Lough Erne Hotel
Kesh
Co. Fermanagh
N. Ireland
www.rballsports.com
www.loughernehotel.eu - updated!
Friday 27 February - Sunday 1 March 2009
2005 World Professional Snooker Champion Shaun Murphy presented the prizes at the 2009 Ireland's Invitation 8Ball Pro-Am Pool Classic to the winner Ben Davies (Wales) and the runner-up Gareth Potts (England). Gareth Potts was the current Pro-Am 8ball Champion and is also the current 2008 World 8Ball Champion.
Ben Davies is 2009 Ireland’s Invitation 8-Ball Pro-am Pool Classic Champion
The 2009 Ireland’s Invitation 8Ball Pro-Am Pool Classic returned to the Lough Erne Hotel Kesh Co. Fermanagh once again for it's annual event, which is regarded as the most prestigious Invitational tournament to take place in Ireland and also further afield when a host of past and present world champions from the game of 8 & 9ball pool and the world professional snooker circuit made their way to the Co. Fermanagh town to compete for the £9,000 prize-money which was up for grabs in this enjoyable event.
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Damien Corrigan (Tyrone) partnered world 8ball pool professional Marc Farnsworth (England, red wasitcoat) to victory in the £1000 Scotch Doubles Shoot-Out where 16 Irish players partnered 16 world professionals in this event.
Top 9Ball Player Karl Boyes who partnered Noel Brennan (Donegal) in the £1,000 Scotch Doubles Shoot-Out.
Manny Byrne (Down) who defeated the current 2008 Ladies World 8Ball Pool Champion Lynette Horsburgh in the last-32 of Ireland's Invitation 8Ball Pro-Am Pool Classic.
Shaun Murphy 2005 world professional snooker champion lost in the last-32 of Ireland's Invitation 8Ball Pro-Am Pool Classic to Billy Moore (Antrim).
1997 World Professional Snooker Champion Ken Doherty lost in the last-16 to Geoff Campbell (England).
Some of the invited players that competed in Ireland's Invitation 8Ball Pro-Am Pool Classic are pictured LtoR: Gareth Potts (England), Karl Boyes (England), Lynette Horsburgh (England), Ross Mc Innes (Scotland), Scott Gillespie (Scotland).
The semi-finalists (SF1) in Ireland's Invitation 8Ball Pro-Am Pool Classic, Scott Gillespie (Scotland) and Gareth Potts (England, runner-up).
The semi-finalists (SF2) in Ireland's Invitation 8Ball Pro-Am Pool Classic, Pat Holtz (Scotland) and Ben Davies (Wales, winner).
Former World 8Ball Champion Carl Morris defeated Billy Gorman (Belfast) in the final on a 5-3 score-line after Billy was leading 3-0 but couldn't finish the former world champion off.
This fantastic event cued-off on Friday evening with open qualifiers taking place in four different categories under-16, under-21, over 40’s and an open event with all qualifiers returning the next day for the group matches which was only limited to 16 groups of five played in a round robin format with the top two players progressing into the knockout stages with all group winners playing a group runner-up in their first match before meeting one of the invited professional players in the last-32 of the competition.
Sunday morning saw the start of the last-32 with the following Irish players north and south of the border making it through to the final stages Troy Prendergast (Dublin), Ben Mc Moran (Fintona, Tyrone), Stephen Dempsey (Cavan), Ronan Mc Carthy (Kircubin, Down), Brendan Mc Donagh (Dromore, Tyrone), Willie Eakin (Coleraine, Derry), Keith Bowden (Kilkenny), Mark Stockten (Newtownstewart, Tyrone), Damien Corrigan (Fintona, Tyrone), Billy Moore (Ballymoney, Antrim) Manny Byrne (Newry, Down) with the rest of the last-32 field of players representing England, Scotland and Wales with Ken Doherty and Shaun Murphy representing the world of professional snooker.
Good results in the last-32 came from the Irish players with Ronan Mc Carthy defeating Wayne Camm (England) on a 8-3 score-line with Manny Byrne putting in a brilliant performance to defeat the current Ladies world 8ball champion Lynette Horsburgh 8-5 while Tyrone’s Damien Corrigan lost to 1997 World Snooker Champion Ken Doherty 8-6 and Billy Moore put on a fantastic display to knockout the 2005 world professional snooker champion Shaun Murphy on a 8-3 score-line.
This annual event once again attracted a long list of world professional players which included the 2008 Ladies World 8Ball Champion Lynette Horsburgh, 2008 Men’s World 8Ball Champion and current holder of the event Gareth Potts and the 1997 & 2005 World Professional Snooker Champions Ken Doherty and Shaun Murphy just to mention a few but come Sunday evening their was only one player everyone was taking about and that was Wales fantastic cue-sport player Ben Davis who was crowned the 2009 Ireland’s Invitation 8Ball Pro-Am Pool Classic Champion taking out a unbelievable finish in the 18th game to defeat last year's champion Gareth Potts 10-8 in front of the large turnout of spectators.
