McCrum Wins Billiards Ranking Event 6

HANDICAP BILLIARDS

Robert McCrum retains Pat O’Sullivan Memorial Title

The Pat O’Sullivan Memorial tournament, which was also the sixth counting round of the Senior Billiards Handicap series, was played at Carlow on Sunday, 21st of February 2010. Seasoned snooker player Robert McCrum (Dublin) continuing the successes he has had since he started contesting the three-ball game, was a decisive winner to retain the title that he won for the first time last year.

By comparison with the previous year, when only 11 players contested the event, there was an entry of 16 this year, despite the prevailing weather conditions, which included a surprise snow blizzard on the previous Saturday evening.
 

In the well-appointed comfort of the new Ivy Rooms, play started promptly at 11.00am and all first round matches were completed well within the time limit. Among the first round eliminations were veterans Victor O’Gorman (Dun Laoghaire) and Timmy Murphy (Cork); Piltown regulars Shay O’Brien and Billy Talbot; Rathkeale’s Jason Dowling, up-and-coming junior Wayne Doyle (Dun Laoghaire) and local players Tom Kearns (Borris-in-Ossory) and Tommy Denieffe (Kilkenny).

The semi finalists in the top half of the draw were Joe Doheny (Borris-in-Ossory), having won a very close quarter final against Larry Drennan (Kilkenny) and Brendan Devlin (Celbridge) who scraped through a gripping quarter final against Tom Enright (Rathkeale). While Joe stepped up his game in the semi final, scoring solidly at each visit, Brendan struggled to put any sort of form together, surprisingly missing some very elementary shots. Joe lost no time in responding to the situation, claiming his place in the Final with a convincing semi final win.

The semi finalists in the bottom half of the draw were Robert McCrum (Dublin) who saw off the challenge of Anthony O’Flaherty (Rathkeale), making a welcome return to the national billiards scene and Liam Byrne (Edenderry) who had a good win over Dara Martin (Celbridge), also making a welcome return to the national billiards scene. In a closely contested semi final, Robert gradually overcame the difference in starting points he was giving to Liam and then edged ahead to win by a margin of 28 points.



Despite the form he showed in his semi final, Joe struggled to reach anything like his normal standard of play in the Final. By comparison, Robert hit top form, making the day’s high break of 70 in the process. With Robert doing most of the scoring and with little response form Joe, Robert had relatively little difficulty in retaining a well deserved Pat O’Sullivan Memorial Trophy for a second year.



The next Billiards Handicap round of the season will be held at The Ivy Rooms, Carlow on Sunday, 14th March 2010. Entries will be accepted before 10.30am on the morning of the event.

As always, our thanks are due to Jim Leacy for the excellent facilities at The Ivy Rooms and to Marian and staff for their help on the day.


Semi-finals
Joe Doheny 400 - 248 Brendan Devlin
Robert McCrum 400 - 362 Liam Byrne
Final
Robert McCrum 400 - 254 Joe Doheny