WORLDPOOL OO Keltic Cup 2011 - Northern Ireland v Wales
The Keltic Cup tournament was held at Racks Pool Club, Balleymoney, Northern Ireland on Fri18th – Sun.20thMarch Weekend started with Team Wales taking on local league sides, followed by Welsh professionals Wayne Smith/Oly Bale performing an exhibition routine to round the night off.
INDIVIDUAL EVENT commenced Sat. when players were drawn into groups, two qualifying each group. All the international players came through to leave the following line up.
Quarter Finals Russell Burgess bt Paul Penhale 6-0, Oly Bale bt Gareth Johnstone 6-4, Ryan Craig bt Nigel Craig 6-4, Wayne Smith bt Thomas Morrow 6-1
Semi Finals First semi final saw good friends Oly Bale take on Russell Burgess. The match did not last long as Oly took every chance that came his way. Russell made few mistakes but lost 6 – 3. Other semi final went all the way as bothWayne Smith and Ryan Craig traded frames from the break. Ryan went into a 2 – 0 lead but Wayne dug deep and responded in quick fire fashion to level the match. They both then traded frames before the match was poised at 5 – 5 with Ryan at the table, he made a basic error to let Wayne in for the victory at 6 – 5.
Final The final was to be an all Welsh battle between theWelsh captainWayne Smith and Number one welsh player Oly Bale. The match was always tight with both players taking the first opportunity every time to clear the table. The scores were level at 5 – 5 when Oly Bale took out a massive finish to lead 6 – 5. Oly then broke and had game on. He quickly cleared the table but missed a pressure long pot on his last ball to leave Wayne the chance to level. Wayne steadily took them out to level the match at 6 – 6. Smith broke in the final frame and potted four balls to leave the easiest of finishes to take the title of Keltic Cup Individual Champion 2011 by 7 frames to 6.
Doubles Sunday sawthe start of the scotch doubles event with seeded players being drawn with local players to give all players a chance. The final was contested between local players Gareth Johnstone / Jordan Craig and Wayne Smith / Marc Cochrane. It was a quality final with every player playing well but it was Wayne and Marc who came out
on top with 3 total clearances in a row. Wayne/Marc bt Gareth/Jordan 3 frames to 2.
Keltic Cup Wales were in a confident mood after recently picking up the crown of European 8 ball pool champions and were determined to retain the Keltic cup for the second year. The match started well forWales as theywent into a 4 – 1 leadwith every player winning their frames in the first session except Paul Penhale who lost to Thomas Morrow. Northern Ireland bounced straight back when Thomas Morrow beat Wayne Smith and Nigel Craig taking out Russell Burgess. The score then quickly went to 6 – 3 with wins for Paul Penhale and Oly Bale.
Wales ended the second session 7 – 3 up when European player of the tournament Paul Hawkins dished from the break against Gregory Feeney. Wayne smith then added another frame as he beat Chris Mulholland, but again Northern Ireland bounced back with Nigel Craig recording a win over Oly Bale. The match was finally ended when Russell Burgess, Paul Penhale and Paul Hawkins quickly cleared for a well fought 11 – 4 victory toWales.
Thank you to Nigel and Nicola Craig for hosting such an excellent event, the venue is a credit to Northern Ireland with quality Supreme tables throughout.
Wales now look forward to the World Championships in Blackpool, aiming to become champions of the world, making it a double for the mens team with their recent European Championship win, plus the Wales Ladies looking to retain theirWorld title won in 2010.
Wales Ladies -World Champions 2010 21
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