GREG Casey is the 2015 ‘Cork Close Individual Snooker Champion’ making it two victories in three years as he played brilliant snooker to win the shield back at Shooters snooker club in Blackpool last Saturday evening.
The event started at 10am with the very best ‘Rebel Cue-men’ on the premises for what was a great day of snooker. The tournament was won last year by the Crucible snooker club player David Cassidy and Casey himself lifted the coveted prize in 2013 and as if to justify the dominance of Cork snooker by the North Side club, this year’s final was an all crucible affair between Casey and the talented 16 year old Shane Hourihan.
The final was a demonstration of great potting and clever safety play for Egypt bound Greg Casey who knocked in a 110 high break in the opening frame with a near miss on the pink which could have set him up for a possible 123.
The second frame was very close up until the colours as Casey left his young club mate needing two snookers on the pink and to his credit Hourihan landed one and was very unlucky not to get a second snooker only for Casey to eventually double the pink into the middle pocket.
Casey wrapped the third frame up with five colours still left on the table to secure his second ‘Cork Close’ title. Casey is now level with the AOH’s Gary Bracken on two wins in this the ‘A’ version of the ‘Cork Close’ which is a great achievement.
Casey told East Cork Journal Obviously I am delighted to win and the tables were superb and I want to congratulate Shane (Hourihan) for getting to the final because the best that Cork snooker has to offer were here today and to knock out the holder David Cassidy in the semi-final was a great achievement. The event itself is run very well by the CBSA committee and they are vitally important to all of Cork snooker and I would like to thank John Paul Crowley and everyone at shooters for hosting the event and I wish them luck with the upcoming Cork under 19 championship”.
Indeed the Cork under 19 championships will be held in ‘Shooters Snooker Club’ this coming Saturday and play gets underway at 10am and the large entry expected will be greeted into a fantastic snooker club with brilliant facilities and ten top class championship tables at their disposal.
Owner of Shooters is John Paul Crowley who said “It was great to get the ‘Cork Close’ played here at Shooters today and we are always investing in our facilities. We work closely with the players to ensure they are getting the best possible experience and we have invested thousands of Euro to bring the club up to the very highest standards and just a couple of weeks ago we put new cloths on our tables and they are running brilliantly and the players seem very happy with them”.
This Saturday will be the second top tournament on the ‘Cork Billiards and Snooker Association’ (CBSA) calendar and the Chairman of the CBSA Ivan Glavin was at the event all day and is excited about the 2015/16 season he said “Today was great, we had one or two no-shows, but overall it was a great occasion and I am looking forward to this Saturday’s under 19 championships, because there is a hell of a lot of great young talent in Cork and this will be their day to shine. We want to thank Shooters and John Paul Crowley for hosting both events”.
CBSA Cork Close Snooker Championship Results
Last 16
David Cassidy (Crucible) bt Gary Bracken (AOH)
Shane Hourihan (Crucible bt Ross Bulman (Youghal CYMS)
Ger Kelly (Youghal CYMS) bt Alan O’Connor
Arron Hill bt Dion Burns (Shooters)
Greg Casey (Crucible) bt Connor Kennedy (Youghal CYMS)
Christopher Cooney (Youghal CYMS) bt Jamie Walsh
Shane O’Mahony (AOH) bt Sean Walsh
Aaron Tobin (Youghal CYMS) W/O
Quarter Final
David Cassidy bt Aaron Tobin
Shane Hourihan bt Ger Kelly
Greg Casey bt Aaron Hill
Shane O’Mahony by Christopher Cooney
Semi Final
Shane Hourihan bt David Cassidy (3-1)
Greg Casey bt Shane O’Mahony (3-2)
Final
Greg Casey bt Shane Hourihan (3-0)
DOMESTICALLY the Crucible ‘A’ and Youghal CYMS ‘A’ sides are off to the perfect start with two wins home and away, but there is still a long way to go in the CBSA Cork snooker league.
Division two is also off to a flier with both sections going well, with the Ebony and Youghal CYMS ‘C’ sides dominating early on with a perfect three wins from three and a seven point gap already after just three rounds of matches.
In the other section of division two the AOH ‘B’ and Douglas ‘A’ sides are leading the way and it looks likely that the Ebony, Youghal CYMS ‘C’, Douglas ‘A’ and the Ebony ‘A’ sides will be pushing for promotion.
CBSA Cork Snooker League Div 1 (Following Week 3)
P W L Pts
Crucible SC 2 2 0 5
Youghal CYMS A 2 2 0 5
AOH A 0 0 0 0
Youghal CYMS B 2 0 2 0
Shooters A 2 0 2 0
CBSA Cork Snooker League Div 2A
P W L Pts
Ebony SC 3 2 0 7
Youghal CYMS C 3 2 0 7
Crucible B 1 0 0 0
Shooters C 2 0 2 0
Douglas C 2 0 2 0
CBSA Cork Snooker League Div 2B
P W L Pts
AOH ‘B’ 3 3 0 7
Douglas ‘A’ 2 2 0 5
Shooters B 2 1 1 2
Douglas ‘B’ 3 1 3 2
Ebony B 1 0 1 0
Crucible ‘C’ 3 0 3 0
Two points awarded for a home win and three points awarded for an away win, there are no draws in this league and there are bye weeks in Division one and Division 2A.
CBSA Week four fixtures:
Div 1
Thursday 15th of October: The AOH ‘A’ v Youghal CYMS ‘B’ Morrison’s Island 8pm.
Youghal CYMS ‘A’ v Shooters at the Market House at 8pm.
Crucible ‘A’ (Bye Week)
Div 2A
Wednesday 14th of October: Shooters C v Ebony ‘A’ at Shooters SC Blackpool at 8pm.
Crucible ‘B’ v Youghal CYMS ‘C’ at Crucible SC.
Douglas ‘C’ (Bye Week)
Div 2B
Thursday 15th of October: Crucible ‘C’ v Douglas ‘B’ AT THE Crucible SC at 8pm.
Shooters v AOH ‘B’ at Shooters SC at 8pm.
Douglas ‘A’ V Ebony ‘B’ at Douglas SC, Donnybrook.
For all the latest club news, stats, fixtures and results plus much more check out www.corksnookerandbilliards.com
