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European Qualifying Ranking Tournament 2008
FINAL -- WEDNESDAY 27th Feb '08 --7.30pm. Dermot McGlinchey V Brendan Whyte Best of (11) Frames Hosted for the second year by the proprietor Mr Colin Bingham in his affable Fountain Snooker Club,-Antrim, this event carries substantial prestige and is always considered of great interest to all the snooker fraternity. When we looked at the two names of the players participating in the final, one could have been forgiven if, they imagined they were going to watch the replica of a contest back in the late nineties or the year two thousand as both of these players in that era were constantly at the top of our national ranking lists and were then team mates on our International panels. The first two frames were shared and it was evident from early on that we were in for a tight challenge and hence a long evening. Frame three we witnessed some good potting by Dermot and he took that frame convincingly by making an admirable (71) break. Brendan took frame four and also frame five by the help of a (40) break to lead three frames till two at the interval. At the start of the second session Brendan won frame six, Dermot won frame seven, then with a break of (37) Brendan took frame eight to lead five frames till three. Most spectators believed then that we were nearing the end of the match, but Dermot had other thoughts as he rattled off the next three frames in a row. Frame nine with the help of a (35) break, although Brendan when on a (41) break in the tenth frame, missed a straight black off the spot which was possibly frame ball and match. That miss assuredly inspired Dermot, he clinched that frame and with a (41) break early on in the final frame the writing was on the wall for Brendan. Congratulations to Dermot, he stuck to the task on hand to win the N.I. European Qualifier 2008. A long Evening for our two Northern Ireland Chairman and Vice Chairman Referees Jim Stewart and Joe McGonnell. Jim on behalf of the National Association, thanked the Fountain club and all their staff for their help and hospitality. He also paid a special word of thanks on behalf of everyone to Mrs Vera Bingham (Colin's Mother) for providing a delightful supper.
JACKPOT INTERMEDIATE CLASSIC-JANUARY 2008 COLIN GAVIN WINS JACKPOT INTERMEDIATE
The Joint proprietor of the Fountain Snooker Club - Larne, Colin Gavin collected top honours at the Jackpot Snooker Complex on Wednesday evening 13th February '08 by his [ 5 -- 4] victory over the young Newry player Declan Brennan This was Colin's first major win in any of our NI Association tournaments, he has been knocking on the door many times but never able to make it over the line. The valuable points earned here should bring Colin into 4th place in our Intermediate points table. Declan who will just be 15 years old in March, put up a good fight throughout the game and as the 5-4 finishing score-line suggests it was seesaw all the way. Declan went into a 2 frame lead, Colin took the 3rd, Declan the 4th, Colin won frames 5 and 6 to level the scores at 3 all, the next 2 frames were shared so at 4 frames each the title was still up for grabs. In the final frame Colin kept his game tight with some good safety play which put Declan under deep pressure. Colin in the end showed some good potting skills and claimed victory by the one frame margin. Campbell Faulkner the newly appointed class 1 Referee was in charge of the game. Jim Stewart our Senior director thanked the Jackpot Club for the use of their fine facilities and the staff for all their hospitality.
Both Games played at the JACKPOT Club on Tuesday 12th Feb '08 finished with the same scoreline:- Two frames all at the interval Colin Gavin (Fountain, Larne) in his match with Colin Rafferty (Classic G/gormley) took the next three frames to secure his 5 -- 2 victory and a place in the final. In the other Semi - final Declan Brennan (Cue club, Newry) went into a four frame lead in his game with Michael Kane (Bridge club G/gormley Michael pulled two frames back after the interval but Declan tied the match up by winning the seventh frame for a 5 -- 2 victory.
