certainly be a goal for me.
“There is the International Pool Association which I’ve always wanted to play in. It’s like the professional tour where the best players will travel around to play.”
Pettie, who plays competitively out of the Ex Servicemen’s Club in Perth, believes assumptions that pool is simply a social sport are way off the mark.
“A lot of people see pool as a social sport but in my eyes there is a lot more to it,” explained the former Perth Academy pupil. “There is a tactical side to the game which people don’t always realise.
“Pool is a bit like chess. People see it as pot a ball and then another. But you need to know exactly where you are going around the table. I love a good tactical game.
“My whole season is based around the under-23 tours, that’s where I do most of my damage.
“There are also the Scottish Tours which is similar to the Scottish Cup in football. I play those throughout the year.
“I’ve only been playing pool for two and a half years, starting in a local pub. I also used to just finish school and then go and play pool for a while.
“It turned out I was alright at it and I started to play in the league with a friend that works at the Ball Room. I managed to keep getting better and better.”
On the local front, the Perth pool league is in good shape, with Pettie adding: “There’s a really good standard in Perth just now.
“We have the pub league which has two divisions, eight teams in both. So there are a lot of people playing.
“Ally Menzies from Perth is going down to the European Championships the week after me with the Masters team. I practice with him every Monday.” Perth pool player Jay Pettie