By the end of the intramural 9-Ball Pool Singles tournament, four players went home with the pride of sporting an intramural champion T-shirt.

Garry Greenlee, associate director of intramural sports and facility operations, said 55 players gathered in the Memorial Union Game Room for the event, and it ran smoothly.

The intramural 9-ball players were split into three groups based on skill level, which is assessed by intramural officials during practice games played before the tournament.

“We’ll watch them play three matches against other players that are there,” Greenlee said. “We watch them and rate them on a skill level from our subjective opinion.”

The A league, which six players competed in, is for players of high skill level who play regularly. The B league, which had 35 players split into two groups, is for players of intermediate skill who play occasionally. The C league is for beginners with a novice skill level and had 14 competitors.

After the players are placed in a particular skill level, they are seeded into a tournament bracket based on their win-loss total from the practice games.

The rules for 9-ball pool are similar to the rules of a regular game of billiards in regards to fouls and method of play. In 9-ball, however, only nine balls and the cue ball are used. They are racked into the shape of a diamond, with the one ball at the top of the diamond and the nine ball located in the center.

On each shot in a game of 9-ball pool, the first ball that the cue ball comes in contact with must be the lowest-numbered ball on the table. This does not necessarily mean that the balls must be pocketed in order. The game is over when a legal shot results in the nine ball being pocketed.

Kevin Knowles, sophomore in computer engineering, was one of the two B-league champions. This was Knowles’ first time playing in the 9-Ball pool tournament but he was impressed by the way it was set up and ran.

He said he liked that everyone has the opportunity to play at least two games in the tournament.

“I haven’t played much this year, but last year I played with friends in dorms or at the MU,” Knowles said. “We went one night and played for an hour or so, but I haven’t really done anything to get ready.”

Knowles said there were many players like himself in the tournament who just show up to play, and there are others who are in clubs.

The other B-league champion at the tournament was Nicholas Tjaden, senior in construction engineering. The A-league champion was Bradley Smiley, senior in agricultural studies. Sostenes Diaz, sophomore in computer engineering, won the C league.