Qualifying for upcoming ranking events continued at the Preston Guild Hall on Thursday with the first day of the International Championship qualifiers. Ronnie O’Sullivan, entering the event for the first time in two years, withstood a spirited fight back from James Cahill to deny the 20 year-old 6-4. The ‘Rocket’[Read More…]
Tag: Fergal O’Brien
Ken Doherty Suffers Another Early Loss
It was a mixed second day for Irish duo Fergal O’Brien and Ken Doherty after another busy round of qualifying for the Shanghai Masters in Barnsley. O’Brien managed a hard-fought 5-2 victory over Allan Taylor to reach the penultimate round but his fellow Dubliner lost the last two frames in[Read More…]
World Open Makes Return
Snooker returns after another of its many summer breaks with the World Open starting on Monday in China. The competition is back for the first time since 2014, with Shaun Murphy finally getting the chance to defend the title he won in Haikou more than two years ago. The tournament moves to[Read More…]
Qualifying Concludes in Riga Masters
The Riga Masters qualifying round came to a conclusion on Saturday as the week-long qualification for three events also came to an end at the Guild Hall. It was a final day of close encounter ands deciders, as many of the matches on a busy day in Preston went the[Read More…]
Boileau Loses on Pro Debut
Josh Boileau couldn’t get his professional career off to a dream start as he was defeated by Matthew Stevens in the World Open qualifying at Preston. Boileau compiled the highest break of the match, a 51 in the fourth frame, but that was as good as it got as the[Read More…]
Doherty Through but O’Brien Loses
Only Ken Doherty remains in the hunt for a place in the World Championship draw from an Irish respective at the qualifiers in Ponds Forge. The 1997 world champion held off a spirited fight back from talented Iranian Hossein Vafaei Ayouri to prevail 10-7 and go to within one victory[Read More…]
Ding Beats Casey as Round 1 Concludes
Ding Junhui emerged unscathed from his first test in qualifying for the World Championship after a 10-4 victory over Greg Casey in Sheffield. Corkman Casey gained an invitation into the tournament off the back of his strong performances in 2015’s Q-School but many thought that he would be steamrollered against[Read More…]
Irish Ready for Tough World Championship Qualifiers
The draw for the World Championship qualifiers was made on Monday and it certainly threw up quite a few interesting ties for the Irish. In total there are seven from the Republic, as well as a further three from the North who are attempting to gain one of the coveted[Read More…]
Watch: Fergal O’Brien Makes 147 Break
Ireland’s Fergal O’Brien recorded his first ever 147 break in the Championship League on Thursday. In the first frame of his round-robin tie with Mark Davis, O’Brien orchestrated the break in superb fashion, rarely out of position as he pocketed £500. It wont be about the money whatsoever with O’Brien,[Read More…]
Seeds Dominate Welsh Open
It was another good day for the majority of the marquee names as the Welsh Open field got whittled down to the last 16 on Wednesday. The biggest upset, of sorts, came with the defeat of Shaun Murphy, but that can hardly legislate as a major surprise given his loss[Read More…]