Sunday, 18 February 2024 / Published in Juniors

Joe Wins U-16 Event 4 Fergal O Brien Cup

Joe Shannon from Longford beat Max Kennedy from Galway in the final of the fourth Snooker & Billiards Ireland (SBI) Stars of Future Under 16 ranking event of the season to win the Fergal O Brien Cup on Saturday the 17th of February in the SBI HQin Carlow

On Saturday 3rd of February this event began but after a long day it was decided to play the final today. It was a great event with the young players on show. This event was the Fergal O Brien Cup and Fergal was on hand to watch all the young stars in action again today.

We had players from Longford, Dublin, Cork, Laois, Newbridge, Kerry and Galway in this fourth U-16 SBI ranking event of the season.

The TD was National Coach PJ Nolan and Referee on the day was Conor Doyle.

Semi Finals

In the Semi Finals we had two excellent matches with Joe beating Lorcain O’Curraoin from Galway in a very good match 3-1 and Max beat Aaron Donnelly from Newbridge in another great match 3-0.

High Breks

The highest break at present is a 46 by Aaron Donnelly, Max Kennedy 39, Joe Shannon, 36, 31, 30.

The final

The final was a superb match with Joe winning 3 frames to nil to claim the Fergal O Brien Cup.

Plate Event

A plate event was also held and this was not finished but it was Oscar Ellison Gibbons who beat and James Stewart O Reilly in the final on the 17th Feb.

In the semi final Oscar beat Cathal Horgan and James beat fast improving Scott Cooke in two great matches.

Thank You

SBI would like to thank all the players for attending this event. We hope everyone enjoyed the great day of Junior U-16 Snooker. SBI would like to thank Fergal O Brien for attending the event and presenting the awards to the players.

Players should be aware that entries are now open for Event 5 through the on line system and you have to enter before the closing date of Thursday 1pm prior to the event.

2^nd March – SBI STARS OF THE FUTURE EVENT 5 – THE BRENDAN O DONOGHUE CUP – Hot Shots SC Galway

Full Tour Info

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL

Players should be aware that all entries are now through the on line system and you have to enter before the closing date.

Click here to ENTER

Rebranding the Ranking Tournaments

The Ken Doherty Cup
The Irish Grand Prix
The Rodney Goggins Cup
The Fergal O’Brien Cup
The Irish Masters
The Brendan O’Donoghue Cup

You can now enter and pay for all the events for the season at the same time by clicking HERE and choosing which events you want to enter.

30^th September – SBI STARS OF THE FUTURE EVENT 1 – KEN DOHERTY CUP – SBI HQ – WINNER Max Kennedy
28^th October – SBI STARS OF THE FUTURE EVENT 2 – THE IRISH GRAND PRIX – SBI HQ – WINNER Lorcán Ó Curraoin
18^thNovember – SBI STARS OF THE FUTURE EVENT 3 – THE RODNEY GOGGINS CUP – Crucible SC Cork – WINNER Joe Shannon
3^rd February – SBI STARS OF THE FUTURE EVENT 4 – THE FERGAL O BRIEN CUP – SBI HQ – WINNER Joe Shannon
2^nd March – SBI STARS OF THE FUTURE EVENT 5 – THE BRENDAN O DONOGHUE CUP – Hot Shots SC Galway
6^th April – SBI STARS OF THE FUTURE EVENT 6 – THE IRISH MASTERS – Newbridge CYMS Co. Kildare
27^th April – SBI UNDER 16 NATIONAL SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP – DERMOT DALTON CUP– SBI HQ

Important Notice for Junior players

Snooker & Billiards Ireland SBI were recently notified by EBSA of their intention to move the age qualification date for all junior events effective from next (2023-2024) season. This decision was subsequently adopted by IBSF meaning that we will have to accept this change and move to different qualification windows for all international junior events.

For the forthcoming season, instead of the player age at 31/12/23 being the age qualification cut-off date, both EBSA & IBSF have now moved this to (31/08/24), 2024 being the year that their relevant events are being held.

Please be aware that Photo prof is required to be shown to the Tournament Director before you can play in any junior event

U-16’s: a player who’s 16th birthday is on or before 31st December 2023 will not be able to enter the SBI under 16s events in the 2023 /24 season

Please contact SBI on info@sbireland.ie , if you have questions or need help understanding the impact for you based on your date of birth.

Closing Dates

The closing date for all SBI Stars of Future events will 1pm on the Thursday before the event. The draw for Groups will be made at 9.30am on the morning of the event in the venue by the TD.

Play will start at 10am at all events this season on the Stars of the Future Tour

Tournament Entry Fees

The cost of entry will be the following:

Under 16 – €10.00

All players will need to register for the new season. SBI Registration runs from September to September each season.

Players will have to first pay SBI registration / membership or Renewal their membership and register for the new season. When you register, you will be asked to create a username and password. You will only be allowed to enter an event if log in and use this username and password.

You can reset your own password and there is also a support form on the system for members to complete and I.T. will follow up to resolve any major issues.

SBI Registration

Under 18’s – €16.00

How it will work

There will be a group that will play a round robin format of 2 frames per match. 1pt for a 1-1 draw and 2pts for a 2-0 win.

Venues

We will bring the tour to 3 different venues and 3 events will be held in Carlow, other enues are Hot Shots in Galway, Crucible SC in Cork & Newbridge CYMS for this year. The national championships for both age groups will be held in Carlow.

Celtic Challenge, Home Internationals & Europeans

Each age group will still have their own ranking points to qualify for the International Team

Dress Code