The 4th National Ranking Billiards Event, The Kildare Open was held recently at the newly refurbished RILSA Academy at Sharkx Newbridge. Due to the situation with Covid-19 all remaining ladies Billiards Ranking events were staged over two days in order for us to complete the 2020 ranking season.
Annette Newman from Carlow continued her winning streak by taking the Ladies Kildare Open Billiards Ranking title making it 4 in a row for Annette.
The first session saw Annette Newman from Carlow take on Valerie Maloney from Laois, with both players only getting use to the new Shender tables, the scoring overall was somewhat lower. However Annette finished on the alarm with 57 to Valerie’s 34. On the other table, Christine Carr and Joanna Ward both from Kildare were close all the way to the alarm with Joanna just pipping Christine with a cannon to win by two points, 46-44.
In session two Annette continued her form against Stephanie Morrison from Carlow who again like all the girls was getting use to the new tables and tighter pockets, Annette took the win 61-24. Valerie stepped up a gear towards the finish of time in her match against Joanna to take the win 58-51 in this close game.
Session 3 saw Annette continue her consistency against Joanna but had to play well towards the finish of time to take the win 56-46. On the other table, Christine kept up the pressure against Stephanie going into a 20 point lead in the first 10 minutes however Stephanie started to claw back into the match but time was running out and Christine took the win on the alarm 51-35
In session 4, Joanna improved her play with a few small breaks to go ahead by 25 points before Stephanie got a chance to score, however as the clock ticked away Joanna would finish on 66 to Stephanie’s 37. Valerie and Christine’s match was close all the way to the alarm and finished on a draw 43-43
The 5th and final session on the day saw Annette keep in touch with Christine who was playing well, however Christine made a score of 8 just on the alarm to take the win 54-50 while on the other table, Valerie kept a tight game against Stephanie and went on to take the win 50-31
After the scores were tallied, Annette took the win and title with an overall score of 224 with Joanna in second place on 209. Overall the event seen many close scores and a drop in scoring due to the new tables but the girls have now to get practicing on these and its only a matter of time when we will see the scoring go back up.
Congratulations to Annette on her win and to Joanna on her fine performance. Well done to all the girls for their participation and support for female billiards. Thanks to Bernie & Paul of Sharkx for all their support and providing the space for our new tables.
Reports on rankings 5 and 6 to follow soon