Sunday 3rd February '08 - Day (1) at the Jackpot Classic Intermediate snooker tournament, (when the top half of the draw sheet is played down to the Semi-finals stage), saw many of the fancied talent disappear in the early rounds. In the quarter- finals Michael Kane (Bridge Club-Belfast) defeated Thomas Corry (Mitchell's Club - Cookstown) by 4 frames to nil, Michael recorded an 86 break in his game. Declan Brennan (Newry) also had a similar 4-- 0 victory over Michael McParland (Belfast) and the 1st Semi-final [ M Kane v D Brennan ] is scheduled for Tuesday 12th Feburary '08 at 7.30pm. On Sunday 10th February '08 at the Jackpot Snooker Complex in the Intermediate tournament, after the first two rounds all of the top ranked players were out and three new faces appeared in the quarter final line up, Tommy Simons from Maple Leaf club, Dylan Murray from Rafters club, and Colin Rafferty from the Classic club had all reached this stage of any of our events for their first time ever. the other player Colin Gavin joint proprietor of the Fountain club, Larne had made it through to the quarters on three previous occasions. The draw dictated the opponents and the encounter between Colin Gavin and Tommy Simons was a hard fought tussle, with the scores at 3 frames each the last frame became cat and mouse teasing before Colin emerged the 4 frames to 3 winner and book a place in which will be his 2nd semi-final this season. In the other game, young Dylan Murray (just turned 17 eight days ago) was up against a more experienced challenger in Colin Rafferty. Many good bouts of snooker were produced throughout the game but though Colin did mostly control the play, in the end the game was much closer than the 4 frames to 1 scoreline suggests. Colin has now made it through to his first semi-final, so the line up for both Semi-finals scheduled for Tuesday 12 Feb inst at 7.30pm is: Michael Kane V Declan Brennan and Colin Gavin V Colin Rafferty.
In the18th Year of the All Ireland Club Team Championship the title has been won by a Tipperary Club "New Institute" (January 2008)
The 2008 All Ireland Championships were held in the Gleneagles Hotel at Killarney from 25-27 January and 24 teams from all over Ireland participated. The various formats of Round Robins led to the quarter final stages and after a knock out round, came the semi-finals, where 3 teams from the Southern provinces and one team from the North were in competition. The Northern Team was Parkside from Lurgan against Roadstone "A" from Dublin and the second semi-final was Celbridge from Leinster against New Institute from Tipperary. Roadstone "A" eliminated Parkside and New Institute were victors over Celbridge. In the final, the teams drew level at 2 each and it was a ding-dong battle in the last frame before New Institute could be hailed as the All Ireland Champions 2008. Being a winner is a magnificent feat in any snooker competition, but the All Ireland Championships is a much coveted title that is sought by all of our Irish snooker clubs. Congratulations to New Institute and hope their journey back to Tipperary was not as long as the song!
RESULTS AT A GLANCE Quarter - finals
Semi-finals
FINAL
Fountain - Larne ....... Intermediate - Final. (January 2008) In a topsy-turvy final on Wednesday night (16th Jan '08) Gary Clarke prevailed 6-4 to win his first Northern Ireland senior competition in the Fountain Club Larne Intermediate. Gary's opponent Brendan Whyte had already tasted success in Intermediate competition this season winning the tournament in Cookstown late last year as so promised to be a formidable opponent. However, a Ballymena champion, Clarke wasted little time in showing he too can play the game in taking a 5-0 lead. Whyte then responded to pull back the next four frames to leave Clarke under pressure to get over the line. However, Gary showed great steel winning the next frame to close out the match. Neither player scored the prolific breaks they had in previous rounds and the highest break in the match was 63, which incidentally, both men made - Gary's in frame three and Brendan's in frame eight. The match was refereed by Jim Stewart and Joe McGonnell and our thanks go to them and the Referees Association. The NIB&SA wish to thank the Fountain Club, Larne and its proprietors, Colin Gavin and Ray Donnelly for the use of their premises and for their continued support of Snooker in Northern Ireland.
