Mahoney is Australian Snooker Champion

Aaron Mahoney defeated Joe Minici in the final to win the 2015 Australian National Snooker Championship. Having been a defeated finalist on three occasions in the past, it is the first time that the Victorian has claimed his nation’s most prestigious amateur snooker title.

Sponsored by the Reventon Group and held at the RACV Club in Melbourne, a total of 61 players entered.

As one of the competition’s top seeds, Mahoney began his campaign in round two where he saw off Rod Nelson 4-0 with the help of 96 and 69 breaks. He went on to drop only three frames in reaching the final, eliminating Shannon Dixon 4-1, Hassan Kerde 4-0 and Daniel Thorp 4-2 in subsequent rounds.

New South Wales cueist Minici scored several impressive results on his way to the title match, denying recent City of Melbourne winner Ben Judge, current national masters holder Paul Thomerson, and defending champion Matthew Bolton.

Top scoring with a run of 90, Mahoney established a 4-1 lead in the best-of-nine frames final. Minici rallied to reduce the deficit to just one, but Mahoney managed to get over the line for a 5-3 win and go one better than his defeat to Bolton in last year’s centrepiece match.

Local hero and 2010 world professional champion Neil Robertson handed out awards at the trophy presentation afterwards.

Written by Michael Day, published on the 19th August 2015.