The 2nd Ladies ranking event of the season took place in Newbridge CYMS on Sunday 1st November 2026. There was a field of 11 ladies participating, hailing from all over Ireland. SBI welcomed back Catherine Fitzsimons from Kildare after a 10 year break from the game.
In the last 16 matches Yvonne McMahon had a great battle with Irish international Ella O’Conner, pulling off some fantastic final pots to win the match 2-1. Catherine Fitzsimons played Denise Horan and Denise proved just a bit too strong today, winning the match by 2-0, finishing by doubling a pink into the centre pocket. The final match in the last 16 seen Megan Randle taking on Sligo’s own Aishling Cawley. They had a great battle, going all the way, with Megan eventually winning the match 2-1.
In the q-finals Yvonne McMahon took on Paula Judge; Yvonne showed how well she is adapting from a pool table to a snooker table, pulling off some amazing shots; she pushed Paula, but Paula went on to win the match 2-0. In the same half, Sandra Bryan took on Carrie Randle. Their first 2 frames went right to the wire; the shared them to go 1-1. Sandra went into another gear in the final frame, gaining a good lead early on, which she held onto, comfortably winning the frame in the end to take the match 2-1. In the bottom half of the draw, Michelle Sherwin played Denise Horan. They had a very tight first frame, with Michelle taking it on the pink. Michelle moved ahead early in the 2nd frame and held onto her lead to win the match by 2-0. The highlight of the match was the amount of doubles both ladies took on a got. The last q-final match seen Megan Randle taking on Margaret O’Driscoll. The first frame was close up to the colours, when Margaret laid a good snooker that Megan struggled with, Margaret came back to the table and finished off the frame. Margaret pushed on in the next frame and won it comfortable in the end to win the match 2-0.
In the semi-finals the top half of the draw seen Paula Judge taking on Sandra Bryan from Wexford. Sandra is an excellent potter and a super safety player, and she pushed Paula to be at her best and consider every shot carefully. It was a good contest, with Paula winning out the match 3-0 in the end to advance to her 2nd final of the season. The other semi seen Margaret O’Driscoll taking on Michelle Sherwin. The 1st frame went to the black with Michelle having first crack at it, it jangled in the jaws and came back out. Margaret pot an amazing black into a blind green pocket to take the opening frame. The 2nd frame went all the way too, with Margaret taking it on the pink ball. A few safety errors from Michelle and a bad run of a few balls in the 3rd frame seen Margaret take full control of the frame, and she finished the frame and match off with a lovely 34 break to grab her place in the final.
Set up a replay of the last ranking event final, and what a thriller this one was. The 1st frame went all the way with Margaret potting pink and black to tie the scores. Paula won the toss and put Margaret in first. Margaret left a long black for Puala which she tucked right into the centre of the yellow bag to take the first frame. The 2nd frame wenr all the way aswell, with Margaret taking that one on the pink to tie the match at 1-1. The 3rd frame was also a closely contested battle, with Paula winning it on the black ball. It was nip and tuck in the 4th frame and they were tied at 37 points each coming to the colours. Paula pot the yellow and green, Margaret then potted the brown and blue and left herself a bit awkward on the pink. She pot the pink and tracked the black, not realising she had already won the frame to force the match into a single frame decider. There was nothing between them in the final frame once again, Paula had a good early lead but Mrgaret kept coming back at her. Again, it went all the way to the black ball, and both ladies had a few chances at the black. Both failed to capitalise on their chances, with nerves definitely playing a part. A wayward safety shot by Margret left the black hanging over the middle pocket, which Paula gratefully potted to win the match by 3-2. Well done Paula on winning your 2nd ranking event in a row.
There was also a plate competition on the day. Catherine Fitzsimons was drawn straight into the final. Aishling Cawley and Ella O’Connor had yet another great battle with each other, they shared the first 2 frames and the 3rd frame was also tight, with Aishling eventually coming out the victor by taking the frame and winning the match 2-1. Catherine showed she was brushing off the cobwebs, by potting some amazing balls, she was definitely coming back to her old solid self by the end of the match; but on this occasion, Irish International Aishling Cawley had hit her stride, playing with her new cue she proved a little too strong for Catherine and won the match by 2-0 to win her first plate tournament. Well done Aishling on a well deserved win.
The ladies would like to thank our TD Jim Carrick and Ed Donnelly from CYMS for their hospitality on the day, for looking after us so well and for providing such a fantastic facility for us to play in. All the ladies would like to wish our players Megan Randle, Margaret O’Driscoll and Ella O’Connor the best of luck in their efforts at the I.B.S.F. World Snooker Championships in India in 2 weeks time.
The next ladies ranking event will take place in SBI headquarters in Carlow on Sunday 14th November. We also look forward to hosting the WWS Irish Open Snooker Championships in SBI Carlow from 27th-29th November, where we will host some of the top female players in the world.