On Ben’s route to lifting the title for the first time in this prestigious event which has of some great champions in its roll of honour list over the years, players like Jason Twist, Darren Appleton, Ross Mc Innes, Gareth Potts just to mention a few and now the Welsh Wizard Ben Davis has added his name to this quality list of past champions.
Ben started his winning campaign in the last-32 with a 8-3 victory over England’s 8ball professional Marc Farnsworth before overcoming the challenge of Ireland’s top international junior player Ben Mc Moran (Tyrone) in the last-16 with a 8-3 win.
The Welsh wizard kept his great run of form going, with another fantastic victory over Ronan Mc Carthy (N. Ireland) in the ¼-final on a 8-5 score-line and followed that up with the same score victory over Scotland’s top cue-sport player Pat Holtz in the semi-finals to reach his first final on Irish soil of Ireland’s Invitation 8Ball Pro-Am Pool Classic 2009 event.
In the final the Welshman came up against the defending champion and the current world 8ball champion Gareth Potts. With both players in tremendous form throughout the tournament, the defending champion taking a early 4-1 lead before Ben turned on the style to level the match at 4-4 with the rest of the games swinging from player to player with Ben holding the upper hand in the final straight with the Welsh wizard taking out probably the greatest finish ever seen to get over the line on a 10-8 score-line to be crowned the 2009 Ireland’s Invitation 8Ball Pro-Am Pool Classic Champion.
Shaun Murphy presents Ben Davies (Wales) with the £3,000 winner's cheque and the crystal trophy for winning the 2009 Ireland's Invitation 8Ball Pro-Am Pool Classic.
The presentation was made by 2005 World Professional Snooker Champion Shaun Murphy who presented the £3,000 first prize and the crystal trophy to Ben Davis (Wales) with Gareth Potts (England) receiving £1,500 for the runner-up prize.
IRELAND'S INVITATION 8 BALL PRO-AM POOL CLASSIC | ||
THE LAST 32 | ||
Ben Mc Moran (Tyrone) | 8 : 4 | Mick Hill (England) |
Ben Davies (Wales) | 8 : 4 | Marc Farnsworth (England) |
Scott Ross (Scotland) | 8 : 2 | Stephen Dempsey (Cavan) |
Ronan Mc Carthy (Down) | 8 : 3 | Wayne Camm (England) |
Simon Ward (Wales) | 8 : 3 | Pat O’ Kane (N. Ireland) |
Ross Mc Innes (Scotland) | 8 : 4 | Brendan Mc Donagh (Tyrone) |
Andy Crosdale (Scotland) | 8 : 2 | Willie Eakin (Derry) |
Pat Holtz (Scotland) | 8 : 6 | Troy Prendergast (Dublin) |
Ken Doherty (Ireland) | 8 : 6 | Damien Corrigan (Tyrone) |
Geoff Campbell (England) | 8 : 6 | Tom Cousins (Wales) |
Scott Gillespie (Scotland) | 8 : 6 | Carl Morris (England) |
Jason Shaw (Scotland) | 8 : 6 | Keith Bowden (Kilkenny) |
Karl Boyes (England) | 8 : 6 | JJ Faul (England) |
Billy Moore (Antrim) | 8 : 6 | Shaun Murphy (England) |
Manny Byrne (Down) | 8 : 6 | Lynette Horsburgh (England) |
Gareth Potts (England) | 8 : 6 | Mark Stockton (Tyrone) |
IRELAND'S INVITATION 8 BALL PRO-AM POOL CLASSIC | ||
THE LAST 16 | ||
Ben Davies | 8 : 4 | Ben McMoran |
Ronan McCarthy | 8 : 4 | Scott Ross |
Simon Ward | 8 : 2 | Ross McInness |
Pat Holtz | 8 : 3 | Andy Croasdale |
Geoff Campbell | 8 : 3 | Ken Doherty |
Scott Gillespie | 8 : 4 | Jason Shaw |
Karl Boyes | 8 : 2 | Billy Moore |
Gareth Potts | 8 : 6 | Manny Byrne |
IRELAND'S INVITATION 8 BALL PRO-AM POOL CLASSIC | ||
THE QUARTER FINALS | ||
Ben Davies | 8 : 5 | Ronan Mc Carthy |
Pat Holtz | 8 : 4 | Simon Ward |
Scott Gillespie | 8 : 4 | Geoff Campbell |
Gareth Potts | 8 : 4 | Karl Boyes |
IRELAND'S INVITATION 8 BALL PRO-AM POOL CLASSIC | ||
THE SEMI FINALS | ||
Ben Davies | 8 : 5 | Pat Holtz |
Gareth Potts | 8 : 5 | Scott Gillespie |
IRELAND'S INVITATION 8 BALL PRO-AM POOL CLASSIC | ||
THE FINAL | ||
Ben Davies | 10 : 8 | Gareth Potts |
£1,000 Scotch Doubles Shoot-Out
Tyrone’s Damien Corrigan partnered 8ball professional Marc Farnsworth (England) to victory in the new £1,000 Scotch Doubles Shoot-Out winner takes all event defeating a host of top teams along the way to claim the title which included Simon Ward / Nigel Rennicks, Karl Boyes / Noel Brennan, Pat Holtz / David Mc Quillan and former world champion Carl Morris / Keith Bowden in an entertaining final.
