Tuesday, 16 February 2016 / Published in Billiards

Murray Wins Senior Billiards Event 5

The fifth tournament of the Senior Billiards series was played at The Ivy Rooms Snooker Club, Carlow on Sunday, 14th of February 2016, the format being 400up with a 90 minute time limit. Aidan Murray (Ivy Rooms)having had a very successful opening to his season, made up for his semi final defeat in the last event not only by winning the fifth tournament of the season, which he did in emphatic style, but also regaining the No 1 spot in the current season’s rankings.

Early round eliminations were Aonghus McAnally (Portmarnock)and Larry Drennan (Ivy Rooms), bowing out at the hands of current National Champion Wayne Doyle (Q Club Wicklow) and Lloyd Myers (Cork) respectively.

The semi finalists in the top half of the draw were Wayne Doyle and Joe Doheny (Borris-in-Ossory), Wayne taking a very tight, nervy and edgy quarter final against Lloyd Myers while Joe had a relatively unchallenged quarter final win over Robert McCrum (Portmarnock). In the semi final, Wayne, recovering from his close quarter final encounter, hit winning form at the right time, scoring more freely than Joe when at the table, claiming his place in the final and scoring breaks of 98 and 65 in the process.

The semi finalists in the bottom half of the draw were John Kehoe (Enniscorthy) and Aidan Murray (Ivy Rooms), John having had a solid win in his quarter final match against Brendan Devlin (Celbridge) while Aidan, scoring the better of the two, took a good quarter final win against Rodney Goggins (Wexford). In the semi final Aidan, who was scoring more heavily and more consistently than John, took a well deserved semi final win by approximately double scores.

In the final, Wayne was first to show, putting in an early break of 66. In his next visit, Aidan immediately responded with a break of 130. Undaunted, Wayne’s next visit almost closed the gap thanks to a 50 plus break. Aidan’s response was to restore his advantage with a 50 plus break of his own. From this point, scores were shared until, with less than 15 minutes left on the clock, Wayne got in with a good scoring chance but, perhaps feeling the pressure of having made little progress against the deficit so far, he missed a simple spot red pot. In his next visit, Aidan playing a cannon, although unluckily losing the white in the process, then played fifteen hazards off the red, finishing his 49 break with a double baulk. Now more than 100 points behind and with time running out, Wayne had no answer, leaving Aidan to take a well earned win on the day.

The next Senior Billiards round of the season takes place at Celbridge Snooker Club on Sunday, 6th March 2016. The format will be seeded draw 90 minute timed. Entries will be accepted before 10.30am on the morning of the event.

As always, our thanks are due to Marian Leacy for the excellent playing facilities and to all at the Ivy Rooms Snooker Club for their help on the day.