The 40th RILSA National Championship title was retained by Paula Judge from Dublin in a great contest against Cathy Dunne also from Dublin.
The Republic of Ireland Ladies Snooker Association is celebrating their 40th National Championship in 2018 and the celebrations started with the National Championship at Sharkx Newbridge who are sponsoring the 2018-2019 RILSA Tour season.
The new Cup supplied by Alison McDonnell of Dublin Trophies and sponsored by Dan Carroll & Annette Newman was up for grabs at the weekend as the 2018 Championship got underway at Sharkx. This two day event was a fantastic success once again for RILSA and women’s cue sports here in Ireland as 86 women & girls entered the qualification events prior to the Championship weekend, a new record for RILSA. Also played over the weekend was the Intermediate Ranking 6 event, report to follow on this soon.
In the last 16 Annette Newman from Carlow and Irish number 1 got off to a good start with a 2 nil win over number 9 Katie French from Kildare. Megan Randle from Kilkenny overcame Irish number 16 Valerie Maloney from Offaly in a very close battle to win through to her first Quarter final with two black ball finishes. Current Champion Paula Judge was in fine form against Megan’s twin sister Carrie and won comfortably 2 nil.
The 2016 National Champion, Danielle Randle played great snooker against Christine Carr from Kildare to win through to the quarters with a 2 nil result. Cathy Dunne saw off a good fight from Michelle O’Boyle from Kildare to reach the quarters 2 nil. Irish number 7, Tina Keogh from Laois had a tough match against Emirjeta Doda from Dublin with Emirjeta taking the lead and Tina coming back to level the match at 1-1, Emirjeta started well but Tina played strong towards the end to take the frame and match for a place in the quarters. Suzanne Randle from Kilkenny played her best snooker ever to overcome great play from Rachel Bradley from Kildare to win 2-1, Susan Hanlon from Dublin was in fine form against Rosie Young from Laois going through to the quarters 2 nil
In the Quarters Annette Newman played well and went on to win 2 nil against Megan Randle to send her into day two of the Championship. Paula Judge again was playing well against the 2016 Champion Danielle Randle and won her match 2 nil to meet Annette in the semis.
Cathy Dunne played great against Tina Keogh to advance to the semis with a 2 nil win. Susan Hanlon had a match on her hands against Suzanne Randle as Suzanne took the first frame on the pink. Susan was looking good to level however Suzanne potted a good black to send her through to her first ever RILSA Championship semi final.
As day one came to a close, some great matches were played and the Randle family made up of Mam Suzanne, twin daughters Megan & Carrie along with Danielle all showed talent and great interest in snooker.
Day two was yet to be another great day at Sharkx Newbridge as the ladies got their matches underway, semi final 1 saw Annette start well against Paula, however Paula took frame 1 and again went on to fight for frame 2 against Annette, Paula went up a gear in the 3rd frame with some great potting to win the match 3-0 for a place in the final.
Suzanne played good snooker in the first frame against Cathy keeping close on points all the way but it was won by Cathy. Cathy seemed to go up a gear and was potting great to win the next two frames comfortably to win and meet Paula in the final for the second year in a row.
Cathy had chances in frame 1 but Paula finished strong to take it however Paula went in front in the second but Cathy pulled back well to level at 1-1, again Cathy had some chances to pull ahead but Paula took frame 3 and again it was close for a while but Paula was stronger going into the colours to win frame 4 and the title of RILSA National Champion 2018 for the second time.
Congratulations to Paula on her win and to Cathy on her fine performance throughout the Championship.
The provisional ranking list will see some changes as Paula now moves into number 1 while Cathy is still at 2 and Annette number 3 on this provisional list. Making it to 4th spot is Suzanne Randle while Tina Keogh moves up to 5th along with Susan Hanlon moving up to 6th place while sisters Megan & Danielle Randle take provisional 7th & 8th spots respectively. So a great start to the new season as new players make their mark on the RILSA Tour for 2018-2019
Congratulations to all our players who qualified for the Championship and played great snooker over the weekend at Sharkx. Thanks to Paul & Bernie of Sharkx for providing excellent facilities and it was fantastic to have all the tables recovered for the Championship with number 10 professional cloths.
