O’Donoghue wins 5th Irish Amateur Snooker title
Defending champion Brendan O’Donoghue retained the Irish National Snooker Championship title.
The Nenagh Institute clubman defeated Ryan Cronin in the final at the Snooker & Billiards Ireland Centre of Excellence in Carlow to win the title for the fifth time.
Ireland’s most prestigious amateur snooker event dates back to 1931, making it one of the world’s oldest national championships.
Former world professional champion Ken Doherty was a two-time winner of this title in the late 1980s.
Number one seed O’Donoghue began his campaign with opening round defeats of Hughie O’Donnell (4-0) and Sean King (4-1) before he eliminated four-time winner Martin McCrudden 4-2 in the last eight. In the semi-finals he ended the challenge of Greg Casey, 6-4.
O’Donoghue’s opponent in the title match was number two seed Cronin, who was appearing in the final for the first time.
The Cork cueist had been impressive on his way to the showpiece, dropping only two frames in four matches and having whitewashed David Cassidy 6-0 in the other last four tie.
Cronin claimed the opener in the best-of-15 frame final but that would be the only time he held the lead. O’Donoghue took four of the next five frames to carry a 4-2 lead into the second session and the 39-year-old from Nenagh would go on to convert for a 7-4 victory.
It is the first time that O’Donoghue has retained the title and his fifth success sets a new modern-day record for the championship.
National Challenge Championships: Club member Dave Garrett lived up to his number 3 seeding by reaching the semi-finals of the National Championships on the same weekend.
Tommy O’Donoghue from St John’s Limerick got the better of him this time round but his dedicated practice is paying off with his rise in the rankings.
Referee of Year – Steven Foster: Snooker & Billiards Ireland have presented the 2022 SBI Referee of the year Award to Steven Foster.
Steven is a member of Nenagh Institute Snooker Club and we would like to offer our sincere congratulations to him on his award. Shane Mason presented his award during finals weekend in the SBI HQ in Carlow.