By now all 80+ players and officials should be safely home from Bridlington after another great EBA European Championship of Blackball Pool in the Spa Arena. Team NI can be upbeat as many teams and individuals held their own and more against some of Europe's finest. None more so than Collette Henriksen who is the new 2016 Ladies European Individual Champion. The Fermanagh lass swept all before her aside as she added the European title to the Nations title won in November 2015. Let's hope it can be a fantastic treble at the World Championships in Killarney in November. Our Masters A Team once again excelled reaching the Final of their section.
Round up -
Men's
A - Performed very well under Ady Toner to get out of the group of 13
nations to reach the Semi Final play off. Lost out to a classy Welsh
team who went on to become 2016 European Champions
Top % scorer - Lee Hull (Coleraine)
Ladies
A - Jean McIlroy's team got off to a slow start but eventually found
their form to qualify for the Semi Finals where they lost out to
England.
Top % scorer - Collette Henriksen (Enniskillen) with Michelle Roonay (Enniskillen) finishing joint top of whole Ladies section for most frames won
Seniors
A - Not expected to make it out of the group but the lads were
fantastic for new Manager Brian Crilly beating current World Champions Ireland and reigning European Champions
England. Lost to Scotland in Semi Finals.
Top % scorer - Brian Crilly (Bangor). Brian also finished joint top in the whole section for most frames won
Masters A - Best showing of all our teams, Eric Sterrett's lads won the group and then progressed to the final only to lose out to a very strong Scotland team.
Masters A - Best showing of all our teams, Eric Sterrett's lads won the group and then progressed to the final only to lose out to a very strong Scotland team.
Top % scorer - Stephen Johnston (Lisburn). Stephen also finished top of the whole Seniors A section for most frames won
Men's
B1 - Like the Seniors A, written off by many and not expected to get
out of the group. But some great performances seen Rab McCullough guide
his team to the Semi Final stage where despite staging a comeback from 1-8 down to
11-11 they lost out to Scotland B1s.
Top % scorer - Rab McCullough (Belfast). Rab also finished top of the whole Mens B section for most frames won
Ladies B1 - Susan Graham's team struggled to make an impact against tough opposition
Top % scorer - Alex Babb (Newtownards)
Ladies B2 - Joanne Podbylski's girls laboured and finished bottom of their group.
Top % scorer - Sally Caughey (Bangor)
Seniors B1 - Good start in the early group matches for Dessie Cooper's side but they missed out on qualifyication for the Knock Out stage
Top % scorer - Andy McMeekin (Newtownabbey)
Seniors B2 - Paul Withers' lads truggled in a tough group ending up in bottom place
Top % scorer - Kenny English (Whitehead)
Masters B1 - Great showing by Hugo Manson's lads, again getting out of their group but lost out to eventual winners Scotland B1.
Top % scorer - Alan Corrigan (Carrickfergus)
So it's onwards and upwards, already the planning has begun for the 2016 World Championships in Killarney and the 2016 B Team Nations Cup on home soil in Coleraine both in October. The NIPA would like to thanks all the travelling players and officials for their efforts and commitments and support of each other during the tournament.
Photos
Collette proudly displays her European winners trophy and our Masters A Team who won their group and were Runners Up in the Final
