Traynor triumphs again in Dundalk Pool Series

Benny Traynor pots the black to secure the final

With the Dundalk and Newry Pool Leagues both approaching the end season, the sixth event of the Dundalk 8-Ball Pool Series held this year at The Sportsman’s Bar attracted yet again a high standard of players.

Before last weekend no player had won an event twice but all that changed on Friday as this week’s finalists Benny Traynor and Peter O’Hagan had already won an event in the series, with a second win for Traynor almost guaranteeing him a spot in the Grand Final.

Northern Ireland International Tony Greenan was one of the many high standard players in the draw but unlike his form from previous weeks, Greenan lost out to a heavy safety battle in round 1 rack 3 against local Dundalk player Barry Keane. In the next round, Patrick McArdle then took Keane down to a final rack decider, McArdle beating him in a tie that always sparked rivalry between the team mates.

This now meant the first semi final was Patrick McArdle up against last week’s winner Benny Traynor. Patrick had his best opportunity to win the match by levelling the game 1-1 but Traynor’s strong form helped him control rack three until Patrick made a safety error. Traynor then ran out another decider 2-1.

On the bottom half of the draw, new to the tour Dermot Connolly got off to a flyer beating series regular Kevin Kelly in an exciting 2-1 victory. “Fud” Connolly had to pot a difficult long black with the cue ball very close to the cushion. Peter O’Hagan would then end Connolly’s debut run, and advance on to beat JP Toner in the second semi. Peter now arrived to the final without dropping a single rack all night, playing very powerful pool en route.

The final started later then normal due to the larger entry of players, but both Traynor and O’Hagan had plenty of energy left over to put on a great show.

The first rack was broken by Traynor and, as expected, he looked very sharp. Waltzing round the table enjoying every shot he just kept potting from the start. But on his seventh yellow, Traynor’s adrenaline kicked in and he hit the cue ball too hard to land straight for the black. With the tables so fast he left a hard finish, needing to double the eight ball to the top corner. On failing to complete the dish, O’Hagan had his first visit to the table and a great advantage to play safe. Easily gaining two shots from some clever positioning O’Hagan managed to run out the rack against the run of play and give himself plenty of confidence. 1-0.

Rack two was a dry break from Peter, letting his opponent get control of the table. Traynor easily put away three yellows but missed number four to the top right. He would settle with covering an important pocket. Two reds later O’Hagan left a long shot on for Benny to attempt. And when the yellow dropped into the top pocket the frame looked as good as over. Traynor finished off three easy yellows and the black to draw the match at 1-1.

Traynor scratched off rack three letting Peter in to decide on the colours. But a bad error from the Bellurgan man left Benny with an open table and a chance to work his magic. Shot one developed ball two over a pocket. Then shot two pushed three other yellows closer to the near corner pocket. Two super aggressive shots from Traynor produced a great chance to finish the rack in one visit. Without taking much time between shots, Benny doubled the black into the middle pocket with confidence and looked very strong going into rack four. 2-1.

A big break from Peter in rack four was no advantage when the white drove through the pack and into the top corner. Traynor looked at the table for a while before he chose his first ball to pot. The situation looked difficult to finish by everybody except Benny. Four balls in and cueing very strong, ball five was close to the rail. Aiming for the top corner with backspin was difficult but with perfect white positioning, everyone watching knew that it looked like the match would end here. Traynor potted another three balls easier yellows near the baulk and smashed in a long black to complete the finish of the night and become the first player to win two Ranking Events in the 2015 Series. 3-1.

This Friday will host the second last event in this year’s series and although players cannot make the top four for the upcoming Grand Final Night, new players are still welcome to take part in the event for on the night prizes.

The Dundalk 8-Ball Pool Series 2015 is played on three world supreme championship tables for players to try out tournament style pool using World Rules. The Series attracts pool players from all over the North East mostly from South Armagh Pool League and Dundalk Pool League and provides top class facilities for the players.

Tables are available free for practice from 6pm and the tournament starts at 9.30pm. Stay updated by connecting to The Sportsmans Bar on Facebook.

Traynor triumphs on Dundalk 8-Ball Pool Series debut

Benny Traynor

The Dundalk 8-Ball Pool Series broke off with another Series debutant taking the spoils for a second week running. Although no player has won a series event twice, last week there were three previous event winners – Paddy Clarke, Peter O’Hagan and Dominic O’Connor – all gunning down maximum points.

However, in the end it was the well-known Dundalk pool player Benny Traynor who showed a great display of pool and earned the precious 10 points by pipping Clarke in an exciting final.

Traynor had no easy run to the final, needing to beat Event 2 winner Peter O’Hagan and last week’s runner-up Tony Greenan.

Clarke also had a tough semi final, coming from behind to progress against last week’s winner Dominic O’Connor.

The final started very slow. Both players were focusing on the position of their balls in play. However, an unforced error from Paddy, in which he lost the white late in the frame, let Benny finish his reds and black to get the early lead. 1-0.

Rack two was broke by Traynor but he came up short and Paddy had the choice of the table. This was an important rack in which Paddy produced some excellent cue ball positions by potting all seven reds. The black ball up towards the top right pocket just wouldn’t drop though. Still, Benny had a lot of work to do but the easy snookering of Paddy meant with two visits to the table, Traynor potted all eight balls and stretched his lead to 2-0.

Rack three was smashed hard by Clarke, sinking two balls of each colour. Choosing yellows, he continued slowly between shots. And five more yellows and the black meant Clarke had preformed a brilliant break-and-run display to get the score back to 2-1.

Rack four again was high paced. Traynor broke, potting a red, but was badly hampered near the baulk cushion and he was forced to give Paddy another chance. Paddy wanted his second title, playing a few important defensive shots before he knocked in an expressive seven yellows. A long rail shot for the black would have been the clearance of the night had it dropped but it would take Clarke a few visits later before he evened up the score for what would be a great last rack. 2-2.

Clarke broke off the deciding fifth rack scratching the cue ball and leaving Traynor with a great chance to call the shots. With just one shot available from the foul, Traynor didn’t have much space to work with from the baulk. His fourth shot went well wide of the pocket smacking into a loose yellow and dropping into the middle. Traynor held his hand up to apologise for his fortune but surely continued on to finish the rack and claim the Event 5 Title. A good solid victory for Traynor, though it took maybe one important piece of luck.

The 8-Ball Pool Series takes a week’s break this Friday due to some Series players travelling to the Irish Pool Open in Tullamore. The 8-Ball Series would like to wish Dominic O’Connor, Barry Keane, Ciaran Lavelle and JP Toner the best of luck in their group matches on the Irish Tour.

Event 6 of the Dundalk 8-Ball Pool Series will be on the Friday 30th January where it is expected that another highly competitive field will aim to get closer to the Grand Prize! Players are reminded tables are available free for practice from 6pm and the tournament starts at 9pm. Stay connected to the Series News by following The Sportsman’s Bar on Facebook.