WPBSA International Round-Up | May 2024
A number of national championships have taken place in recent weeks and in this month’s WPBSA international round-up we highlight six events that have been held across the globe in May.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Photo: NIBSA
Darren Dornan defeated Ryan McQuillan 10-5 to win the Northern Ireland Amateur Championship for the first time in his career.
Dornan, who reached the final of the national championship back in 2019, came through a strong field of 99 cueists which featured former World Championship quarter-finalist Patrick Wallace and EBSA European champion Robbie McGuigan, who had won the previous three staging’s of the event.
A whitewash quarter-final victory over Gregory Cooke set up a quarter-final meeting for Dornan with Declan Hughes, who the eventual champion was able to overcome in dramatic fashion to win a third deciding frame of the event in Antrim.
The 37-year-old met McQuillan in the title match after he had stunned McGuigan in the last eight and then defeated Fergal Quinn 6-3 to reach the final.
Dornan made a strong start with a break of 70 and stormed into a 5-2 lead, before McQuillan hit back to level at 5-5 with help of a 103 break, the only century of the final.
Ultimately, however, Dornan proved too strong and went on a run of five consecutive frames to lift the title – completing the job with a break of 81 on frame 15.
WALES
Alex Taubman defeated Alfie Davies 8-6 to win the Welsh Amateur Championship title at the Penygraig Labour Club in Tonypandy.
Taubman, who finished as runner-up in the event 11 years ago, defeated last year’s runner-up in the final to secure the title for the first time and join a prestigious roll of honour featuring former World champions Ray Reardon and Terry Griffiths as well as former ranking event winner Doug Mountjoy, Dominic Dale, Ryan Day and Michael White.
A 5-1 victory over Alan Hurley had booked Taubman’s place in the finals weekend, where he then overcame Carl Bennett 6-2 to reach the title match for the second time in his career.
His opponent in the final would be Davies, who had defeated former World Championship semi-finalist and four-time Welsh Amateur champion Darren Morgan 6-3 in the semi-finals.
The final was a close and hard-fought contest, with each player contributing a century break to the best-of-15 frame match, but it was Taubman who was able to get over the line an 8-6 victor to lift the title.
SCOTLAND
Chris Totten lifted the Scottish National Championship title for the third time after a 7-5 victory over Ross Vallance.
The finals weekend was held at the Locarno Snooker Club in Edinburgh and saw Totten add to his national titles won in 2016 and 2021.
It was also a memorable weekend for the Iqbal family as a trio of national titles were shared across the family.
The Under-21 title was won by 17-year-old Ayaan Iqbal, who defeated Brandon Langan 5-3 in the title match, while the Under-18 and Under-14 crowns were won by Ayaan’s brothers Amaan Iqbal and Adyan Iqbal respectively.
In addition, Steven Wardropper, Gary Thomson, Gillian Hayes and Mark Lennox lifted the Under-16, Masters, Women’s and Billiards titles across the weekend in the Scottish capital.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Photo: Snooker & Billiards Ireland
Brendan O’Donoghue beat Ross Bulman 7-5 to win the Irish Amateur Championship for the seventh time.
The title marks a fourth consecutive national crown for O’Donoghue, who played professionally on the World Snooker Tour during the 2009/10 season and also made the high break of the event – a 112.
Held at the SBI Academy in Carlow, a total of 56 entries took part in the event and O’Donoghue defeated fellow former professional David Morris 6-4 in the semi-finals to reach the title match.
His opponent in the final was Bulman, who overcame Leone Crowley and Greg Casey in the quarter and semi-finals to set up a meeting with O’Donoghue.
Despite a closely contest final, it was O’Donoghue who once again put his name on the trophy with a 7-5 victory in the final.
ISLE OF MAN
Photo: Darryl Hill
Darryl Hill won a seventh Isle of Man Amateur Championship title by defeating David Addinall 6-3 in the final.
Hill, a former main tour professional who won the 2015 EBSA European Under-21 Championship, became the first snooker player induced into the Manx Sporting Hall of Fame in 2017 and continued his dominance of the sport on the island with another national success.
In a repeat of the previous year’s final, Hill defeated Tom Miller 5-3 in the quarter-finals before storming into the final with a 5-2 victory over Peter Kirkham, which featured breaks of 128 and 102.
The title match was held at The Cue Zone IOM and saw Hill charge into a 4-1 lead in the best-of-11 frame contest.
Addinall hit back with back-to-back frames to reduce his deficit to just one frame, but it proved too little too late as Hill took the next two to get over the line and secure a seventh national crown.
SWEDEN
Photo: Swedish Billiards Federation
Arpat Pulat defeated Shivan Mohammed Ali 6-4 to win the Swedish Amateur Championship in Stockholm.
Held at Snookerhallen in the Swedish capital, which has played host to Q Tour events over the last two seasons, the event saw 25 cueists battle it out for their national title.
The 27-year-old Pulat lost his second match of the event 3-1 to Holger Akerblom, but due to the double-elimination format he was able to advance to the title match with a 5-1 victory in the semi-final over Belan Sharif – which featured a break of 103 from the eventual champion.
In the final he faced the undefeated Ali, who had also won the Swedish Masters Championship, and it was he who led the best-of-11 frame final 2-0, 3-1 and 4-3.
Pulat was able to hold his nerve, however, to take the last three frames of the final to earn a 6-4 victory and the national title.