Ireland’s American 8 & 9 Ball Pool Tour
Ronnie Boyle
N.Ireland 07776365059
Rep of Ireland 0044 7776365059
www.irelands9balltour.com
rb@irelands9balltour.com
13 June 2006
Jim Mc Quillan (owner of tournament venue) presents Steve Kovacs (Hungary, winner) and Ronnie Boyle (Tyrone, runner-up) with their prizes after the final of the 2006 Irish American 8Ball Masters.
Hungary’s Top Pool Player Wins 2006 Irish American 8-Ball Masters
THE BRILLIANT Hungarian Cueist Steve Kovacs (Hungary) captured his second official ranking tournament on Ireland’s American 8 & 9 Ball Pool Tour in the matter of a few months adding to his Cork 9-Ball Open victory, but was facing defeat in the last-16 coming from 5-2 down to run out a 6-5 winner over Wexford’s Leslie Walsh.
Players from all arts and parts of Ireland travelled to Newry on Saturday past to take part in the staging of the 2006 Irish American 8-Ball Masters which was an official ranking tournament with double ranking points on offer.
Click on "Read More..." for the details.
The 2006 event was organised and played in a round robin format in groups of four and five with the top players from each group progressing to the knockout stages of the competition.
Steve went into the tournament as the tournament's number 8 seed and topped his group with four wins out of four over a host of the tour's top players. Starting the ball rolling with 4-0 victory over Eddie Gahan (Dublin), Steve followed that up in his next two matches with the same score win over Martin Savage (Louth) and Mark Doherty (Donegal).
In Steve’s last group game once again saw Leslie Walsh (Wexford) a tough opponent for the Hungarian by just getting over the line on a 4-3 victory to top the group and progress the knockout stages with Leslie Walsh taking the runner-up spot.
From the last-16 the Hungarian once again kept his good run of form going but on this occasion just getting over the line on a 6-5 score-line coming from 5-2 down against the inform Leslie Walsh from Wexford.
Paul Tierney (Meath) beaten semi-finalist pictured with Steve Kovacs (Hungary) after their match.
In the ¼-finals Steve ran out a 6-2 winner over the tours number one ranked player Paul Strawbridge (Derry) and followed that up with a 6-0 whitewash over Paul Tierney (Meath) in the semi-finals to progress to another ranking tournament final in the matter of a few months.
In the final he would come against Tyrone’s Ronnie Boyle who went into the tournament as the number two seed and played good solid pool throughout the day by topping his group with three wins out of three over Chris Hodge (USA, 5-4), Phil Tierney (Dublin, 5-0), and Eddie Mallon (Down, 5-2).
The knockout stages saw Ronnie take his good run of form with him to the final recording impressive victories over some of the tour's top players to make it into the last 16.
Stephen Johnson (Antrim) beaten semi-finalist pictured with Ronnie Boyle (Tyrone) after their match.
In the last 16, the Tyrone player defeated Vernon Wall from Meath, 6-1 before following that up with another great result over the tournament's number 7 seed Joe O’ Driscoll from Dublin on a 6-2 score-line in the ¼-finals.
In the semi-finals Ronnie came up against Stephen Johnson (Antrim) the tournament's number 3 seed and the player who defeated him in the final of last year's Donegal American 8-Ball Open. This time round the Tyrone player played great pool to run out a 6-3 winner and book his place in the final of the 2006 Irish American 8-Ball Masters.
Final
So the stage was set for final of the 2006 Irish American 8-Ball Masters when Ronnie Boyle from Tyrone would take on the impressive former Hungarian International Steve Kovacs.
Both players playing out of there skin, winning rack for rack with neither player taking a two rack lead, but Ronnie did miss a fairly easy ball with the black hanging over the pocket to go 6-4 up but lost it so the scores remain 5 each before both players shared the last two racks as well to level the over all score at 6-6 going into the last and final rack with the Hungarian player breaking.
The last and deciding rack saw the Hungarian produce a great break where he cleared up not giving Ronnie a shot, to be crowned the 2006 Irish American 8-Ball Masters Champion for the first time adding to his recent victory in the Cork 9-Ball Open a few months ago.
All in all it was a great final as well as another great tournament, hosted by Ireland’s American 8 & 9 Ball Pool Tour and not forgetting the hospitality each and every player received from the venue hosts Jim and Teresa Mc Quillan of TJ’s American pool club Newry plus a big thanks to all the players who turned up from near and far from throughout Ireland.
Results - The Last 16
Paul Strawbridge (Derry) 6-2 Dermott Field (Monaghan)
Steve Kovacs (Hungary) 6-5 Leslie Walsh (Wexford)
Gareth Deegan (Dublin) 6-2 Eddie Mallon (Down)
Paul Tierney (Meath) 6-5 Ian Condron (Dublin)
Stephen Johnson (Antrim) 6-0 Sean Mc Bride (Monaghan)
Chris Brown (Derry) 6-0 Ben Mc Moran (Tyrone)
Joe O’ Driscoll (Dublin) 6-4 Raymond Field (Monaghan)
Ronnie Boyle (Tyrone) 6-1 Vernon Wall (Meath)
The Quarter-Finals
Steve Kovacs 6-2 Paul Strawbridge
Paul Tierney 6-4 Gareth Deegan
Stephen Johnson 6-3 Chris Brown
Ronnie Boyle 6-2 Joe O’ Driscoll
The Semi-Finals:
Steve Kovacs 6-0 Paul Tierney
Ronnie Boyle 6-3 Stephen Johnson
The Final
Steve Kovacs 7-6 Ronnie Boyle
Next Events
The next two events to occur on Ireland’s American 8 & 9 Ball Pool Tour will be the 2006 West of Ireland 9-Ball Championships taking place in Galway City Centre on Saturday 24th June followed by the biggest event on the tours official tournament diary the 2006 All Ireland 9-Ball Open Championships in men’s, ladies and under-21 categories taking place in Belfast City Centre on Saturday 29th July 2006. For all information contact 07776365059 or visit the tour's official website: www.irelands9balltour.com