Margaret O’Driscoll from Kerry won the Kildare Open National Ranking event at the RILSA Academy Sharkx Newbridge recently making it 3 in a row for the Kerry woman.

In the preliminary round Sandra Bryan from Wexford saw off Stephanie Foley from Carlow in their match to advance to the Quarters with a 2 nil win.  Margaret O’Driscoll from Kerry was in fine form against Louise Maher from Kilkenny to take the win 2 frames to nil.  Jennifer Earle from Dublin caused an upset when she came through a close encounter with Christine Carr from Kildare to take the win 2 frames to nil to complete the Quarter final line up.

Current number 1 player Annette Newman from Carlow eased past Emirjeta Doda from Dublin in their match winning 2 nil for a place in the Semis.  Margaret O’Driscoll had a tough match on her hands against Sandra Bryan with Margaret going a frame up in the best of 3 but Sandra came back in the second to level the match on a black ball finish, it was close all the way to the colours with Margaret eventually getting over the line 2 – 1 to meet Annette in the semis.

In the bottom half of the draw Claire Mill from Dublin had a good 2 nil win over Tina Keogh from Offaly to advance to the semis while Cathy Dunne from Dublin had to call on experience to see off the challenge from Jennifer to take a 2 nil win to complete the semi final line up.

Margaret had the upper hand in her match against Annette who struggled to get a hold on the match.  Margaret played solid snooker against the current number 1 to take the win 2 nil for a place in her 3rd final in a row.  Cathy overcame a strong performance from Claire to take the win 2 nil to meet Margaret in the final.

In the final Margaret went into a 1 frame lead with good play and a 34 break, however Cathy came back strong in frame 2 to take it on a black ball to level the match.  Frame 3 would see both players stay in close touch in scores up to the colours and it would take Margaret to pot both blue and pink to seal the win and claim the title of Kildare Open Champion 2022.

Congratulations to Margaret on her win and well done to Cathy on her fine performance and both players made a great final of it on the day.  Thanks to all the ladies for their participation and their support towards female cue sports.  Thanks to Dave Earle who officiated throughout the day and thanks to Annette on helping out in the final.

A special thanks to Paul, Bernie and staff of Sharkx for all their help and support.