Prior to the final of the 2024 Nenagh Open, from left: Tony Seymour (Club Chairperson), Aaron Hill (Winner), Tómas Ryan (representing the Ryan family), Steven Foster (Referee), Brendan O'Donoghue (runner-up), David Lynch (Tournament director).

Hill successfully defends Nenagh Snooker Open title

Forty players from all over the country gathered last weekend for the annual Nenagh Open, hosted by New Institute Snooker Club.

They were headed by current professional and defending Aaron Hill, as well as past professionals Rodney Goggins, current Irish amateur number 1 Ryan Cronin from Cork, and Nenagh’s own Brendan O’Donoghue drawing the attention of spectators.

In what was a festival of snooker from Saturday morning saw plenty of local players take to the tables with young Adam O’Brien taking on an Irish international Sean King in his first ever Open.

Jake McMahon reached the last 16 after a marathon 4-3 win that went all the way to the pink in the last frame. Liam (Billy) Kelly turned up the heat and put on quite the show to get a win on the board.

Current U21 national champion Noel Gleeson had a very impressive Saturday making it all the way to the quarter finals. Martin Kelly, Tony Symore, Tom Gleeson, Tom Forde, David Lynch, and Ollie Cleere were other local entries.

Saturdays games came to a close early on Sunday morning with the last game finishing up at 1:45am with Greg Casey getting the better of Mark Tuite 4-3, so the quarter-finals for Sunday morning were set.

With a very impressive performance from Brendan O’Donoghue to close out his game against Greg Casey with a 105 break, he was to meet Leon Crowley in the semi-finals who had been very impressive against Noel Gleeson in his quarter final. Brendan made the final by winning a tough battle with Crowley.

On the other side of the draw, Aaron Hill beat two top players in Philly Browne and Ryan Cronin in the quarter final and semi-final respectively.

So, the final was set with Brendan O’Donoghue up against Aaron Hill. Hill was in great form all weekend and took the first frame, but Brendan responded to take the second.

Hill really shifted into gear then and made some show-stopping shots and tidy breaks to surge 4-1 ahead.

O’Donoghue fired back in the sixth frame with an impressive 89 break, but it was not to be as Aaron Hill closed out the final 5-2 and retained the Dan Ryan Trophy taking the title back to Cork for another year.

The highest break of the weekend came from Rodney Goggins with 107, while Brendan O’Donoghue had a 105 with numerous 80-90 breaks from Noelly Landers, Leon Crowley, and Philly Browne.

The Nenagh Open was once again a very successful weekend for the club and it isn’t taken lightly that so many top class players put the effort in and want to compete here.

A lot of that is down to how Brendan O’Donoghue runs the tournament and this year had help from fellow member and tournament director David Lynch when it came to getting things started and keeping it flowing.

Thanks also to Club Chairperson Tony Seymour who has the snooker rooms in unbelievable condition and goes above and beyond to keep it that way. All players were very complimentary of the facilities and the quality of the tables.

Also, thanks to Mark Gleeson for helping out Saturday before flying to Qatar to compete in the World Amateur Championships.

Thanks to Tipperary County Council for their generous support through their festivals and events grants scheme. For without this would not be possible.