{"id":555,"date":"2026-03-24T06:16:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T06:16:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/schima\/?p=555"},"modified":"2026-03-30T10:11:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T09:11:14","slug":"disability-eight-ball-two-players-journeys-to-ultimate-pool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/schima\/2026\/03\/24\/disability-eight-ball-two-players-journeys-to-ultimate-pool\/","title":{"rendered":"Disability Eight Ball"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Featured image: photo by Asya Alekseeva<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professional pool players, and disability rights advocates James Punch and Mohamed Aslam Abubaker, are preparing for the Ultimate Pool Disability Pool Series tournament, this April. Here, they share their journey in disability pool and their efforts to raise awareness about disability in sport<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people associate pool with beer, pubs and casual games while having a laugh. For James and Aslam though, pool is what supported them through every step of the way. It gave them the medium and the voice to become the advocates they wished to be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

James, 40, was diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s 10 years ago, but his love for pool began long before that. He first started playing pool at just four-years-old, thanks to his dad taking him to the pub on weekends. \u201cHe used to drag me along with him and leave me in the back room with the other kids, where there was a pool table,\u201d he says. \u201cNone of us knew what we were doing, we just hit the ball around.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a stranger at the pub, Scott, who taught him how to hold a cue and play properly. As he took it more seriously, Scott became his supporter and friend, alongside his dad. They were, \u201cgood level pub players,” James says. \u201cThey supported me through coaching, playing me a lot, empowerment and motivation.\u201d Plus, he played endless pool matches with his friends and sister, Alex, which helped him to become the professional player he is now. Eventually, in sixth form, he got a pool table at home where he played against his sister for hours: \u201cI got really good when I was a teenager,\u201d he says. \u201cMe and my sister competed around the country and won quite a lot of competitions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When James turned 22, he was forced to take a long break from pool because he got septicemia, a life-threatening blood infection. \u201cI couldn’t do anything at all. Couldn’t hold a cue, couldn’t stand properly, couldn’t focus or see straight, I didn\u2019t socialise or go out for years,\u201d James says. \u201cI definitely thought it was the end of everything to be honest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James didn\u2019t completely quit sports though; he was still pretty active and even did a bit of kickboxing in these years. Drawing from his own experience, he was inspired to provide help for people with disabilities. \u201cEven though I wasn\u2019t competing and playing pool properly, I was teaching it,\u201d he says, \u201cI was teaching pool at college and I managed to help a lot of disabled people get into pool and play there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, just 10 years on, aged 31, James discovered he had Parkinson\u2019s, a progressive neurological condition affecting movement. \u201cI believe it was a result from the septicemia, and also from my kickboxing, and unfortunately, getting hit too many times in the head,\u201d he says. It wasn\u2019t until James moved to Leicestershire, that he slowly got back to playing pool at the social club near his house, which is where he met Aslam at Club 147, the snooker and pool venue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aslam, 60, a wheelchair user, was diagnosed with polio, a highly infectious viral disease, when he was six-months-old. Aged seven, he began practicing on his school\u2019s pool table every week. As his passion for the sport grew, he started taking coaching classes every Wednesday, after school, at the Willie Thorne snooker centre and by 18, he was so skilled he was competing in able-bodied tournaments too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnfortunately, wheelchair national snooker championships were terminated because many players dropped out due to health issues,\u201d says Aslam. \u201cI won a few wheelchair tournaments across the UK, in the national championship, but as the years went on, they stopped the wheelchair snooker. So, I carried on playing eight ball [pool].\u201d Despite snooker being his first love, Aslam quickly mastered the pool table and won the Eight Ball World Championship four times, first in 2013 and then also in 2016, 2017 and 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aslam didn\u2019t stop at being a professional pool player. He also used his skill to make sure disability tournaments stayed running even during times when nothing was organised. Besides his work at Club 147 as tournament organiser, he became a disability tournament organiser as part of The English Pool Association (EPA), about five years ago. Through this role he started the Ultimate Pool Disability Series tournament two years ago. \u201cWhen I saw Ultimate Pool on TV, that\u2019s when I clicked and said, you know what, let\u2019s get disability on Ultimate Pool,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Aslam AbuBaker with Roy Kimberly, Gary Walker and Dave Beaumont. Photo by Joe Mcneil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The 2026 tournament, due to be held in April, is the second disability pool tournament since Aslam started it. However, since Aslam is also competing this year, he has stepped down as an organiser for this tournament, so he can give his focus to the game. \u201cMy biggest aim was to plan it and let the organisation take over, rather than be running it,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Aslam and