It's Ronnie again in the Northern Ireland Trophy

England's Ronnie O'Sullivan won the 2008 Northern Ireland Trophy .

It was one-way traffic in the final as he defeated fellow Englishman Dave Harold 9-3.

Allister Carter (England) and Scotland's John Higgins lost out in the semi-finals.

Defending champion Stephen Maguire (Scotland) was beaten 5-2 by Harold in the quarter-final.

O'Sullivan received £30,000 for the victory. It was his 21st ranking win and 40th major title. It was also his second consecutive victory after having captured the World Championship in May.

Harold won £15,000 as runner-up. He was looking for his second ranking win. His sole success came in the 1993 Asian Open. Stephen Lee (England) won the £2,000 high break prize for a career-best 145.

The win keeps O'Sullivan firmly in place on top of the provisional rankings. Maguire stays in second and Shaun Murphy (England) hangs on to third. Harold moves from 23rd to 14th.

The event took place at the Belfast Waterfront, Belfast, Northern Ireland, August 24-31, 2008. It was the first ranking tournament of eight on the 2008/2009 Main Tour. Next up on the snooker calendar is the Shanghai Masters which starts 29th September.

See also:

• Northern Ireland Trophy 2008 (World Snooker)
• Classy O'Sullivan wins NI Trophy (BBC)
• Ronnie eases to NI Trophy title (Eurosport)
• O'Sullivan Takes Belfast Title (Sporting Life)
• 2008 Norhern Ireland Trophy (Global Cue Sports Centre)
• Ronnie O'Sullivan ahead in Northern Ireland Trophy (Times Online)
• Northern Ireland Trophy 2008 (Fergal O'Brien)
• Can Ronnie do the Grand Slam (Snooker Scene blog)
• O’Sullivan siegt in Belfast, Murphy in Fürth
  (Snookerblog - German)
• Snooker Ranking - Northern Ireland Trophy 2008 - Finals (Cuefactor)
• SnookerManager: Northern Ireland Trophy 2008
• Ronnie O'Sullivan (Official page)
• Ronnie O'Sullivan (Wikipedia)

Related posts:

• Ding Junhui wins Northern Ireland Trophy (2006 Northern Ireland Trophy)
• Maguire triumphant in Northern Ireland Trophy (2007 Northern Ireland Trophy)

Shameless plugs:

• Event Prediction: Northern Ireland Trophy 2008
• WWW Snooker: Northern Ireland 2008

Maguire triumphant in Northern Ireland Trophy

Scotland's Stephen Maguire won his third ranking title at the Northern Ireland Trophy.

Maguire beat Fergal O'Brien from Ireland 9-5 in the final to capture his first ranking title since the 2004 UK Championship.

For the second straight ranking tournament 2006 world champion Shaun Murphy (England) lost out 6-5 in the semi-finals. He was beaten by Maguire and Northern Ireland's Mark Allen lost 5-3 to O'Brien.

Defending champion Ding Junhui (China) was ousted 5-3 by Maguire in round three.

Maguire received £30,000 for the victory. O'Brien won £15,000 as runner-up. Ronnie O'Sullivan (England) won £20,000 for his 147 tournament high break. That was the seventh maximum of his career. He accomplished the feat in a breathtaking display against Allister Carter where he won 5-2 with five centuries. That's a first for a best-of-nine ranking match.

The win lifted him from fourth to third in the provisional rankings. O'Brien's runner-up spot moved him all the way from No.31 to No.19. Murphy is the new leader, O'Sullivan stays in second and John Higgins (Scotland) drops from first to fourth.

The event took place at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland Nov 4-11, 2007. It was the third tournament of seven on the 2007/2008 Main Tour. Next up is the Maplin UK Championship 8th December.

See also:

• Northern Ireland Trophy tournament page (World Snooker)
• Maguire beats O'Brien in NI final (BBC)
• Maguire takes Trophy (Eurosport)
• Maguire Triumphs in Belfast (Sporting Life)
• 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy (Global Cue Sports Centre)
• Maguire schnappt sich den Titel (Snookerblog - German)
• Maguire on Fire Again (Snooker Scene Blog)
• Northern Ireland Trophy - Belfast (fergalobrien.ie)
• Snooker Ranking - Northern Ireland Trophy 2007 (Cuefactor)
• SnookerManager: Northern Ireland Trophy 2007
• Stephen Maguire (Wikipedia)

Related posts:

• Ding Junhui wins Northern Ireland Trophy (2006)
• Dominic Dale on top in Shanghai Masters
• Fu tops Grand Prix for first ranking win

Shameless plugs:

• Event Prediction: Northern Ireland Trophy
• WWW Snooker: Northern Ireland Trophy 2007

Van Hove and Evans win European Snooker Championship golds

Kevin Van Hove from Belgium and Reanne Evans from England came out on top in the European Snooker Championships.

Van Hove beat Rodney Goggins (Ireland) 6-2 in the final of the men's event while Evans overcame defending champion Wendy Jans (Belgium) 5-2.

A Main Tour spot was on offer to the winner of the men's event. Since both finalists had already qualified the spot was supposed to go to third place winner Vincent Muldoon (Ireland) but this was later retracted by the WSA.

Goggins defeated unlucky Bjorn Haneveer (Belgium) 6-5 in the third place playoff. Haneveer also lost 6-5 in the semis.

In the women's semi-finals Evans defeated Michelle Sherwin (Ireland) while Jans beat Anna Mazhirina (Russia).

This was Van Hove's first major title. Evans has won three world crowns and was runner-up in the 2004 European Championships.

Welsh prodigy Michael White had the highest break of the tournament with a 141.

Former top player Darren Morgan (Wales) was victorious the Masters division. In the final he beat Kieran McMahon (Northern Ireland) 6-2.

The event was held 6-16 June at the Ivy Rooms in Carlow, Ireland.

The European Main Tour play-offs was played just before the tournament. Van Hove won the event and a place on next season's Main Tour.

BTW. This is post No.100 in Billiard Pulse. :-)

See also:

• 2007 European Championships (Official site)
• European Snooker Championships (Global Snooker Centre)
• Van Hove Does The Double (greenbaize)
• 2007 European Amateur Championships, Carlow (Irish Sports Council
• Van Hove wins European Amateur Championship (ArmchairGM)
• Van Hove mit dem 2. EM-Titel in 10 Tagen! (Snookerblog - German)
  
• European championship (wendy-jans.com)
• World Ladies Snooker (Global Cuesports Centre)
• Kevin Van Hove (official site)
• Reanne Evans (Wikipedia)
• Darren Morgan (Wikipedia)

Related posts:

• Borg and Jans defend Euro snooker titles (2006)

Ding Junhui wins Northern Ireland Trophy

China's Ding Junhui grabbed his third ranking title by winning the Northern Ireland Trophy.

Ronnie O'Sullivan (England) was impressive throughout the tournament but had to surrender 9-6 to Junhui in a well-played final.

The win puts Junhui at No.5 in the provisional rankings. O'Sullivan is in 8th position. The list is headed by Ireland's Ken Doherty, followed by Scots Graeme Dott and John Higgins.

The event took place in Waterfront Hall, Belfast Aug 13-20.

See also:

• 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy (Global Snooker Centre)
• Ding at the Treble (Sporting Life)
• 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy (Wheels in Motion)
• Chinese teenager takes Northern Ireland Trophy (Taipei Times)
  
• Ding Junhui gewinnt die "Northern Ireland Trophy" (Snookerblog)