NORTHERN IRELAND

Donnelly first …

The first ranking tournament of the NIBA took place during October at
St. Patrick’s, Newtownwards. This ended with a win for No.1 seed
Paddy Donnelly (scr) over the second seed Tony Buttimer (scr). The
handicap formula produced lots of close finishes in the one-hour matches.
Donnelly, in one of the early rounds, beat Sammy Currie (rec.40) by a
few points with a 50+ break in the last few minutes. Jimmy Millar
(rec.40) also won a thriller against Roy Lattimer (rec.40), both players
producing some good billiards. Local player Hugh Quinn had a good
competition just losing out in a close game to Tony Buttimer (scr) in
the semi-final. The hospitality in St. Pats was excellent as usual and the
generous monetary prizes were presented by the NI Team Manager
Oliver McGuigan. Those present then went on for a night’s
entertainment in a local licensed premises.

Buttimer second …

The second NIBA Ranking Tournament concluded at the Reading
Rooms, Bangor, in November. Tony Buttimer came out on top after
winning the best match of the quarter-finals by six points, despite his
opponent Trevor Shields having a break of 119 (the highest in the
competition) and others of 73, 56 and 42. Buttimer then went on to
beat Colin Mylcreest in a ding-dong battle, Tony making breaks of 117,
52 and 63 unfinished. Mylcreest also played well, making a string of
breaks over thirty. The prize money was presented by George
Thompson on behalf of P.T.S. Amusements of Bangor. All players
from the last eight received cash prizes ranging from £10 to £100 for the
winner. The NIBA also received a cheque for £100 which was greatly
appreciated. In the final against Paddy Donnelly, neither player produced
their best form. Buttimer, starting with a 73 break managed to retain the
lead all the way through the match to win 500-316.