Amateur
Wednesday, 06 January 2010 07:01
Written by Ned Kelly

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Beat, drink and be merry…
Getting competitive in the comfort of the pub

So you’ve been happier than a pig in swill, over-indulging on an epic scale for the last month, but now everywhere you turn lame-o losers keep telling you it’s time to clean up your act, right? Wrong! January is positively the worst month to get sporty in Shanghai – it’s brass monkey weather out there and raining cats and dogs. But it’s warm and dry in the boozer, plus they positively encourage you to wet your whistle. What’s more, they have their own olympiad of competitive pursuits with which to satisfy your sporting instincts. So crack open a brew, take a nice long drag on that fag and keep reading…

Darts
Fancy yourself on the oche? There are 30 teams in the darts league, divided into three divisions based on skill level. Teams play at 8pm every Tuesday night against other bars, alternating between home and away ties, and there are two five-month seasons a year, with tournaments organized in the off-months. Darts ain’t darts without a pint or 10, and the league requires players  to receive RMB25 draft beers as well as free finger food during the game. Teams and individuals with top honors receive trophies at the end of the season for achievement.

Starts: January 5
Get involved: Contact the captain of a team. All their details can be found on www.shanghaidarts.com

Pool
We’re not sure if it registered on your Richter scale, but Ding Junhui just claimed his second UK Masters snooker title and landed himself his own body weight in pies in the process. Seriously, if there’s a better incentive to get good at a pub sport, we can’t think of it. Consider it your ‘cue’ to get involved in the Shanghai 8Ball Pool League. Last season had 24 teams playing in four divisions, and you can expect more of the same this year. Get your big break at 8pm on Thursday nights.

Starts: January 14
Get involved: Contact the captain of a team. All their details can be found on www.southside8ball.leaguerepublic.com

Beer Pong
Beer pong!? Never heard of it… Six cups of beer are arranged in a triangle at either end of a table. Teams of two then attempt to ‘arc,’ ‘fastball’ or ‘bounce’ a ping pong ball into one of the opposing team's cups. For every ball sunk, a cup of beer is consumed by the opposing team. The team that are forced into drinking all of their beer first loses. I Love Shanghai is the mecca for this frat-boy favorite, with their Thursday Beer Pong Playas night. Things get pinging at 9pm and RMB50 will purchase the challenging pair a pitcher of beer to fill the 12 competition cups. The winning team stays on the court for free until beaten. The team with the most victories at 2am wins two bottles of Russian ICE vodka and two Special Olympics gold medals. Windows Scoreboard have also been known to host such events, but a league is yet to have been formed as the main ‘playas’ have been unable to agree on an official rule schedule.

Starts: 9pm every Thursday. So whenever you’re ready, squire.
Get involved: Grab a partner and head to ILS or Scoreboard

Table football
Or foosball, as it is refered to by the initiated, and initiated the Shanghai scene certainly is; we’ve seen these guys turn up at the table with WD40 with which to grease the player-poles. Some people might suggest that was taking it a little too seriously, we couldn’t possibly comment… But serious they undoubtedly are – organizer Fred Gower is the coach of the unofficial Chinese national team. You can find him and the big action in the Big Bamboo in Jing’an every Friday night, while players also come together in A Hard Day’s Night on a Thursday and at the Big Bamboo in Jinqiao on a Tuesday. It gets pretty competitive in The Beaver over the weekend too. The foosball website below also lists all locations that house a table, and there’s even a World Cup coming up in 2010. Get warming up those wrists!

Starts: Every Friday at 7.30pm in the Big Bamboo on Nanyang Lu. And 7.30pm in the Big Bamboo in Jinqiao on Tuesday and A Hard Day’s Night in Jinqiao on Thursday, and The Beaver over the weekend.
Get involved: Fred Gower is your god… www.shanghaifoosball.com

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