Cued for success: NUS alumna named national pool champion

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. 

For someone who studied quantitative finance and statistics, the game holds particular appeal. “Pool is like solving an optimisation problem in mathematics,” 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. “You have to think several steps ahead and be able to visualise your shots—but you also have to be accurate in your execution.”  

Pool also provided an avenue for Ms Yu to become more confident and decisive. “When 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.”

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. 

The balance between the two worlds is one she cherishes.

“I genuinely enjoy my work and I am fortunate that I get to do two of my favourite things in life,” she explained. “Playing pool is a break from my work, but I’m a better and more focused pool player because I know my free time is limited. I also don’t have the pressure of relying on the sport for my livelihood.”   

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’s National 9 Ball Championship before losing to the top seed in Singapore. Victory came in 2024 when she took on—and defeated—the same opponent in the semi-finals of the women’s National 10 Ball Championship. She went on to win the tournament, propelling her to the No. 3 seed in the country.   

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.    

“I would estimate that 90 per cent of pool players are men, and you can see the gender disparity at all levels of play,” 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 – Aloysius Yapp. “There 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.”

Ultimately, her advice to young adults is to find their own passion in life. “Whether you find joy in your work or your hobbies—commit to what you enjoy doing.”   

Text by Katherine Chinn. Photos courtesy of Yu Anran.