A special thanks to Jack, Robbie and Fran for all their help over the weekend as roving referees along with refereeing the semis and final
LAST 16
Annette Newman (Carlow) 2 Katie French (Kildare) 0
Megan Randle (Kilkenny) 2 Valerie Maloney (Offaly) 0
Paula Judge (Dublin) 2 Carrie Randle (Kilkenny) 0
Danielle Randle (Kilkenny) 2 Christine Carr (Kildare) 0
Cathy Dunne (Dublin) 2 Michelle O’Boyle (Kildare) 0
Tina Keogh (Laois) 2 Emirjeta Doda (Dublin) 1
Suzanne Randle (Kilkenny) 2 Rachel Bradley (Kildare) 1
Susan Hanlon (Dublin) 2 Rosie Young (Laois) 0
QUARTER FINALS
Annette Newman 2 Megan Randle 0
Paula Judge 2 Danielle Randle 0
Cathy Dunne 2 Tina Keogh 0
Suzanne Randle 2 Susan Hanlon 0
SEMI FINALS
Paula Judge 3 Annette Newman 0
Cathy Dunne 3 Suzanne Randle 0
FINAL
Paula Judge 3 Cathy Dunne 1
TOP 32 PROVISIONAL RANKED PLAYERS AFTER 2018 CHAMPIONSHIP
| Ranking | Name | Club/School | Tot | Tot |
| 1st | Paula Judge | Celbridge S.C. Kildare | 2500 | 10 |
| 2nd | Cathy Dunne | Celbridge, Kildare | 2200 | 8 |
| 3rd | Annette Newman | Griffith Club, Carlow | 2000 | 4 |
| 4th | Suzanne Randle | Kilkenny | 2000 | 4 |
| 5th | Tina Keogh | Portarlington S.C., Laois | 1800 | 2 |
| 6th | Susan Hanlon | Joey’s S.C. Dublin | 1800 | 2 |
| 7th | Megan Randle | Kilkenny | 1800 | 2 |
| 8th | Danielle Randle | Kilkenny | 1800 | 2 |
| 9th | Rachel Bradley | St Marks Newbridge, Kildare | 1600 | 1 |
| 10th | Christine Carr | Sharkx Newbridge, Kildare | 1600 | 0 |
| 11th | Katie French | Celbridge S.C./KILDARE | 1600 | 0 |
| 12th | Emirjeta Doda | CBS Westland Row, Dublin | 1600 | 0 |
| 13th | Rosie Young | Portarlington S.C. Laois | 1600 | 0 |
| 14th | Michelle O’Boyle | Celbridge S.C./KILDARE | 1600 | 0 |
| 15th | Valerie Maloney | Portarlington S.C., Laois | 1600 | 0 |
| 16th | Carrie Randle | Kilkenny | 1600 | 0 |
| 17th | Roisin Beale | Sharkx Newbridge, Kildare | 1400 | 0 |
| 18th | Sandra Bryan | Breakers Gorey, Wexford | 1000 | 0 |
| 19th | Grace Byrne | Ballinabranna, Carlow | 1000 | 0 |
| 20th | Margaret Browne | Royal S.C. Navan, Meath | 1000 | 0 |
| 21st | Clodagh walsh | Ballinabranna, Carlow | 1000 | 0 |
| 22nd | Kerri Mulleney | Ballinabranna, Carlow | 1000 | 0 |
| 23rd | Lauren Carley | Griffith Club, Carlow | 1000 | 0 |
| 24th | Tara Byrne | Griffith Club/CARLOW | 1000 | 0 |
| 25th | Shannon Wilson | St Laserians, Carlow | 1000 | 0 |
| 26th | Jodie Moore | St Laserians, Carlow | 1000 | 0 |
| 27th | Grace Brennan | St Marks Newbridge, Kildare | 1000 | 0 |
| 28th | Katelyn O’Reilly | St Marks Newbridge, Kildare | 1000 | 0 |
| 29th | Zoe Smith | St Laserians, Carlow | 1000 | 0 |
| 30th | Natasha Walker | St Laserians, Carlow | 1000 | 0 |
| 31st | Lucinda Monahan | St Marks Newbridge, Kildare | 1000 | 0 |
| 32nd | Edel Hannon | St Marks Newbridge, Kildare | 1000 | 0 |
