The annual Billiards International North-South Challenge Tournament took place at Celbridge Snooker Club, on Saturday and Sunday, 21st and 22nd April 2018.  The format of the event was that each team of eight was divided into two groups of four, so that each player met four opponents from his corresponding group, with the consequence that all benefited from the variety of games the format provided.

Play started at 10.30am on Saturday morning, the first two sessions being shared.  In the third session, in which the first 150up games were played, the Southern side edged ahead to take a 2 point lead.  In the fourth session, which wrapped up Saturday’s play, the Southern team forged further ahead to establish a useful, but by no means unassailable overnight lead of 19-13.

Play resumed at 10.00am on Sunday morning.  After two sessions, the Southern side had increased their lead to 10 points, meaning that the Northern team would need at least 13 of the remaining 16 available points to retain the title.  As the 150s results from the final two sessions were coming in, the deficit was reducing all the time, at one point down to a single point difference. In the end however, the Southern team clung on to win in one of the most nail-biting finishes the tournament has ever produced.

 Tournament results:

Our thanks are due to Celbridge Snooker Club for the excellent playing facilities they provided and for the welcome they extended to the players, all of which did so much to contribute to the success of the event.

Congratulations to the Southern team on a well deserved victory and commiserations to the North whose play, particularly in the closing stages, produced such an exciting conclusion to a wonderful weekend of billiards.

Full results are available on the following Google Drive link:

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/15gZjQ5HKh8fbqueIIwafRnvMaTJKOZ84/view?usp=sharing

Report by Brendan Devlin