The final ranking event before the inaugural ladies Irish championship was held on Sunday in HQ. There was unfortunately some flu victims and a smaller field of 4 took to the green baize to try and rubber stamp their positions in the rankings for Bulgaria in September.
A best of three round robin started at 12pm after some coaching from the Irish ladies national coach, Cathal Moore. The final placing were Michelle Sherwin in 1st, Margaret O Driscoll in 2nd, Ella O Connor in 3rd and Aisling Cawley in 4th so it was Michelle v Aisling and Margaret v Ella in the semi finals. Two good quality semi finals saw Michelle and Margaret come through. It has to be mentioned though that Ella O’Connor put on an exhibition of long potting and has certainly let everyone know that she is going to be tough to beat as the weeks go on. Ella is definitely the young up and coming player of the tour. Aisling Cawley from Sligo is putting in the hard work and there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that she will become a force to be reckoned with as class is permanent.
The final was another great advertisement for ladies snooker in Ireland. Michelle and Margaret gave each other nothing, you worked hard for your points and you knew it. It of course came down to the final frame with the march poised at 2-2. Margaret getting the first chance and holding onto the lead from there. Congratulations Margaret but I have a funny feeling that Michelle will want revenge for this one.
The ladies tour has been all about getting to Sofia in Bulgaria in September. The top 4 players after the Irish championship will represent Ireland at the European championship in the singles and team events. Everything is still up for grabs and you can see the rankings on the website. The Irish championships will see all matches best of 5 with the final being played on Finals weekend and will be best of 7.
It’s been a fantastic year so far in our First Ladies tour season. The highlight has to be the Irish open which was a professional event and gave our players a fantastic insight into where they can go with hard work. We in the SBI cannot be more proud of our current crop of Irish ladies and we will endeavour to increase our numbers for next season as we drive our sport to new heights in the female game. Best of luck to all in the Irish championships.
