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History
I started playing pool at 9 years old when my mum and dad bought me a 6x3 pool table. My first involvement on a competitive basis was when my brother Mark got involved with the Cavan men’s Team in 2001. I then joined the Cavan Junior team and we were successful in winning the All Ireland Inter-County Junior title that year beating Limerick in the final by 8 frames to 7 with my County team mate David Columb winning the final frame. I was a substitute on the team that year. The following year I was a playing part of the Cavan Junior team which lost the Inter-County final to Tyrone by 8 frames to 6. It was these Inter-County Junior matches that gave me the first taste of competitive pool and the desire to play the game.
In late 2002 my parents bought me my first full size (7 x 4) Supreme pool table and this gave me the opportunity to practice on a more regular basis. I started attending the national ranking tournaments in 2003 and also became a part of the Cavan men’s team in 2003. I attended my first International event (European Championships) in 2003 in Dundalk as a junior singles player where I reached the quarter-finals losing to Pat McCarron. My first individual success came in March 2003 when I won the National Under 15 title beating Richard Shanley in the final. Later in 2003 I was part of the Cavan men’s team that lost to Louth in the All-Ireland Inter-County men’s final. I then qualified for the Irish Junior team for the first time and at the World Championships I reached the quarter-finals losing to Darren Matthews.
My first biggest tournament success came in 2004 when in Castlebar I won the National Junior title (U18) for the first time beating Jason Watters in the finals on a scoreline of 7 frames to 4. In 2004 I was part of the Irish Junior team who lost in the final of the World Junior championships to England. I decided the following season to attend all the IPA ranking tournaments and enter the men’s amateur events and try and qualify for the IPA men’s professional tour.
In November 2004 I won my first National ranking tournament beating Nigel Power in the final. That year I also won the final ranking tournament of the season beating Paul Dunne in the final and subsequently I finished ranked number 2 on the men’s amateur and qualified for the Irish men’s Professional Tour.At the World Championships in 2005 I reached the Singles final beating Liam White and Pat McCarron among others along the way. In the final I was up against the reigning champion Jordan Church from England. After a poor start in the final I eventually started to play well but it was too late and I lost the final by 7 frames to 4. In 2006 in my final year as a junior I won my second Irish Junior title beating Sean Conway from Mayo in the final. However due to exam commitments I was unable to attend the World and European Championships in 2006 which was a huge disappointment for myself.
However this season up to May 2007 has been an absolute dream. I won 2 Irish professional tour events beating players like Shane O’Hara along the way and finished the season as ranked number 2 in Ireland behind John Columb. But my biggest achievement to date has obviously been in winning the 2007 European men’s singles title in Daventry a couple of months ago. Among others I beat professionals Craig Reynolds, Russell Burgess, Gareth Potts and Neil Davey along the way to winning the title and without doubt played the best pool I have ever played to date. It was a great honour to be the first Irishman and indeed the youngest ever European Champion. It was a huge thrill to win this title and hopefully will be the platform to build upon for more success in the future.
