On Sunday 19th of April World No.1 David Causier from England defeated Robert Hall from England 702-355 at the SBI Academy in Carlow to win the 2026 World Billiards Irish Open title.
The reigning world champion and world number one won through a field of 51 cueists to successfully defend his title in Carlow.
The SBI Academy hosted the level three ranking event as the first part of a double-header at the venue which will conclude with the prestigious World Matchplay Championship on 20-24 April.
Causier was the top seed and began the defence of his Irish Open title with a comfortable group stage that saw him get the better of Carl Walter Steiner, Mark Hill, Alastair McDonald and Mhairi Mackay with an aggregate scoreline of 2,594 to 234.
Defeats of Christian Kirk (770-222) and Ashok Shandilya (943-205) saw Causier reach the semi-finals where an outstanding scoring display saw him fire in breaks of 415, 285 and 288 as he overcame Robert Marshall by a 1,059-205 scoreline.
Former World Billiards Championship finalist Hall was his opponent in the title match after he had ended the run of multiple-time world champion Mike Russell, who was making his highly anticipated World Billiards return, in the semi-finals.
Causier continued to prove that he is the dominant force in billiards now as top contributions of 307 and 284 earned him another ranking event crown.
The World Matchplay Championship takes place at the SBI Academy in Carlow on 20-24 April followed by the IBSF World Billiards Championships.
