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The 2010 Ladbrokes Munster Club Championships gets underway from the 22nd to 24th of January this year for it’s 27th annual instalment.

The provincial club championships is one of the highlights of the season for it’s participants and will take place again this year with 24 teams from the 6 counties that make up the Munster province in Ireland.

The recent host the 6 Red World Championships, the Gleneagle Hotel will be the host venue for the event and this year will see improved playing conditions yet again due to the purchase of the 12 Riley Aristocrat tables that were used for the 6 red event. 15 tables will be installed to make up the 3 playing venues for the 5 man team tournament which will be played over three days.

The event is still highly competitive however has managed to retain a great friendly atmosphere which makes it one of the most enjoyable weekends of the snooker year.
 
The Munster Champions title is the main prize of the weekend but for many teams the aim will be to reach the semi finals and qualify for the All Ireland Club Championships which takes place in the same venue the following weekend.

Last years champions The New Institute are of course the No.1 seeds for the event but will be without their top 3 players this time round. Both Brendan O’Donoghue and David Hogan are now plying their trade on the main tour and No.3 Mark Walsh is currently in Australia on a round the world trip. This should now see both Waterford and the Venetian Snooker Clubs be installed as favourites for the title.

Waterford’s top player Vincent Muldoon will compete for his university team but Waterford will still have two teams with enough strength in depth to challenge after reaching the final for the last 6 years, although winning just once.

The Venetian also have lost their top player, Mario Fernandez, who will now play for another Limerick based club but with players like John Torpey, Jason Waters and Frank Sarsfield they will always be dangerous and one of the favourites for the title.

Several other clubs have the strength to challenge such as Youghal CYMS, AOH, Fermoy, Masters and The Crucible Club from Cork who has one of the youngest and fastest improving teams with the likes of Greg Casey, Daniel O'Regan and David Cassidy.

On the refereeing side of things we will have 20+ ref’s taking control of the event with ref's from as far as Jersey, Belgium and Wales coming over this year on the back of an enjoyable stint at the 6 Red Event last month. Indeed Jersey’s Gary Truscott should now nearly be an honorary Waterford man after refereeing for them at both the Munster and All Ireland Championships last season and will be back for another 2 week stint when the event gets underway in two weeks time.

The Draw for the event is listed below along with the first round of matches which start on the Friday morning....

Group A
New Institute “A”
Shannon “B”
St.John’s
Waterford “C”

Group B
Waterford “A”
Youghal CYMS “B”
Thurles
Cue Club “A”

Group C
Waterford “B”
Venetian “A”
New Institute “B”
Cappaquinn “A”
 
Group D
Fermoy
AOH
Shannon “C”
Carrick-on-Suir

Group E
Youghal “A”
Crucible
Venetian “B”
Shannon “A”
 
Group F
Cue Club “B”
Cappaquinn “B”
Youghal “C”
Venetian “C”