Ronnie Boyle
N.Ireland 07776365059
Rep of Ireland 0044 7776365059
www.irelands9balltour.com
rb@irelands9balltour.com
11 March 2006
Paddy Mc Laughlin (left) from County Down is crowned The Fermanagh Open Champion
with fellow finalist Gary Johnson (Antrim).
Mc Laughlin Claims Another Ranking Tournament
Last Saturday saw a great turn out of players from throughout the 32 Counties of Ireland make there way to Enniskillen for the fourth staging of the 2006 Fermanagh 9-Ball Open Pool Championships.
It was also great to see a good turn out of young junior players who also made the trip where they all put in good performances in their very first senior event and no more so than the two times junior ranking tour champion 12 year-old Ben Mc Moran (Tyrone) who played outstanding pool in his group matches against Ireland’s top ranked players.
Click on "Read More..." for the details.
Ben was leading the tournaments number 5 seed Brendan Mc Dermott (Donegal) 4-3 and lost the match 5-4 and did the same to Steve Kovacs (Hungary) the number 12 seed and also lost 5-4. In his last match Ben defeated Sean Judge (Belfast) on a 5-3 score-line and showed everyone what a great talent this young player has in the game of 9-ball.
Paddy Mc Laughlin went into the tournament as the number one seed but had to fight all the way to make it out of the groups as the runner-up player over Dillon Mc Cann (Dublin) and James Higgins (Sligo) after Gary Johnson (Antrim) topped the group winning all his matches also defeating Paddy 5-3 along the way.
In the last-16 the number one seed had another scare against Damien Corrigan (Tyrone) after Damien made a mistake while clearing up at 6-6 but Paddy stepped in to take full advantage and just make it over the line on a 7-6 score-line.
In the ¼-finals Paddy came from 3-1 down to run out a 7-4 winner over Steve Kovacs (Hungary) in another great match and followed that up with the same score-line victory over the tournaments number 7 seed Paul Strawbridge (Derry) 7-4 to make it once again into another ranking tournament final.
While Paddy had made it into the final he was still waiting and watching with great interest who his opponent was going to be and that player was Gary Johnson (Antrim).
Gary has become the most improved and feared player on Ireland’s American 8 & 9 Ball Pool Tour where he’s starting to storm up the rankings with his great performances to date and that was proved on Saturday after he made it into the final with some great results over the tour's top players.
Gary started his route to the final in the last-16 with a 7-1 victory over Billy Gorman (Belfast) and followed that up with 7-3 win over the tournament's number 9 seed Manny Byrne (Down).
Paul Strawbridge and Paddy McLaughlin.
The semi-final saw Gary come from 3-0 down against Tommy Mc Quaid (Monaghan) to run out a 7-5 winner and make it into his first every ranking tournament final on Ireland’s American 8 & 9 Ball Pool Tour.
In the final, both players, Paddy Mc Laughlin (1 seed) and Gary Johnson (16 seed) met once again to see who would be crowned the 2006 Fermanagh Open 9-Ball Champion and be placed on the Roll of Honour alongside Ronnie Boyle (Tyrone - 2003 winner), Brendan Mc Dermott (Donegal - 2004 winner), and Gareth Deegan Dublin - 2005 winner).
Gary just couldn’t get things going in the final and it was Paddy who kept his good form and true class to date to run out a worthy winner on a 9-0 score-line to be crowned the 2006 Fermanagh 9-Ball Champion and extend his lead as the number one ranked player on Ireland’s American 8 & 9 Ball Pool Tour.
RESULTS
The Last 16
Gary Johnson (Antrim) 7-1 Billy Gorman (Belfast)
Manny Byrne (Down) 7-6 Michael Mc Laughlin (Donegal)
Sean Judge (Belfast) 7-5 Daniel Gorman (Belfast)
Tommy Mc Quaid (Monaghan) 7-5 Gareth Deegan (Dublin)
Steve Kovacs (Hungary) 7-4 Ronnie Boyle (Tyrone)
Paddy Mc Laughlin (Down) 7-6 Damien Corrigan (Tyrone)
Paul Strawbridge (Derry) 7-6 Gerald Elliman (Belfast)
Stephen Johnson (Antrim) 7-6 Paul Bonner (Donegal)
The Quarter Finals
Gary Johnson 7-3 Manny Byrne
Tommy Mc Quaid 7-3 Sean Judge
Paddy Mc Laughlin 7-4 Steve Kovacs
Paul Strawbridge 7-4 Stephen Johnson
Gary Johnston and Tommy McQuaid.
The Semi Finals
Gary Johnson 7-5 Tommy Mc Quaid
Paddy Mc Laughlin 7-4 Paul Strawbridge
The Final
Paddy Mc Laughlin 9-0 Gary Johnson