Murray wins Billiards event 6

The sixth tournament of the Senior Billiards series was played at Celbridge Snooker Club on Sunday, 18th of February 2018, the format being 90 minutes timed (all rounds). Current No 1 in the National Rankings, Aidan Murray, emphasised why he holds that position by sweeping through all rounds relatively unchallenged by his opponents, taking each match, including the Final by margins ranging from just under 100 to well over 400 points.

Early round eliminations were Aonghus McAnally (Portmarnock), Lloyd (Cork), Robert McCrum (Portmarnock) and Brendan Devlin (Celbridge).

The semi finalists in the top half of the draw were Aidan Murray (Ivy Rooms) and John Kehoe (Enniscorthy), Aidan having had a good quarter final win against Phil Martin (Celbridge), opening up a telling lead with a timely 88 break while John came through a tight and well contested quarter final against Joe Doheny (Borris-in-Ossory). The semi final was all about Aidan, scoring the more heavily and consistently of the two and finishing with a comfortable lead when time was called.

The semi finalists in the bottom half of the draw were Larry Drennan (Kilkenny Shed) and Wayne Doyle (Dun Laoghaire), Larry surviving a tight quarter final tussle against Dara Martin (Celbridge), while Wayne, thanks to a useful break of 72, took his quarter final match against Tommy Murphy (Straffan). In the semi final, Larry played by far the more consistent billiards of the two, leading a somewhat off-form Wayne by double scores at the finish.

The final got off to a steady start, neither player scoring in any way heavily when at the table, the balance of play gradually falling in favour of Aidan, who had amassed a 100 point lead at about one hour into the game. Try as he might, Larry, perhaps feeling the effects of a long day’s play during which he had scored more than 1250 points, found himself falling further and further behind, conceding the game with 6 minutes still on the clock, leaving Aidan a convincing and worthy winner of the sixth tournament of the season.

The next Senior Billiards event will be the 150s Championships down to the last two and takes place at Celbridge Snooker Club on Sunday, 18th March 2018. Entries will be accepted before 10.30am on the morning of the event.

As always, our thanks are due to Phil Martin for the excellent playing facilities and to all at Celbridge Snooker Club for their help on the day.

Results (all matches 90 minutes timed):

• Pre-Quarters

Aidan Murray  (Brk: 90, 84, 57)  530  -v-  109  Aonghus McAnally

Phil Martin    362  -v-  248  Lloyd Myers

Larry Drennan  (Brk:  56, 51)  526  -v-  231  Robert McCrum

Brendan Devlin    231  -v-  302  Dara Martin

• Quarters

Aidan Murray (Brk: 88, 54)  302  -v-  204  Phil Martin

John Kehoe (Brk: 72)  261  -v-  221  Joe Doheny

Larry Drennan  259  -v-  236  Dara Martin

Tommy Murphy  289  -v-  368  Wayne Doyle (Brk: 72)

• Semi-Finals

Aidan Murray  345  -v-  205  John Kehoe

Larry Drennan (Brk: 64)  461  -v-  214  Wayne Doyle (Brk: 58)

• Final

Aidan Murray  336  -v-  177  Larry Drennan

Report by Brendan Devlin