Wexford’s Rodney Goggins won the first ever Premier Tour event at the Ivy Rooms in Carlow on Sunday October 13. Rodney was in superb form all day and found himself up against the equally impressive David Hogan in the semi-finals. This was a high quality match and could have gone either way but Rodney found an extra gear to win by 4 frames to 2, finishing off with a 122 break.
In the other semi John Sutton got the better of Jason Devaney also on a 4 – 2 scoreline in an equally high quality match.
The final however, proved to be a one-sided affair. John failed to maintain the high standard of his earlier play and Rodney used all his experience to run out a convincing 4 framed to 0 winner.
Tournament Director Ger Murray said an indication of the standard of snooker on display was the number of century breaks compiled by the players. Seven in total with a super 127 by John Sutton proving the day’s best.
Rodney was fulsome in his praise for the new format and said he hoped this would help to revitalise senior snooker in Ireland. He thanked Marian and the staff of the Ivy Rooms for the use of the excellent facilities after the recent refurbishment at the venue. He also thanked Tournament Director Ger Murray and assistant TD Tony Thorpe for running an excellent first Premier tour event.
