This weekend will see new Irish Snooker & Billiards National Champions being crowned in the Ivy Rooms Snooker Club in Carlow. The RIBSA Finals weekend is on from Friday 23rd – Sunday 25th of May and it promises to be one of the most exciting weekends in a very long time.
Senior Championship
In the Senior event players like Martin McCrudden, TJ Dowling, John Sutton and Jason Devaney will be hoping to build on great performances in the World Snooker Qschool in England. Top Seed Robert Murphy will be hoping to lift the title that has alluded him over the years. Defending Champion Michael judge will be doing everything he can to hold on to his title.
Former Champions will also be in the mix like Brendan O Donoghue, Rodney Goggins, Colm Gilcreest and Josh Boileau who reached the World U-21 final last week in the UAE will be hoping to win the title to add to his list of Junior National titles.
Finally Philip Browne, Ryan Cronin, Greg Casey, Ger Delaney, Keith Sheldrick and last season number 1 David Hogan will be putting it up against everyone and don’t be surprised if the 2014 is a new winner of the Championship.
Master Championship
The event was played down to the Q-Final stage and the 2014 line up is full of top class Irish master players. Top seeds Tom Gleeson, Nigel Power, Frank Sarsfield will be among the favourites to lift the title which was won by Mark Tuite last year. They will be joined by Micahel Casey and Alen Matic plus Master ranking winners this season Tom O Driscoll and Keith Sheldrick and all have a great chance to lift the title. Finally the last player is newly qualified master player Colm Gilcreest and he will be hoping to win at his very first attempt.
Intermediate Snooker
The Intermediate Snooker Final promises to be a great match with Colvin O Brien and James Bateman battling it out for the 2014 title.
Under age Snooker
The Underage finals in Under 12, Under 14, Under 16 and Under 19 will be played on Sunday the 25th with a number of exciting matches expected. Both Charlie Seeney and Fergal Quinn has qualified for two national finals and Josh Boileau is hoping to add the 19 Crown to the U-21 Title he won earlier in the year.
Under 12 Final Corey Ramsbottom Vs Dean Roche
Under 14 Final Ross Bulman Vs Fergal Quinn
Under 16 Final Fergal Quinn Vs Charlie Sweeney
Under 19 Final Charlie Sweeney Vs Josh Boileau
Intermediate Shield
This event features the top player from each region playing off for the national shield title and the four players this season are Daniel O Regan who had a good run in the world U-21 in UAE, Benny O Brien, Sean McVeigh and Brendan Thomas. It promises to be another exciting event.
Ladies
The 2014 Ladies Championship will involve the two top players in the country. It will be Claire Mill against the lady who has dominated the Ladies Championship for almost ten years Michelle Sherwin. Can Claire stop the power of Michelle and again it is a final not to be missed.
Billiards
Along with the Snooker the National Senior & Intermediate Billiards finals will also be played and the star of the season was Wayne Doyle and Wayne has qualified for both Semi Finals in both the long format and the 150up format. The other players Aidan Murray, Rodney Goggins and Joe Doheny will be joined by Dick Brennan who returned to the Billiards scene this year.
In the Intermediate Billiards final id John Kehoe and James Bateman and James be hoping to become the first player to win the Intermediate Billiards & Snooker titles in the same season.
AGM
The Republic Of Ireland Billiards & Snooker Association will be holding the annual general meeting in Carlow at 1pm during the interval of play. All members are welcome to attend. This is a great opportunity for anyone to express their views and RIBSA need people who want to develop the game in Ireland.
Good luck to everyone and may the best players win!!!
PJ Nolan
