Brendan O’Donoghue is into the quarter-finals of the EBSA European Championship after a 5-2 victory over Andrew Pagett in Sofia on Thursday.
The reigning Irish national champion didn’t compile any high breaks of note but took advantage of winning a few tight frames to see off the Welshman and advance to the last eight.
O’Donoghue, who lost to Scott Donaldson in the 2012 final, could gain an invite onto the professional Main Tour if he were to claim the top prize this week as RIBSA is a member of the new World Snooker Federation.
O’Donoghue will face another competitor from Wales later today with a semi-final berth at stake as the Tipperary native is set to take on former world number eight Darren Morgan.
Morgan, with an incredible seven European Championships at the Masters level to his name, is bidding to capture the prestgious Men’s edition for the first time in his career at the age of 51.
Top seed Jamie Clarke, also hailing from Wales, edged Brian Cini 5-3 with a high run of 60 and will next meet Fraser Patrick after the Scot ended the hopes of Cork’s Greg Casey with a 5-2 triumph.
Clarke has narrowly missed out in a number of high-profile international amateur competitions, including finishing runner-up in this event in 2015 and 2016.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s Jordan Brown is also still in contention for glory in Bulgaria following a routine 5-1 success over Neil Vincent, setting up a clash with Adam Stefanow.
The two finalists will be known by the end of today’s play.
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