All Ireland Club Team Championships January 2008
GROUP (1) - Q.E. 1, Ballina, New Vic, D.A.B.A.C GROUP (2) - "Q" Club Wicklow, Roadstone "A", West Club, Cue Club KILLARNEY GROUP (3) - Parkside, New Institute, Tuam, Roadstone "B" GROUP (4) - Brooklodge, Kilkenny S C, St Patricks, Spawell "B" GROUP (5) - Waterford, Celbridge, Cyms, Keady GROUP (6) - Spawell "A", Minnesota, The Crucible, Newbridge
The Top two teams from each of the six groups will progress, into four groups of three. Then the top two teams progress into the last eight. The two runners up teams in the first Round Robin Matches progress into the All Ireland Plate Competition. Mr Patrick O'Donoghue
of the Gleneagle Hotel, Killarney has again extended a warm welcome to the
Players, Officials and their Guests to the All Ireland Club Team Snooker
Championships during the weekend 25th - 27th January 2008. The Championship
now entering its 18th year, is long heralded Each season (24) Club
teams from the 5 regions of Ireland: Connaught, Dublin Leagues, Leinster,
Munster and Northern Ireland descend on the Gleneagle Hotel after having gone
Over the previous 17 Years our Northern Ireland Club teams have had admirable success winning the esteemed All Ireland title (12) times:- Parkside-Lurgan(6), QE1-Belfast (2), Kennedy Way-Belfast (1), Riverside-Antrim (1), Mac's-Keady (1), and Minnesota-Ballymena (1). Back in 1991 the inaugural year of the Championship, one of our now renowned northern professional players JOE SWAIL, then a budding amateur, captained the talented victorious Kennedy Way Team. Our best wishes go to the organising committee for another memorable and successful All Ireland Club Team Championships. Rafters invitation to Mark (November 2007) A large enthusiastic audience enjoyed a display of superior snooker at the exhibition staged in Rafters Snooker Club -- Ballymoney on Wednesday 21st November ’07 by young Mark Allen. The Northern Ireland WSA professional (now provisionally 24 in the World Ranking) responded to the challenges from a selection of Rafters most talented young players. Chris Cunningham, Dylan Murray, Billy Modie, Richard Clyde and Ryan Murphy, against these mostly junior players, Mark won all games compiling breaks of : 56, 60, 89 and118, although some of the frames were close encounters as the Rafters young stars showed their snooker potting ability. Sean Gray the most accomplished Rafters player then went head to head with Mark, on the best of a (5) frame match. This turned out to be the highlight of the evening with superb snooker by each player, showing both splendid potting skills and excellent safety play. Sean won the 1st frame and then recorded a magnificent (105) break to secure the 2nd frame, Mark then proved the true professional he is, in coming back from a two nil deficit to take the 3rd frame with a (60) break. Again Mark recorded breaks of (42) and (44) to take the 4th and 5th frames which gave him a very closely contested victory, Sean was unfortunate to lose this match. The proprietors of the Rafters club Mr Richard and Uel Wylie were delighted that the spectators and their members were treated to a brilliant exhibition of high class snooker. They thanked Mark for giving up his valuable time to entertain everyone at Rafters, they also wished him every success with his future career. INTERMEDIATE NUMBER (1) ~~~ October 2007 A good entry of 84 players in our 1st competition of the season is encouraging to the tournament committee. The points system introduced into our Intermediate competitions would appear to be arousing interest amongst many of semi retired players and giving them a new approach to our competitions. It will be interesting as the season unfolds to see the names that will appear in the top 10 of our points table. In the 1st of our seven Intermediate competitions, Brian Crilly from the Crucible club - Newtownards, at the Fountain Snooker Club Antrim demonstrated his fighting spirit as he reached the final frame. Enduring an agonising sliding lead he held his nerve by taking the Pink and Black in 11th frame to defeat David McClintock from the Minnesota club - Ballymena "six frames to five. INTERMEDIATE NUMBER (2) ~~~ November 2007 The intermediate tournaments are again this year proving to be a great success as represented by the large turnout of participants. These tournaments are producing some excellent snooker from players who, in the past, seemed to be always in the background and with this new platform allowing them to show their skills, we are bringing to the fore some talented players. David McClintock from Ballymena and Sean Hoey from Newcastle entertained a good crowd in the 10 frames at the Drumgor Club on Thursday 18 October 2007 where David emerged the proud winner by winning 6 frames to 4. For our points table click here to see the Intermediate ranking page
