Last weekend saw the most exciting weekend of Irish Snooker & Billiards when the Republic of Ireland Billiards & Snooker Association (RIBSA) held their National Championship Finals weekend featuring 15 National Championships in the different age groups and genders in Snooker and Billiards.
The 2019 Championship Weekend was held in the Ivy Rooms Snooker Club in Carlow from Friday the 10th to Sunday the 23th of May, with free admission.
Former Professional players Davy Morris and Josh Boileau contested the high quality Senior Final. One junior player Aaron Hill was the only player to win more than one title when he won the Under 18 and Under 21 Titles.
AGM
RIBSA also held their annual AGM and all members had a chance to voice their opinions and ideas, RIBSA encouraged as many members to attend the AGM.
A new committee was elected on the day and many ideas on how to improve the game were discussed and a new President and Treasurer was elected with Jim Leacy and Shane Mason.
Live Streaming
This year again had professional live streaming on four tables with all the matches having a referee but unfortunately due to the large numbers viewing the server crashed on the Sunday but the rest of the matches are on the ribsa YouTube channel for everyone to watch.
Senior Championships
This new Senior Champion is Davy Morris from Kilkenny Shed SC after his 7 frames to 3 victory over Josh Boileau from Newbridge CYMS .This is Davy’s fourth title which puts him level with Martin McCrudden with record wins of senior titles in the modern era of Irish Snooker.
The Championship Last 16 was played on Friday 11th of May at 5pm and 7pm. The Q-Finals were played on Saturday 12th at 10am. The Semi Final was played at 6pm and the Final was played on Sunday the 13th of May at 10am and 2.30pm.
Intermediate Championship
This year’s Intermediate Snooker Champion is young 14 year old Ryan McGuirk from the R&R SC after he beat Number 1 seed James Fennessy from Edenderry SC 4 frames to 3 to claim the title.
Ladies Championship
Two Ladies Championships were played and the Senior Champion is 16 times Champion Michelle Sherwin from Q’s SC after she beat Ronda Sheldrick from Celbridge SC 4-0 and the Intermediate Champion again was Leah Brady from Q’s SC after she won 3-0 against Heather Cullen from Q’s SC.
Masters Championship
The Final of the Masters Championship with Michael Judge from Q Club Wicklow and Rodney Goggins from Liam Mellows SC was the last final to finish as Michael had a 4-1 lead only to see Goggins fight back to level at 4-4 only to see Judge win the decider to lift the title 5-4.
150 Up Billiard Championships
Wayne Doyle from Dublin won the senior 150up final beating Aidan Murray from Wicklow 4 games to 1 and John Kehoe from Wexford won the Intermediate 150up final beating James Bateman from Kilkenny Shed 4 games to 1.
Long Format Billiards Championships
Aidan Murray from Wicklow won the Senior Billiards long up format title beating Wayne Doyle from Dublin 690- 553 and in the Intermediate final Lloyd Myers from Cork beat Jason Dowling feom Rathkeale in a very close match 500 – 352
The Under Age Snooker Finals
RIBSA held six underage finals we held throughout the weekend and the quality of snooker and skills was unbelievable from our young stars of the game.
- Under 12 Final – Jack O Brien from Rathkeale SC beat David Farrelly from Celbridge SC 3 frames to 1
- Under 14 Final – Aaron Smith from Potters SC beat Leone Crowley from Cork 3 frames to 2
- Under 16 Final – Leone Crowley from Cork beat Jack Newman from Fermoy SC 4 frames to 2
- Under 18 Final – Aaron Hill from Crucible SC beat Leone Crowley from Cork 4 frames to 0
- Under 19 Final – Ross Bulman from Youghal CYMS beat Aaron Hill from Crucible SC 4 frames to 2
- Under 21 Final –Aaron Hill from Crucible SC beat Mark Gleeson from Nenagh 4 frames to 0
Referee of the Year
RIBSRA Chairman Ger Murray presented the 2019 RIBSA Referee of the year award to Pat Mooney.
Congratulations
The Republic of Ireland Billiards & Snooker Association would like to congratulate all the Champions and to become a National Champion in any sport takes a lot of dedication so thank you to all the players, parents and clubs for their continued support.
Finally, well done to all the Referees, TD and the Ivy Rooms SC and staff for hosting another incredible Finals weekend. Full reports / results on www.ribsa.ie