RYAN MARCUS - NEW NAME ON THE TROPHY !!!
Well where do we start ? What a fantastic weekend in Antrim Sports Club as we crowned a new 2021-2022 Northern Ireland Men's Individual Champion.
And it is none other than 18 year old Ryan Marcus from Larne who overcame all in a field of 128 to beat the experienced Paddy Clarke by 8-4 in the Final. Most of the punters had predicted a Brennan v McCarthy Final as the two Professionals were in different sides of the draw and indeed it looked odds on as both made their way steadily to the Semi Finals. But Marcus and Clarke hadn't read the script and both registered nailbiting wins, both matches going to the deciding thirteenth frame.
In the Final it was Ryan who started quickest racing into a 3-0 lead, a lead he was never to relinquish even though as the experienced Paddy fought back as hard as he could. Paddy was favourite to close the gap to 7-5 in frame twelve but he let Ryan back to the table and he pulled of a superb difficult double to land plum on the black which he promptly dispatched to lift the trophy.
It's the second major title for Ryan at his young age as he adds Northern Ireland Men's Individual Champion to the European Nations Individual Under 23 title won in 2019
PATH TO GLORY
5-3 v Wayne Lewis- L128
6-4 v Declan Lavery - L64
6-4 v Robert Malcolm - L32
6-1 v Greg Stevenson L16
7-2 v Manny Byrne - QF
7-6 v Declan Brennan - SF
8-4 v Paddy Clarke - F
There are so many people the NIPA would like to thank for making this weekend a great success. In no particular order. All the players who took part, Iain Britton for his very professional job on the streaming, Gee Crawley and 14 year old Rhys McLaughlin for constantly keeping the tables and balls in fantastic condition. Amy McRandal for running the Cuescore scoring system all day Saturday and last but not least Rab Fee and his hard working team in Antrim Sports Club for their constant attention to detail to help us deliver the Championships.
And we go again next Sunday 21st November when 64 players will battle it out for title of Northern Ireland Seniors (over 40s) Individual Champion currently held by Ronan McCarthy.
