By Dan Carroll
Dublin’s Susan Hanlon won her first national snooker title recently at the Republic of Ireland Ladies Snooker Association (RILSA) Academy in Sharkx Newbridge.
Susan who is only playing snooker for a few years and is an avid table tennis player on its national women’s circuit, captured the RILSA Intermediate National Championship for the first time.
On her way to the final, Susan had 2-0 wins over Roisin Beale (Kildare) in the last 16, Valerie Maloney (Offaly) in the quarters and Lauren Carley (Carlow) in the semis.
The other half of the draw saw Aine Brennan from Carlow come through a close quarter-final match against Emirjeta Doda from Dublin 2-1, and she subsequently did well to oust the current Intermediate champion Tina Keogh from Laois 2-0 in the last four.
In the final Susan cleared up from green to black to win a closely fought first frame.
Frame two saw plenty of good potting from Aine to forge ahead with 18 points going down to the colours.
However, Susan potted her way back into contention and sank a good pink ball for frame and match.
Congratulations to Susan on her win and to Aine on a great performance – both players were delighted with their results and are looking forward to the new women’s snooker tour.
Thanks to all the players for their participation and support.
Thanks also to Annette Newman for refereeing the final and to Paul, Bernie, and staff for all their continued support towards women’s cue sports.
Results
Quarter-Finals
Tina Keogh (Laois) 2-0 Rachel Bradley (Kildare)
Aine Brennan (Carlow) 2-1 Emirjeta Doda (Dublin)
Susan Hanlon (Dublin) 2-1 Valerie Maloney (Offaly)
Lauren Carley (Carlow) 2-0 Christine Carr (Kildare)
Semi-Finals
Brennan 2-0 Keogh
Hanlon 2-0 Carley
Final
Hanlon 2-0 Brennan
