CHAMPIONSHIPS CANCELLED

Hi all 

It will probably be of no surprise to you that the 2020-2021 Northern Ireland Individuals (all categories) are now cancelled. The Championships were due to be held in late October and early November in Antrim Sports Club.

Everyone who paid by PayPal will receive a full refund of all fees paid over the next couple of days.

Could anyone who paid their fees by Bank Transfer please send their Name, Sort Code and Account Number to Gillian Rolston on Messenger to receive their refunds.

We are all gutted and can only hope we will all get back to playing Pool in the not too distant future.

Meanwhile everyone take care

NIPA Committee - Pauline, Gillian, Wayne

The 2020 - 2021 NORTHERN IRELAND INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

*** PLEASE NOTE AMENDED DATES ***

We are delighted to announce that we have confirmed arrangements for the 2020-2021 Northern Ireland Individual Blackball Championships which were originally postponed due to the Covid 19 Virus. Obviously these dates are dependent on the ongoing situation in the country and guidance from Stormont.

OUR SINCERE CONDOLENCES

Yet again we have to offer our condolences to the loved ones of one of the NI Pool family. Rosemary Taggart, who was a constant attendee at Northern Ireland Special Pool events at home and abroad supporting her daughter Valerie, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, September 22nd. 

Our thoughts are with the whole family circle at this very sad time. 

In the photo Rosemary (right) with daughter Valerie. Rosemary was a huge part of Valerie's successes in winning multiple titles at World, European and National level 

OUR SINCERE CONDOLENCES

The NIPA Committee would like to pass on our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Jason McBride from Ballycastle who passed away suddenly on Sunday 20th September. 

Jason, 35, played in our Learning Disabilities Section and represented Northern Ireland proudly on many occasions. He will be sadly missed at events at home and further afield.

Thinking of the the family circle at this very sad time.

OUR SINCERE CONDOLENCES

 

The Committee of the NIPA would like to pass on our sincere condolences to Ballymena's Corey-Lee Brett on the recent passing of his partner Shaciara McDowell aged 18 years.

Our thoughts are very much with you Corey-Lee and the entire family circle at this very sad time.

LODGE WEEKEND CANCELLED

ANNOUNCEMENT

It is with a heavy heart that we inform you know that a decision has been taken to cancel the Northern Ireland Individual Championships & Willie Lucas Super 7s weekend due to be held in the Lodge Hotel from 23-25th October. With the current Covid 19 restrictions and legislation and continued uncertainty, it would just not be feasible to hold this as planned.

We are currently looking at all other options and we will update you as soon as we can but the safety of our members has to be paramount.

Anyone who had booked a room in the Lodge Hotel, please cancel as soon as possible as they cannot be sure who all was staying for the competition.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact us via email or private message.

Hope to catch up with you all soon.

 

Gillian (Secretary)

OUR CONDOLENCES

The Committee of the NIPA would like to pass on our condolences to member Greg Stevenson on the passing of his father Robert on Thursday 13th August.

Robert passed away peacefully at home after a long term illness.

Greg, our thoughts are with you and your family at this sad time

OUR CONDOLENCES

The Committee of the NIPA would like to pass on our sincere condolences to Mike Leavens on the passing of his wife Jenny today 3oth July after an illness. Jenny represented England for many years on the green baize and also officiated and refereed. Husband Mike was a long time European Blackball Association and Blackball International Committee member. 

Jenny's friendly personality will be very sadly missed at future events.

Our thoughts are with Mike and the wider family circle at this sad time.

 

2021 EBA European Championships

Dates for the 2021 European Championships to be held in Bridlington, England have been confirmed as follows -

MONDAY 26th APRIL to WEDNESDAY 5th MAY

These are the playing days. As soon as we have the breakdown for Unders, Specials, Mens, Ladies, Overs and Wheelchair we will publish them here.

Obviously this event going ahead is dependent on conditions at the time relating to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

2020 EBA NATIONS CUP OF POOL FOR 'B' TEAMS

The 2020 EBA Nations Cup of Pool for 'B' Teams only is scheduled to take place on the following dates, hosted by the Irish Blackball Association -

Saturday 31st October to Thursday 5th November (6 playing days total)

The venue is the fantastic Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney which previously hosted the 2015 EBA Nations Cup and the 2016 Blackball International World Championship

Players must stay within the Gleneagle complex and book only via the official booking process which will be announced later.

