By Fin Ruane As the penultimate ranking event of the season at the China Open came to a close on Sunday, quite a number of players back in the UK will now be preparing and practicing hard for the upcoming qualifying rounds for this year’s World Championship. No matter how[Read More…]
Irish Snooker
Morris Denied by Judge
Michael Judge left it late before adding a second ranking title this season to rise into the top five of the Irish Senior rankings. Judge, who was on the professional Main Tour as recently as two years ago surged into an early 3-0 lead against David Morris in last night’s[Read More…]
Fin’s Fables: The 128 Debate
By Fin Ruane Since the climax of this year’s Masters, two probing questions have arisen among both players and fans alike regarding the current game of professional snooker. Many commentators and ex-players, namely the seven times world champion Stephen Hendry, have questioned whether the standard of play produced this season[Read More…]
Morris Wins Fourth Ranker
David Morris claimed the fourth ranking event of the Irish season yesterday with victory over Robert Murphy in the final in Carlow. Morris, along with David Hogan and Michael Judge, had returned to the amateur scene for this campaign and it is all three of these former pros who have[Read More…]
Fin’s Fables: The future of Amateur Snooker in Ireland
By Fin Ruane With the cancellation of this year’s Irish section of the Snookerbacker Classic, Irish based snooker players now find themselves ruing the lost opportunity of a shot at the end of season Q School and a possible crack at the big time, or will they? This event was[Read More…]
Irish Scene: Hogan Doubles Up
David Hogan yesterday emerged victorious in the third ranking event of the Irish season – an event which saw the introduction of the new double elimination format. Last May’s AGM raised concerns about the many important issues on the national scene, and it led to the inclusion of a wider[Read More…]
FF: Where Are They Now…Paddy Browne
By Fin Ruane On Friday the old master Steve Davis again rolled back the years by qualifying for next month’s UK Championship. It has to go down as an incredible achievement for the 55-year-old who once again has defied the odds and the pundits by qualifying for one of snooker’s[Read More…]
Fin’s Fables: Snooker in The New World
By Fin Ruane This weekend sees the snooker roadshow move onto Sofia in Bulgaria for the fourth leg of the European PTC series. With two remaining events left to play in Scotland and Germany, the last few places are up for grabs for the Grand Finals in Galway (TBC) next[Read More…]
Irish Scene: Judgement Day
Michael Judge returned to the Irish amateur scene with a gavel bang as he stormed his way to victory in the second ranking event of the season in Letterkenny. 20 years a professional on the Main Tour, Judge dropped off in 2011 but didn’t immediately turn his attentions back to[Read More…]
Fin’s Fables: Will the Rocket Fire Again?
By Fin Ruane Tuesday saw an extraordinary statement released from World Snooker regarding Ronnie O’Sullivan’s withdrawal from the remainder of the snooker season. I for one was truly astonished as I felt O’Sullivan was ready to resume his career at the UK Championship in York next month and continue on[Read More…]