The fifth tournament of the Senior Billiards series was played at Celbridge Snooker Club on Sunday, 5th of February 2017, the format being 400up with a 90 minute time limit. Wayne Doyle (Q-Club Wicklow), perhaps smarting from his semi final defeat in the previous tournament, was clearly in no humour to tolerate anything like a repeat this time round, returning to his winning ways to take the fifth round of the series in emphatic style.
The semi finalists in the top half of the draw were Wayne Doyle and John Kehoe (Enniscorthy), Wayne opening his account in a high scoring quarter final against Brendan Devlin (Celbridge) while John came through his quarter final with a solid win over Aonghus McAnally (Portmarnock), taking the game with almost 100 points in hand. In the semi final, Wayne got into his stride, scoring heavily at each visit and with breaks of 61, 89 and 105, reached the target score of 400 points with more than half an hour still to run on the clock.
The semi finalists in the bottom half of the draw were Joe Doheny (Borris-in-Ossory) and Aidan Murray (Ivy Rooms), Joe enjoying a good quarter final win against Robert McCrum (Portmarnock) while Aidan emerged the winner of a close quarter final tussle with Eugene Hughes (Baltinglass). In their semi final, Aidan played a very solid game, scoring more heavily than Joe, to claim his place in the final by a margin of well over 100 points.
In the final, Wayne was first to show, slotting in a magnificent 120 break in the opening stages of the match. Aidan responded but, when it looked likely that he might peg back Wayne’s lead, broke down rather surprisingly when the break got to 68. Further breaks of 54 and 68 by Wayne, without significant response from Aidan was all the encouragement Wayne needed to keep the pressure on, which he did to good effect, allowing him to take a well deserved tournament win on the day.
The next Senior Billiards round of the season takes place at The Ivy Rooms Snooker Club, Carlow on Sunday, 26th February 2017. The format will be seeded draw, 90 minute timed. Entries will be accepted before 10.30am on the morning of the event.
Our thanks are due to Phil Martin for the excellent playing facilities and to all at Celbridge Snooker Club for their help on the day.
Results (all matches 400up, 90 minute time limit):
Quarters
Wayne Doyle (Brk: 93, 59) 385 -v- 327 Brendan Devlin
John Kehoe (Brk: 51) 325 -v- 233 Aonghus McAnally
Robert McCrum (Brk: 51) 240 -v- 314 Joe Doheny
Aidan Murray (Brk: 67) 267 -v- 253 Eugene Hughes (Brk: 53)
Semi-Finals
Wayne Doyle (Brk: 61, 89, 105) 400 -v- 79 John Kehoe
Joe Doheny 188 -v- 310 Aidan Murray
Final
Wayne Doyle (Brk: 120, 54, 68) 400 -v- 105 Aidan Murray (Brk: 68)
