The Wales Junior Team have just won the 2026 Celtic Junior Challenge on Saturday the 4th of July in the MatchRoom in Llanelli ,Wales.
The top four Under 14 and the top four Under 16 players after each National Championships qualified to represent their country in this annual Junior Celtic Challenge against the Welsh, but it was the home side who ran out 55-41 winners against a brave Snooker & Billiards Ireland Junior Team.
- Session 1 Wales 12 – Ireland 12
- Session 2 Wales 15- Ireland 9
- Session 3 Wales 13 – Ireland 11
- Session 4 Wales 15 – Ireland 9
Total Score Wales 55 – Ireland 41
Team Breakdowns
- 14’s Wales 33 – Ireland 15
- 16’s Wales 22 – Ireland 26
SBI player of the event was Cathal Horgan who won 10 out of his 12 frames on the day. We now will prepare for the 2027 event in Carlow. Many frames and matches were lost on the colours so we need to get stronger at closing out frames, but i know how talented our players are and with 7 out of the 8 underage next year it bodes well to win back the cup in Ireland.
As National Coach, I was very proud of all the players and we gained a lot of experience which will stand to the players in the future, we have to learn from this weekend and be stronger next year.
SBI would like to thank Welsh Snooker Association, TD Jay Vokes who did a fantastic job, Staff at the MatchRoom Llanelli for hosting the event. All the referees on the day including our own Declan Cummins plus our Team Delegate Jim Leacy.
Jim Leacy presented Rio Chung the Welsh Captain the Celtic Challenge Perpetual Cup and framed Certificates to all the players.
We all would also like to thank SBI and Clancy Homes for sponsoring Team Ireland Polo Shirts and Hoodies for our Junior International players travelling to this event. Finally, a big thank you to all the parents for supporting their talented children in our beautiful sport as all 16 junior players were fantastic. They all should be very proud to represent their country in what I call the best International Junior Team Event.
Well done Team Wales but we will be back in 2027 to win it back !!!!!
Ireland 14’s Team: Rowan Kelly (Team Captain), James Brennan, Callum Behan and Paddy King & Ireland 16’s Team: Joe Shannon (Team Captain), Cathal Horgan, Liam Dunne and James Stewart O Reilly
Welsh 14’s Team: Reuben Gingell (Captain), Noah Walker, Herbie Hull and Kai Vokes & Welsh 16’s Team: Rio Chung (Captain), Joel Williams, Freddie Smith and Rory Reardon
Celtic Challenge SBI Officals: Team Delegate: Jim Leacy, Team Coach: PJ Nolan and Referee: Declan Cummins
Training Camp
SBI held a Team training day on the 27th of June. PJ worked on Technique Checks, Scoring, Potting and Match-Play shots. Team Ireland were the defending Champions after they beat Wales in Carlow in 2025.
