The fifth ranking event on the Irish Senior Tour takes place this weekend in the Ivy Rooms.

Michael Judge heads a slightly smaller field – of 57 entrants – for the RIBSA Masters, the penultimate tournament before the National Championship takes place on the May Bank Holiday weekend.

The former pro has won two out of the previous four competitions to stand atop of the rankings ahead of Jason Devaney and Josh Boileau.

Boileau will be looking for some tough match practice and a good run ahead of his trip to Poland for both the European Under-21 and Men’s Championships over the course of the upcoming fortnight.

Of course, Judge and Devaney will also be flying east for the latter event, as will Brendan O’Donoghue and Ryan Cronin.

All five men enjoy byes into the last 32 but, despite the slightly diminished number of entries compared to prior editions this season, a strong line-up will still assemble in Carlow.

With the end of the campaign in sight, there’s set to be a scramble for the top positions in the standings.

A third triumph for Judge would steal a march on his nearest rivals but a lot can yet change with a couple of events still to be contested.

Meanwhile, it’s also a big weekend for the Masters Tour as event five on Sunday marks the cut-off point for qualification for the EBSA Masters Championship in June.

As luck would have it, Judge is looking to finish on top of those rankings as well with just a narrow gap between him and current leader Colm Gilcreest.

The best of luck to all taking part in the coming days.

Click here to view the draw (Event 5)