2020 BI World Championships cancelled

CORONA VIRUS COVID 19

****ANNOUNCEMENT****

Please note that all NIPA events have been postponed until further notice. Anyone who has paid money for the events on Sunday 29th March please contact me and I will send you a refund.

Stay safe everyone and take care.

Gillian Rolston

On behalf of the Executive Committee

2020 INTERLEAGUE 'A' TEAM CHAMPIONS - NEWRY

2020 INTERLEAGUE PLATE WINNERS - CRUMLIN

2020 INTERLEAGUE 'B' TEAM CHAMPIONS - BALLYMENA B1

2020 INTERLEAGUE 'B' PLATE WINNERS - BALLYMENA B2

BRIDLINGTON CANCELLED

COMMITTEE STATEMENT ON 2020 NATIONS CUP

Up until this point the thinking of the EBA committee has been that it was best for all if the UK government made a decision that events such as the Nations Cup would be banned from happening . The reason for this was that we had received advice that in the case of a government ban there was a possibility that accommodation, boat fares and flights monies could be reclaimed. We also have had to consider the possibility of financial penalties being imposed on the EBA by the SPA if the event was cancelled by ourselves, rather than by government. We thought such a statement would have been forthcoming from the government after the last meeting of their Cobra committee and like many others we were amazed no such decision was announced.

Obviously we assume such banning orders will be put in place soon by the government but due to the uncertainty this policy is creating among our members we now feel it is time the EBA officially cancelled the event and as a result will have to accept any consequences of doing so.

We also have considered the fact that even if the event were to go ahead the numbers attending due to nations/teams and individual players deciding not to attend would be of such a low number that the event itself would no longer hold any credibility.

Finally and foremost, this decision has been taken with the wellbeing of players and officials being of paramount importance to the EBA, to carry on with the event would have been a total neglect of our duty of care to every player.

We trust you will understand this decision has been taken with great regret by the committee, but we would encourage you to support us in that decision.

In regard to the 2020 AGM obviously it is no longer will be feasible to hold it in Bridlington on the proposed date. A new date and venue will be circulated when a suitable venue close to an international airport has been secured. I imagine that the meeting will not take place now for a few months when hopefully things will be a lot better

Yours in sport

Trevor Harte

EBA secretary on behalf of the EBA committee

COUNTDOWN TO THE INTERLEAGUE

This coming weekend sees the 2020 NIPA Interleague Events take place, an event in our calendar that so many local League players up, down and across the country look forward to as they represent their League with pride. The venue is the Queens Hall in Newtownards and another two exciting days of competitive pool are sure to be played out.

Saturday sees the 'B' Team Event with ten eleven person teams competing and Sunday the 'A' Event with eleven Leagues vying for the title. We welcome two new Leagues to the Interleague this season, Newry and South Armagh. We hope you enjoy the Pool and the craic guys.

'B' EVENT
Ballymena B1, Ballymena B2, Coleraine B1, Carrick B1, Carrick B2, Newry B1, Ards B1, Ards B2, North Down & Ards B1, NI Ladies

'A' EVENT
Carrick, Ards, Ballymena, Coleraine, Newry, South Armagh, North Down & Ards, Dromara, Crumlin, Ballynahinch, Belfast

REMINDER
PLEASE LEAVE HOME IN PLENTY OF TIME TO GET PARKED AND INTO THE VENUE.  ON ARRIVAL TEAM CAPTAINS TO COME UP TO THE TOP TABLE AND OBTAIN YOUR TEAM REGISTRATION SHEET

Venue - Open from 10.00am.
Team registration - Closes at 11.00am. One player from a team can register the names for that whole team. Any team not registered by 11.00am will lose one frame for every five minutes late in registering, this will apply to each match that particular team has in the Group stages. Once the Event has started no further names can be added to the team sheet.
Address - Queens Hall, West Street, Newtownards, BT23 4EN
Parking - Yes, in behind venue
Dress code - Yes, dress trousers, shirt with collar (no football tops), dress shoes. CAN TEAM CAPTAINS PLEASE REMIND ALL PLAYERS
Format - Main Event & Plate Event
Criteria - Players to have played in at least two League fixture this season for the League they are representing. Players cannot play in both 'A' and 'B' Events.
Team size - 11 A side, can register 15

T&Cs subject to change

Top photo - 2019 'A' Team Winners, Carrick & District League
Bottom Photo - 2019 'A' Team Plate Winners, Belfast & District League

NIPA 2020 AMATEUR & INTERMEDIATE EVENTS 2

We are now taking entries for these two Events which will be played on Sunday 29th March. Amateur Event 2 will be played in the Q.Club, Larne and Intermediate Event 2 in Reds, Ballymena.