Mid Antrim Championship ~~~ October 2007. Hallowe'en night at the Mid Antrim Championship final in the Minnesota Club Rooms - Ballymena proved to be frightening and at the closing stages even scary for both players Jordan Brown from Fountain Antrim and Kieran McMahon from Cue Club Newry. This was a game that had all the various faculties contained in any snooker match, some poor snooker in the early stages, some brilliant snooker in the second half, some well taken breaks and many very good bouts of safety, in all a very good game. Jordan went 5 frames to nil up at the start and Kieran then rattled of 5 winning frames in a counter attack to level after 10. Jordan got the eleventh and Kieran took the twelfth. It was now all down to the final and 13th frame to determine the new Mid Antrim Champion. By this time after (4 hours) both players were showing signs of nerves and it was a relieved Jordan who secured the final frame and match to collect the top prize. Green Baize Snooker CLUB Innovation MINI Ranking Event (June 2007)
The Green Baize snooker club 28 Markethill Road, Edenvey’s - Armagh is fast becoming one of the most popular leading venues in the South West of the province. The proprietor Mr Jim Hawthorne and his son David have for many years ran the club as a friendly family enterprise. After already hosting Northern Irelands most prodigious snooker tournament in May of this year, the “Northern Ireland Championship”, they undertook to hold another new style event in November, “a Mini Ranking event”. This new type of ranking tournament is an innovation by the Northern Ireland Billiards and Snooker Association introduced this year into their senior snooker calendar and has proved by the large entry of 93 players from all over the Northern Ireland to be a resounding success. The tournament operating a new ranking points system and boosting a prize fund touching on £900.00, attracted all the top ranked players and set the scene for some high standard snooker. Right from the early rounds the Green Baize spectators and members were entertained to some skilful snooker, both by players showing good potting ability as well as proficient safety play. The proprietor was delighted, that, throughout the tournament a magnificent number of 25 over (50) breaks were accomplished and the eventual winner himself recorded breaks of: (104), (133) & (136). Interest was also kept high by some of the shocks as many of the crack dominant players were eliminated by their younger up and coming talented opponents. This then provided an opportunity for players, who, for a long time have not appeared at the semi-final stages :- Julian Logue - QE1 came through to play Declan Hughes – Drumgor. & Sean Gray – Rafters won through to compete against Clifford Carson – QE1. The semis: were played on Tuesday 4th December ’07. (Best of 9 Frames) Declan Hughes had a convincing (5) frames to (1) victory over Julian Logue and Sean Gray with a similar score had an impressive win over Clifford Carson. The final: (Best of 11 frames) Declan Hughes v Sean Gray was played on Thursday 6th December ’07 and this turned out to be a super nights’ snooker. Both players were in top form, Sean won the 1st frame, Declan the 2nd & 3rd, Sean took the 4th, Declan got the 5th which gave him a slender 3 – 2 lead at the interval. When the players returned after the short break, Sean rattled off 3 winning frames in a row to give him a 5 -3 commanding lead and what looked like the match being virtually over. Declan however, had other ideas and counter-attacked with a break of (68) in the 9th frame and a splendid (99) break in the 10th to level the match at 5 frames all. Sean opened the scoring in the final frame and while on a break of (26) after potting a red, missed a straightforward black, this gave Declan the opportunity to step in and clinch the frame and match by (6) frames to (5) Mr Jim Hawthorne made the presentations and thanked the Referees & Officials for the sterling work they had carried out all through the tournament. He then congratulated both players on what he said was “A MAGNIFICENT MATCH" of which both players should be proud and a match were there was no loser.
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