{"id":3207,"date":"2024-07-01T08:19:05","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T08:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-alumn-nus.pantheonsite.io\/alumnus\/?p=3207"},"modified":"2025-07-15T16:07:56","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T08:07:56","slug":"cued-for-success-nus-alumna-named-national-pool-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/2024\/07\/01\/cued-for-success-nus-alumna-named-national-pool-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"Cued for Success: NUS Alumna Named National Pool Champion"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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As a competitive sport, pool tends to stay in the shadows. Its stereotypical association with bars and gambling has limited youth exposure to the game, while critics denigrate the lack of physical exertion required.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>

But one National University of Singapore (NUS) alumna hopes to change the perception of the sport\u2014while encouraging more women to join the game. Ms Yu Anran (Science \u201920, Business MSc \u201922) picked up a cue for the first time in 2016 when a tennis injury left her in search of a new hobby. This past April, she was named the women\u2019s national 10 Ball champion by Cuesports Singapore \u2013 the governing body for billiards, snooker and pool in Singapore.<\/p>

\u201cI joined NUS Cuesports as a CCA [co-curricular activity] during my first year at NUS and realised I was not bad at it,\u201d said Ms Yu with a laugh. \u201cI was also fortunate that NUS is one of the few universities to have pool tables on campus for its athletes to practice on.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Yu Anran (front row, right) pictured with her teammates after they won second place at the 2019 Singapore University Games. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Quickly moving from the recreational to the varsity team, Ms Yu honed her skills at the tables at Yusof Ishak House, participating in weekly training sessions conducted by 2005 SEA Games gold medalist KK Chan and 2009 National 9-Ball Open Category Champion Charlene Chai. NUS sponsorship of tournament entry fees also exposed Ms Yu to more competitive games. When COVID-19 shuttered pool halls across the country and paused physical practices, she used the time to work on her mental game, analysing matches on film and reading sports psychology books to improve her performance under pressure.\u00a0<\/p>

For someone who studied quantitative finance and statistics, the game holds particular appeal. \u201cPool is like solving an optimisation problem in mathematics,\u201d explained Ms Yu. Players use geometry and physics to calculate the angles and force from which to hit and deflect, while probability factors into the shots they choose. \u201cYou have to think several steps ahead and be able to visualise your shots\u2014but you also have to be accurate in your execution.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Pool also provided an avenue for Ms Yu to become more confident and decisive. \u201cWhen there is a shot clock in the game, I have to make a decision within a few seconds and commit fully to it. That has benefited me in other aspects of my life.\u201d<\/p>

After achieving success within NUS and at smaller tournaments, Ms Yu began competing at the national level, finding she had more time for the sport following her university graduation. These days, Ms Yu practices her skills in pool halls approximately five times a week, doing drills, and picking up advice from fellow players. During the day, she works full-time as a risk modelling analyst at Maybank, running regression models to predict loan default rates.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Yu Anran taking her graduation photo at NUS Business School\u2019s photo wall at NUS Commencement in July 2022. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The balance between the two worlds is one she cherishes.<\/p>

\u201cI genuinely enjoy my work and I am fortunate that I get to do two of my favourite things in life,\u201d she explained. \u201cPlaying pool is a break from my work, but I\u2019m a better and more focused pool player because I know my free time is limited. I also don\u2019t have the pressure of relying on the sport for my livelihood.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>

And yet, the NUS alumna is beginning to win more prize money as her game progresses. Last year, she made it to the finals of the women\u2019s National 9 Ball Championship before losing to the top seed in Singapore. Victory came in 2024 when she took on\u2014and defeated\u2014the same opponent in the semi-finals of the women\u2019s National 10 Ball Championship. She went on to win the tournament, propelling her to the No. 3 seed in the country.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Yu Anran receiving the women\u2019s national 10 Ball champion trophy in April 2024.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Ms Yu now hopes to represent Singapore on an international level, possibly competing at the South East Asian (SEA) Games or world championships. At the same time, she hopes to challenge the dominance of men in the sport, joining open tournaments that enable her to compete head-to-head with them on equal ground.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cI would estimate that 90 per cent of pool players are men, and you can see the gender disparity at all levels of play,\u201d said Ms Yu. But she noted that the pool scene in Singapore is beginning to thrive, fuelled by increasing government encouragement of the game and the fact that Singapore has already produced a world junior champion \u2013 Aloysius Yapp. \u201cThere are not a lot of sports in Singapore where we have world-class athletes. But pool has the potential, and I always tell women we can achieve the same success.\u201d<\/p>

Ultimately, her advice to young adults is to find their own passion in life. \u201cWhether you find joy in your work or your hobbies\u2014commit to what you enjoy doing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Tips for Beginners<\/b><\/p>

1. Focus on your potting skills, including manipulation of the ball path and cue strength. Once you can control your pots, you can control the board.\u00a0<\/p>

2. Learn game strategy. Pool is like chess: you need to be able to visualise how potential scenarios will play out and adjust your offensive\/ defensive game accordingly.\u00a0<\/p>

3. Stay active. Improving your game is not just about time at the pool table, but your overall physical health. Having a healthy body is key to everything.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Photos courtesy of Yu Anran<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a sport traditionally dominated by men, NUS alumna Yu Anran is challenging stereotypes and racking up wins. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3207"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3541,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3207\/revisions\/3541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}