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Irish Professional Championship

FieldValue
tournament_nameIrish Professional Championship
venueVarious
establishment1947
formatNon-ranking event
final year2007
Final ChampionIRL Ken Doherty
Note

the snooker tournament

The Irish Professional Championship was an invitational professional snooker tournament for mostly Irish and Northern Irish snooker players.

History

The Irish Professional Championship was first staged in 1947 in Northern Ireland, and Jackie Rea became the inaugural champion. After that the event was held on a challenge basis, with the champion choosing his challenger. Rea won the championship every year but one until 1972, when he was beaten 28–12 by Alex Higgins. Higgins could defend the title four times in a row, before losing the title to Dennis Taylor. Taylor defended the title in the following two years. During this time the tournament was only sponsored in 1978 by Benson & Hedges and in 1979 by Smithwicks Brewery.

In 1982 the tournament was converted to a knock-out tournament. Eight players took part, and was sponsored by Smithwicks Brewery. Higgins and Taylor won nine titles between them, and their run of success in the championship was interrupted only by Jack McLaughlin, in 1988. After the 1983 event Smithwicks ended their sponsorship, and Strongbow took over for 1985 and 1986 and Matchroom for 1987. After the 1989 event the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association withdrew their backing to national championships in form of £1,000 per player, and the event was discontinued.

In 1992 the event was revived with sponsorship by Murphy's, and for the first time, the event was held in Republic of Ireland. 34 players competed at the event. When Joe Swail and Jason Prince contested the 1992 final, it was the first time in over 20 years it featured neither Higgins or Taylor. It was held again in 1993, but was abandoned again. The event was held again between 2005 and 2007.

Winners

YearWinnerRunner-upFinal scoreVenueSeasonChallenge matchesKnockout tournaments
1947–1951NIR Jackie Reavarious challengesn/a
1952NIR Jack BatesNIR Jackie Rea
1952–1971NIR Jackie Reavarious challenges
1972NIR Alex HigginsNIR Jackie Rea28–12NIR Belfast1971/72
1978NIR Alex HigginsNIR Dennis Taylor21–7NIR Belfast1977/78
1978NIR Alex HigginsIRL Patsy Fagan21–13NIR Belfast
1979NIR Alex HigginsIRL Patsy Fagan21–12NIR Belfast1978/79
1980NIR Dennis TaylorNIR Alex Higgins21–15NIR Belfast1979/80
1981NIR Dennis TaylorIRL Patsy Fagan22–21NIR Coleraine1980/81
1982NIR Dennis TaylorNIR Alex Higgins16–13NIR Coleraine1981/82
1983NIR Alex HigginsNIR Dennis Taylor16–11NIR Belfast1982/83
1985NIR Dennis TaylorNIR Alex Higgins10–5NIR Belfast1984/85
1986NIR Dennis TaylorNIR Alex Higgins10–7NIR Belfast1985/86
1987NIR Dennis TaylorIRL Joe O'Boye9–2NIR Antrim1986/87
1988NIR Jack McLaughlinNIR Dennis Taylor9–4NIR Antrim1987/88
1989NIR Alex HigginsNIR Jack McLaughlin9–7NIR Antrim1988/89
1992NIR Joe SwailNIR Jason Prince9–1IRL Cork1991/92
1993IRL Ken DohertyIRL Stephen Murphy9–2IRL Cork1992/93
2005NIR Joe SwailIRL Ken Doherty9–7IRL Templeogue2005/06
2006IRL Ken DohertyIRL Michael Judge9–4IRL Templeogue2006/07
2007IRL Ken DohertyIRL Fergal O'Brien9–2IRL Dublin2007/08

References

References

  1. Turner, Chris. "Irish Professional Championship". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive.
  2. "2005 Irish Professional Championship". Global Snooker Centre.
  3. "2006 Irish Professional Championship". Global Snooker Centre.
  4. "2007 VC Poker Irish Professional Championship". Global Snooker Centre.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

irish-professional-championship snooker-non-ranking-competitions recurring-sporting-events-established-in-1947 recurring-events-disestablished-in-2007 1947-establishments-in-ireland 2007-disestablishments-in-ireland snooker-competitions-in-northern-ireland snooker-competitions-in-ireland defunct-snooker-competitions national-championships-in-ireland
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