Noel Gleeson from Nenagh won the fourth RIBSA U-14 Snooker Ranking Tournament of the season in the Newbridge CYMS in Co Kildare on Sunday the 8th of January.
22 players entered, 21 turned up and the standard was very high indeed, a few of the parents were at Goffs the day before and commented that there was better snooker in the under 14 event.
The participants travelled from all over the country, Cork, Killarney, Rathkeale, Kilkenny, Navan, Edenderry, Portarlington, Carlow and Dublin.
Seven of the entries came up from Shooters in Cork and they were all impressive, Some of them I had not seen before but the improvement in the ones I had seen previously was remarkable. Three of these reached the quarter final round, Sean Paul Crowley was beaten by the number 1 seed Ryan McGuirk and Leone Crowley was beaten by the number 2 seed Noel Gleeson, both were 0-3. Sean Walsh was impressive in beating the 3 seed Joe Le Cumbre 3-1. The number 4 seed Aaron Smith beat Oisin Bateman in a close match which came down to the pink in the final frame.
Aaron Smith played superbly in his semi-final when beating the no. 1 seed and friend Ryan McGuirk 3-1 Ryan had a 55 break in this match which was the highest break so far.
The other semi-final saw Sean Walsh take a two frame to nil lead, but Noel Gleeson was not going to go out without a fight and he showed great “bottle” and strength of character in coming back to force a deciding frame, and holding his nerve to win that decider and reach yet another final in his young career.
The final between Aaron Smith and Noel Gleeson was again a high standard affair with Noel taking a two – nil lead. In the third frame Noel was 22 points behind on the pink, he looked at the score board and mistakenly thought he could win and he potted the pink. He was slightly embarrassed when the referee awarded the frame to Aaron. On to frame 4 and this was a close frame with both players afraid to make a mistake. Noel potted a good long red and proceeded to make a magnificent break of 59 to take the frame and match and the high break prize.
After witnessing the snooker I did at this competition, I am looking forward to the Celtic Challenge next June in the Ivy Rooms, because whoever the six under 14 players are for that event, I cannot see them losing.
My thanks to Declan Quinn and his secretary Paula for taking the entries and starting the tournament. They had to leave early as they were bringing Adam to Goffs. I think they would have seen better snooker if they stayed in Newbridge.
My thanks also to Jim, Leo, Tom and all the crew in Newbridge CYWMS for looking after us so well as they always do. Thanks also to all the parents/ guardians for bringing the lads to play in these events and make them so successful. Thanks also to the “catering” committee for the sandwiches, cakes and biscuits.
Looking forward to seeing you all at the next under 14 event in Newbridge on Feb. 19th
Ger Murray.
RIBSA Coach Declan Quinn from Edenderry was the Tournament Director and all the matches will be the best of 5 frames including the final and the action strats at 10.30am. This season all the RIBSA Under 14 events will be held in Newbridge and the top six players at the end of the season will qualify for the 2017 Celtic Challenge at the end of June.
Format for U-14 Snooker 2016/2017
The entry fee is €10.00. Registration Fee U-21 €10.00 and U-16’s €5.00 – Proof of age required.
Five RIBSA U-14 ranking events will be held plus an U-14 National Championship this season to qualify our players for the International Team.
Please note : The closing date for all RIBSA Under Age Tournaments will be 1pm on the Friday before the tournament. Waistcoats are required for all events however National waistcoats are not permitted.
Play will begin at 10.30am and the Draw will be on the RIBSA Web Site @ 3pm.
ENTER NOW !!!!!!