32 players maximum in each Event, no Elite players

Only payment secures your spot. Please send £30 (£25 + £5 registration) by either of the following ways -

1/ - In person to Gillian Rolston, Pauline Lynch or Wayne Lewis
2/ - Paypal – To gillianrolston@outlook.com (Friends & Family option) Please reference your name and Event number/date
3/ Online bank transfer. Please reference your name and Event number/date
Sort code 090129
Account number 41085059

PAYMENT BY SUNDAY 15th MARCH PLEASE TO GUARANTEE YOUR SPOT

AMATEUR
01 - Jim Gilchrist (PAID)
02 - Neil McFaul
03 - Anthony McCorry
04 - Ryan Marcus
05 - Dean McDonagh
06 - Galvin McDermott
07 - Gerard McDermott
08 - Cathal Mathews (PAID)
09 - Oisin Wallace
10 - Gavin Doran
11 - Stephen Johnston
12 - Raymond Christie
13 - Gary Wallace
14 - Lee McIlreavy
15 - Robbie Malcolm
16 - Andrew Maguire
17 - Tony Tennyson
18 - Gavin Patton
19 - Marty Goudie
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32

INTERMEDIATE
01 - Stevie Ferris (PAID)
02 - Jack Devlin
03 - Gareth Rowe
04 - Ciaran Reid
05 - Stephen Quinn (PAID)
06 - Mark Davison
07 - Andrew McGregor
08 - Ryan McCarten (PAID)
09 - Ryan Tosh
10 - Scott Agnew
11 - James King
12 - Jordan McKee (PAID)
13 - Gary Patterson (PAID)
14 - David Mitchell (PAID)
15 - Joe Patton (PAID)
16 - Ryan Scott
17 - Connor McQuillan (PAID)
18 - Gary Kinney (PAID)
19 - Daniel McMillan
20 - Paddy Lynch (PAID)
21- Jason Horner
22 - Dean Reid
23 - Niall McCarthy
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32

NIPA ELITE EVENT 1

We had some really high quality Pool yesterday at our inaugural £100 a man Elite Event 1 in Potters Snooker & Pool Club in Coleraine. The Prelim match between Rab McCullough and Declan Brennan had no less than 13 break and dishes/reverse dishes with Rab coming through on a deciding frame whilst Runner Up James Nesbitt came from 0-5 down in his Semi Final to win 10-8 with some superb clearances of his own. But when all was said and done and the final black of the day was potted it was the methodical genius Thomas Morrow who took the £550 top prize back home to Ballymoney.

Our next event moves on to Tossies Pool Academy in Enniskillen on Sunday 31st May. Elite players have until 30th April to confirm their entry by a £25 deposit then if all 16 maximum spaces are not filled it will be open to all individuals or for clubs/pubs to hold qualifiers. To enter please contact NIPA Secretary Gillian Rolston on Messenger. Elite players (list not exhaustive) Declan Brennan, Ronan McCarthy, Thomas Morrow, Rab McCullough, Rab Fee, Gary Clarke, Pat McAnally, James Nesbitt, Brian Crilly, Richie Comiskey, Paddy Clarke, Drew Sloan, Ronan Fay, Gerard Heaney, any Snooker Pro

PRELIMS

Rab McCullough 10-9 Declan Brennan

Ronan McCarthy 10-5 Aaron Farr

QUARTER FINALS

Rab McCullough 10-5 Ronan McCarthy

Tommy Morrow 10-4 Stephen Quinn

James Nesbitt 10-2 Ryan Marcus

Marty Goudie 10-4 Willie Eakin

SEMI FINALS

Tommy Morrow 10-7 Rab McCullough

James Nesbitt 10-8 Marty Goudie

FINAL

Tommy Morrow 10-8 James Nesbitt

HANDICAP RANGE (+0) to (+4) max

(+0) Declan Brennan, Thomas Morrow, Ronan McCarthy

(+1) Rab McCullough

(+2) James Nesbitt

(+3) Marty Goudie , Ryan Marcus, Willie Eakin

(+4) Aaron Farr, Stephen Quinn

In the photo - Finalists Tommy Morrow (left) and James Nesbitt with NIPA Secretary Gillian Rolston