Eugene Hughes from Carlow won the first Senior Billiards ranking event of the season in the Ivy Rooms S C in Carlow.
In the final he beat Wayne Doyle from Monkstown 378 – 299 in an exciting final.
Eugene beat along the way Joe Doheny, Victor O Gorman and Larry Drennan and Wayne beat Irish Number 1 Aidan Murray, Aonghus McNally to reach the final.
The first tournament of the Scratch Billiards series was played at the Ivy Rooms Snooker Club in Carlow on Sunday, 18th of September 2011. Eugene Hughes (Carlow), making a welcome return to the game, showed his domination of game at national level by taking the season’s first scratch tournament title.
In the top half of the draw, Brendan Devlin (Celbridge) and Aonghus McAnally (Portmarnock) claimed their places in the quarter finals with wins over Celbridge players Darren Ryan and Dara Martin respectively. Aonghus further progressed to the semi final first by building up a solid lead over Brendan in the quarter final and then resisting what looked like becoming an effective counter attack at the latter stages of the match. The other semi finalist in the top half of the draw was Wayne Doyle (Dun Laoghaire), who, with breaks of 86 and 50, had a surprise win over No 1 player in the rankings, Aidan Murray (Wicklow). In a close semi final, Wayne always maintained a slight upper hand, which he extended to 54 points when time was called.
In the bottom half of the draw, Larry Drennan (Kilkenny) and Eugene Hughes (Carlow) progressed to the semi final, Larry seeing off a rather off-form Robert McCrum (Celbridge), while Eugene, having had a good win in a high scoring pre quarter match with Joe Doheny (Borris-in-Ossory), had an equally impressive win in his quarter final against Dun Laoghaire veteran Victor O’Gorman. Eugene hit top form in the semi final, amassing breaks of 120, the highest of the day, and an emphatic 82, leaving Larry little chance to respond.
In the Final, there was little doubt in anyone’s mind with regard to the outcome. Wayne, playing in only his third season at the game was up against an ex-professional and vastly more experienced player in Eugene. The match however, proved very different. Wayne, who was just recently back from a successful Home Internationals performance, where he had a clean sweep result over both his English opponents, took an early lead, which Eugene struggled to overcome. The players matched each other score for score until at 275 each, Eugene eventually caught up. A timely break of 62, close to the end of the match, leaving Wayne with no time to respond, helped a relieved Eugene across the line.
Congratulations to Eugene on a fine win and congratulations to his opponent in the final, who came so close to upsetting the form book on the day. As consolation for his early exit from the first tournament of the season, last season’s No 1 ranked player, Aidan Murray had the satisfaction of winning the plate competition.
The next Scratch Billiards round of the season takes place at the Ivy Rooms, Carlow on Sunday, 16th October 2011. Entries will be accepted before 10.30am on the morning of the event.
We would like to thank Jim Leacy for the excellent facilities at The Ivy Rooms and Marian and staff for their help on the day.
Brendan Devlin
Full Results
SENIOR BILLIARDS {1}
18th September 2011
Quarter-Finals
Aidan Murray 253 v 327 Wayne Doyle
Brendan Devlin 267 v 326 Aonghus McAnally
Eugene Hughes 400 v 197 Victor O’Gorman
Robert McCrum 188 v 400 Larry Drennan
Semi-Finals
Wayne Doyle 302 v 248 Aonghus McAnally
Eugene Hughes 400 v 258 Larry Drennan
Final
Wayne Doyle 299 v 378 Eugene Hughes
