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.

Dominic clinches latest event in the Dundalk 8-Ball Pool Series

Event 4 Armagh and Louth Players compete at The Sportsmans Bar Dundalk

Dundalk 8-Ball Pool Series Event 4 winner Dominic O’Connor

The Sportsman’s Bar hosted the fourth event in the Dundalk 8-Ball Pool Series last Friday.

With lots of new players joining the series from the Armagh League, ranking points were becoming very hard to come by. However this week both Paddy Clarke and Peter O’Hagan were absent giving other players a great chance to get the maximum points. Both players were joint top on series points before the event started at 9pm.

Dominic O’Connor joined the tour this week and came through a Preliminary Round in strong fashion. The Sportsman’s Raven player then advanced through the quarter final coming from behind to beat Emmett Fearon and convincingly knocking out Ciaran Lavelle 2-0 in the semi final. On his debut, Dominic reached the final of event 4 and looked like nothing was going to stop him winning.

On the other side of the draw, former Northern Ireland home international player, Tony Greenan, also looked very strong from the start. Another debutant to the series, he produced great pool winning his quarter. His competitor Patrick McArdle did nothing wrong in the second semi final, but it was Tony who advanced by producing an amazing break-and-run to the delight of the crowd watching.

That left Dominic and Tony to go head to head in the final, which enjoyed great support.

Dominic won advantage from the lag-off and broke to start the match which was best of five. After potting two reds he switched over to the more spaced out yellows but on letting Tony get his first visit to the table and only five reds left, there was a lot of space for him to work with.

Tony got down to the black but a tight cut left it hanging over the middle bed. Dominic showed he had the fire for the final when he knocked in all five yellows and black to get the first peg on the board. 1-0.

Tony broke off rack two and continued on potting. On his first visit to the rack he again made it down to the black and this time instead of dropping it to level the match he again rattled the pocket leaving it tight to the back cushion. Tony showed lots of frustration watching Dominic pot all six of his reds with great positioning for the black. O’Connor stayed focused at the task in hand potting the eight-ball and taking a two frame lead in the Event 4 final. 2-0.

Rack three was again broken by Dominic. He pot three reds after that and hoped to leave the situation awkward for Tony by leaving the cue ball right down near the baulk cushion. This didn’t stop Tony potting a splendid long shot, giving him some hope to claw a rack back. Four yellows on and one to go Greenan needed something special to develop the black off the middle of the top cushion. The yellow juggled back out and the white knocked the black closer to the pocket. Dominic now had a superb chance to finish it up, which he did in great fashion, potting all four reds and coming off three cushions to line up for the black. Both players shook hands but it was Dominic O’Connor who won the final 3-0 to shoot up the rankings to fourth overall.

With the Dundalk 8-Ball Pool Series just halfway through its calendar there is plenty of time for players new and old to compete in the event for points. All players are welcome to register on the night and the tournament starts at 9pm. Tables are available free to practice from 7pm.

Full details along with weekly reports are available on the Sportsmans 8-Ball Event Page on Facebook and spectators are more then welcome to attend with no door charge. Event 5 will take place this Friday January 16th.

8-Ball Series Event 4 Finalists, Dominic O’Connor and Tony Greenan