£1,000 Plate Tournament
The former world 8ball champion Carl Morris put in a fine performance to claim the £500 first prize in the £1000 plate competition which was open to all players who didn’t make the ¼-finals of the main event or players that didn’t come out of their group.
In the final Carl had to come from 3-0 down against Billy Gorman (Antrim) who played outstanding pool to reach the final but it was the former world 8ball champion who got over the line on a 5-3 score-line to lift the title and the £500 first prize with Billy receiving £250 for his efforts.
On route to victory Carl defeated Alan Maxwell (Scotland, 3-0, last-64), Wayne Camm (England, 3-1, last-32), Chris Beattie (Tyrone, 3-0, last-16), Ross Mc Innes (Scotland, 3-0, ¼-finals), Tom Cousins (Wales, 3-0, semi-finals) and Billy Gorman (Antrim, 5-3, final).
THE PLATE QUARTER-FINALS | ||
Tom Cousins (Wales) | 3 : 0 | Conor Mc Cooey (Down) |
Carl Morris (England) | 3 : 0 | Ross Mc Innes (Scotland) |
Billy Gorman (Antrim) | 3 : 1 | Seamus Doyle (Tyrone) |
Antz Morrison (Scotland) | 3 : 1 | Seamus Mc Ardle Jr. (Tyrone) |
THE PLATE SEMI-FINALS | ||
Carl Morris | 3 : 1 | Tom Cousins |
Billy Gorman | 3 : 1 | Antz Morrison |
THE PLATE FINAL | ||
Carl Morris | 5 : 3 | Billy Gorman |
Paul Tierney (Meath) winner of Friday nights celebrity pro-am poker tournament and shared the prize on Saturday nights event as well with Pat Holtz.
Friday Night Poker Tournament
Ireland’s 8 & 9ball pool player Paul Tierney (Meath) came through a strong field of poker players including last years champion Ross Mc Innes on the Friday night to take the first prize in the Celebrity Pro-Am Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament at the 2009 Ireland’s Invitation 8Ball Pro-Am Pool Classic and then made the final two on the Saturday nights tournament sharing the pot with Scotland’s top cue-sport player Pat Holtz.
Fantastic display from the Co. Meath player who can turn his hand to any sport and that includes on the green baize where he is highly ranked on Ireland’s 8 & 9Ball Pool Tours.
Pat Holtz (Scotland) who shared the prize pot with Paul Tierney (Meath) in Saturday nights celebrity pro-am poker event.
Saturday Night Poker Tournament
Scotland’s all round professional cue-sport player Pat Holtz showed he can be called Mr Silky at the poker table as well when he showed all his skill over his fellow professionals and team-mates to reach the final two in Saturday’s night Celebrity Pro-Am Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament at the 2009 Ireland’s Invitation 8Ball Pro-Am Pool Classic before sharing the prize-pot with Co. Meath’s Paul Tierney played at the Lough Erne Hotel, Kesh, Co. Fermanagh………..PLEASE CLICK ON CELEBRITY POKER CLASSICS ON THE LEFT-HAND-SIDE OF THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE…… www.rballsports.com
Thanks...
The organisers would like to take this opportunity in thanking the sponsors, all the players, including all the world professional invites from the game of 8ball, 9ball, and snooker, the large turnout of spectators, table fitter Damien Corrigan, and all the helpers Ben Mc Moran, Barry Cunningham, Mathew Campbell, and Paul Heaney, MC and joint organiser John Mc Mahon , the local and national press who covered the event, all pool websites and last but no way least to Gary, Caroline, Catherine, Sam and Ann of the host venue Lough Erne Hotel and all the rest of their hard working staff for the tremendous hospitality they give to each and every player over this great and enjoyable weekend once again.
Also a very special thanks must go to Keith Bowden and his wife for streaming all the matches on the main table doing a brilliant job all weekend with all recordings being shown shortly on the new internet TV website which is being set-up to cover local sport in Ireland such as 8 & 9ball pool, darts, snooker just to mention a few.
If anyone would like to receive information on this new internet TV website just send your name and email address to rbirish8ball@yahoo.com
NEXT YEARS EVENT
If their is anyone from overseas or from throughout Ireland that would like to organise a trip for their friends, spectators or other players for this annual and prestigious 8ball pro-am event either to play or just over for the weekend can do so by calling 07917887147 or 086-8211302 and travel packages will be arranged.