By Fin Ruane The first time I watched any of the boys play at a ranking event venue was October 1990 when myself, Ken Doherty and a sizeable contingent from Ilford travelled up to see Stephen Murphy play John Parrott in their pre-televised match of that season’s Rothmans Grand Prix.[Read More…]
Features
Fin’s Fables: The Professional Years
By Fin Ruane The year was 1990 and the number of registered professional snooker players stood at 128. The governing body WPBSA held all the strings and had the final say on who would and would not be allowed to join their exclusive club. Amateur snooker was thriving and every[Read More…]
Fin’s Fables: The London Years
By Fin Ruane England in 1988, and particularly in London, was a hotbed of snooker, some of the world’s finest snooker talent converged there to improve and fine tune their skills. Ilford and Barking Snooker Clubs in Essex were just two of the many gathering points for a new breed[Read More…]
Fin’s Fables: The Beginning
By Fin Ruane My first memory of being around snooker was the World Amateur Championship in Dublin in 1974. I was five years of age and my dad who was chairman of RIBSA at the time brought me to a match. To say I was captivated by the game is[Read More…]
Big Interview: Michaela Tabb
Michaela Tabb admitted that she might not be in the refereeing business for as long as her peers when I caught up with her at the PTC Grand Finals in Galway last week. Snooker’s first female referee and one of the most popular characters around the circuit, Tabb began her[Read More…]
Big Interview: David Hogan
With the golden generation of Irish snooker well and truly behind us, thoughts turn to the new breed of players from the Emerald Isle emerging through the ranks. Ken Doherty and Fergal O’Brien are having decent campaigns so far this year but their careers are nearing an end while stalwarts[Read More…]
Big Interview: Finbarr Ruane
Ireland has had a long relationship with snooker. Headlines from the 1970s and 80s were dominated by Alex Higgins and Dennis Taylor from the North while Dubliner Ken Doherty has taken on the mantle of representing the island since the 1990s. In that time, snooker clubs have come and gone[Read More…]
Big Interview: Judd Trump
Thursday afternoon, relaxing in hometown Bristol before a weekend trip to Ireland, China Open champion Judd Trump comes to the horrible realisation that he has left his passport in London. Although he has played in Ireland before for the PTC Grand Finals last March, this will be the 21 year-old’s[Read More…]
Big Interview: Vincent Muldoon
This time three years ago, Vincent Muldoon was one of Ireland’s hottest prospects on the snooker scene. Having won the Irish Championship in 2007, the Galway potter repeated the feat the following year as well as topping the Irish Senior rankings to earn his professional Main Tour place at only[Read More…]