Billiards Ranking Event 3 2009/2010

Darren Ryan wins his first Billiards Tournament

The third handicap tournament of the season was played at Carlow on Sunday, 29th of November 2009. Fresh from his first international appearance in Vienna last weekend, where he scored his first international points, relative Billiards newcomer Darren Ryan (Celbridge) claimed the third round of the series with decisive wins in all his matches.

In the top half of the draw, Darren made a flying start, gaining his place in the semi finals with a solid win over Larry Drennan (Kilkenny), whose form was somewhat shaken after a tight pre quarters tussle with Tom Kearns (Borris-in-Ossory). The other semi finalist in the top half of the draw was Philip Martin (Celbridge) when he turned the tables on fellow clubman Brendan Devlin, to whom he had to take second place in last month’s Final.

Phil’s progress was halted in the semi final however, where he was unable to overcome the significant start he was giving to a much-improved Darren.
By comparison with the top half of the draw, the bottom half produced the closest games of the day when Victor O’Gorman (Dun Laoghaire) won his pre quarters match 400-399 against Robert McCrum (Dublin) and Jason Keogh (Navan) won his match 400-398 against Tommy Denieffe (Kilkenny) to earn his place in the semi final.

The other semi finalist in the bottom half of the draw was Aonghus McAnally, taking his semi final place with good wins in tight matches with Joe Doheny (Borris-in-Ossory) and Victor O’Gorman. Aonghus gained his place in the final with a good semi final win over Jason, including the day’s high break of 80.

The Final turned out to be a well-balanced game where the scores ebbed and flowed, first in Aonghus’s favour, then in Darren’s. In the run in to the finish, it was a matter of which player held his nerve the better. As both scores passed the 350 mark, Darren’s slightly more consistent play paid off, finishing with a margin of 32 points clear of his opponent to take his first major tournament win.

Many congratulations to Darren, who has proven that his skills at the game have developed considerably since the start of the season.

The next Billiards Handicap round of the season will be held at The Ivy Rooms, Carlow on Sunday, 20th December 2009. Entries will be accepted before 10.30am on the morning of the event.

We would like to thank Jim Leacy for the excellent facilities at The Ivy Rooms and Marian and staff for their help on the day.

 

Semi-finals
Darren Ryan 400 - 241 Philip Martin
Aonghus McAnally 400 - 318 Jason Keogh
Final
Darren Ryan 400 - 368 Aonghus McAnally