The third SBI Billiards Ranking Event of the season took place on Sunday 13th November at AOH club in Cork. The format was 90 minutes and 10 players took part, the event was a big success that resulted in reigning national champion Aidan Murray taking the spoils and maintain his Number 1 spot on the billiards rankings.
The preliminary round saw last season’s national challenge snooker champion Alan O’ Connor outplayed by Jason Dowling and Robert McCrum edged out Brendan Devlin. The quarter finals witnessed Aidan Murray easily dispose Donnacha Breatnach by 438-82 that included the highest break of the day with 121. John Kehoe overcome Lloyd Myers plus Jason Dowling defeated Aonghus McAnally and Anthony O’Flaherty was in fine form in his convincing win against Robert McCrum by 524-188.
The semi finals saw Aidan Murray compile a 78 break in his comfortable win over John Kehoe by 374-152 and Jason Dowling beat his fellow Rathkeale clubmate Anthony O’Flaherty in an intriguing game by 401-319 despite Anthony getting a 60 break.
The final was Jason’s first time to appear in one and had a good start with a 57 break to take a slender lead after 20 minutes but Aidan never panicked and he scored a lot more than Jason when on the table that included a break of 51. Aidan’s style of play made it difficult for Jason to get any rhythm or momentum to mount a serious challenge to Aidan as Jason couldn’t find the form he produced in his wins in the the previous rounds that got him to the final. Aidan established a 200 point lead when Jason made a late scoring surge before the time clock expired to confirm Aidan as the deserving winner of the third ranking event of the season on a score line of 350-155.
Thanks to Lloyd Myers and AOH for the wonderful facilities and hospitality in making the players feel welcome and to John Kehoe as Tournament Director. The SBI Billiards tour will continue into 2023 and what will be a an exciting year ahead for Irish Billiards as we edge closer to the national championships that will start in March all the way through to the end of April.
Preliminary Round:
- Alan O’ Connor 164-413 Jason Dowling
- Robert McCrum 279-245 Brendan Devlin
Quarter finals:
- Aidan Murray 438-82 Donnacha Breatnach
- Lloyd Myers 189-325 John Kehoe
- Aonghus McAnally 278-459 Jason Dowling
- Anthony O’Flaherty 524-188 Robert McCrum
Semi finals:
- Aidan Murray 374-152 John Kehoe
- Jason Dowling 401-319 Anthony O’Flaherty
Final:
- Aidan Murray 350-155 Jason Dowling
High Breaks:
- Aidan Murray 121, 78, 51
- Anthony O’Flaherty 60
- Jason Dowling 57
