By Fin Ruane
To celebrate the 21st anniversary of his passing, this Saturday sees the inaugural Finbarr Ruane Snr Memorial Cup taking place in CrossGuns in Dublin.
To coincide with his 21st anniversary now was the perfect time to host the event and remember the great man who is still held with great affection by so many in the game.
Only last week while I was in Sheffield at the World Championship I spent some time reminiscing with old stagers Dennis Taylor and Terry Griffiths about Fin Snr.
They had become good friends with Fin during their amateur days and to listen to them talk about him in such kind tones was very heartening.
It wasn’t just across in the UK and the rest of the world that Fin Snr was respected.
Back in Ireland his name was synonymous with amateur snooker and his charismatic approach towards life was infectious among everyone who he met through the game.
To hold an event in his name is without doubt one of my proudest ever moments involved in snooker and to see the interest shown by so many to want to play in the tournament makes me very proud.
The very best players in Ireland along with some old friends and colleagues of Fin have entered and the amount of goodwill messages that I’ve recieved from those who couldn’t make the tournament is testament to the respect Fin Snr’s name still commands in snooker circles in Ireland. The tournament will be run over one day with the first session at 10am Saturday morning. The winner will receive €1,000 and the Finbarr Ruane Snr Memorial Cup.
Everyone is welcome to come along and enjoy what is surely a very welcome addition to the snooker calendar in Ireland.
To read more about Finbarr Ruane Snr and his contribution to snooker click here.