James have enjoyed great success playing disability pool with both winning a plate tournament at Ultimate Pool last year. James was the Disability Series Plate winner and Aslam won at the Three Man Team Plate tournament with his teammates, Dave Beaumont and Roy Kimberley, where they competed against able-bodied players. Aslam really enjoys playing able-bodied players. \u201cThey don\u2019t treat me as disabled person,\u201d he says. \u201cThey know how good of a player I am, so they take me really seriously. It\u2019s big challenge, and I test myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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James Punch at the 2025 Disability Series Plate tournament. Photo by Simon Powner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cost is a significant aspect in a pool player\u2019s journey, especially for players with disabilities because tournament expenses, like travel and accommodation, are on the players, and those with a disability may have extra costs such as bringing a carer. \u201cA lot of people struggled with sponsorship because they don\u2019t work, so they rely a lot on sponsorship,\u201d says James. \u201cPool is not known much for the big sponsors, so they really struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another potential barrier for disability players is access, explains Aslam. \u201cAccess is one of the biggest issues,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen I did an event in Mansfield, I had to do a risk assessment, to find out about disabled toilet, parking, moving areas, food, the tables, how close the tables are, where people can move around.\u201d In a disability tournament, the main priority is the player\u2019s comfort, which able-bodied tournaments don\u2019t always consider, especially when it comes to time frames. Some disability players will need to rest, go to the toilet or take a medication at a certain time, so Aslam ensures the typical time frames that are strictly adhered to in able-bodied tournaments are completely removed from the disability tournament, providing more equity and fairness for the players.\u201cYou don\u2019t want to penalise people for their disability,\u201d says James.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThey know how good of a player I am, so they take me really seriously. It\u2019s a big challenge and I test myself\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Both Aslam and James emphasise that being vocal when it comes to raising awareness is essential, because information about disability needs and difficulties isn\u2019t as known as it should be. However, they both praise Ultimate Pool for being very adaptive and responsive to all of their requests. \u201cThey\u2019ve provided a disability area, so we actually have places to sit and we don\u2019t have to travel far for tables,\u201d says James. \u201cThey\u2019ve listened to everything [we\u2019ve said].\u201d Ultimate Pool has also moved all events to the bottom floor of the building to further increase accessibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite James\u2019s strong passion for playing pool, he views himself as an advocate and a representative of the disability community when competing rather than a competitor. \u201cI want to see myself as a representative, an advocate, and somebody who people can look at and go, if he can do it, then I can do it,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd hopefully what I do empowers somebody else, even if it\u2019s just one person, if it empowers somebody to get out and have a go, that\u2019s what it means to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aslam, however, enjoys being a competitor while also supporting and fighting for disability rights. He perceives himself as equally both. This specific upcoming tournament means a lot to both Aslam and James. \u201cThe Ultimate Pool Disability Series is incredibly important because of how big Ultimate Pool is,\u201d says James. \u201cIt encourages that development, and it means that other people with disabilities are going to be included; that people are going to feel confident in getting involved.\u201d James and Aslam both hope the tournament will contribute to better well-being and more opportunity for an active lifestyle for those taking part too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both James and Aslam hope the tournament will raise awareness of disability in large organisations, but will also motivate other disability players to play the sport. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of players out there, especially disabled players, who feel that they can\u2019t play because they can\u2019t compete at that level,\u201d says James. \u201cJoin play, learn, enjoy it. We\u2019re all friendly, you won\u2019t be disappointed. We\u2019re here to help you.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Professional pool players, and disability rights advocates James Punch and Mohamed Aslam Abubaker, are preparing for the Ultimate Pool Disability Pool Series tournament, this April. Here, they share their journey in disability pool and their efforts to raise awareness about disability in sport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":606,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/schima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/schima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/schima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/schima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/270"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/schima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/schima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1017,"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/schima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555\/revisions\/1017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/schima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/schima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/schima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/schima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}