14.6.09

HOGAN'S HEROICS

David Hogan is the new European amateur champion after beating his Irish compatriot Mario Fernandez 7-4 in the final in Duffel, Belgium.

It means Hogan, 21, will join the professional circuit for the first time next season.

"I thought I'd blown my chance of getting on the main tour when I didn't finish no.1 in Ireland," he said.

"I missed a couple of PIOS events so wasn't in the running on that and I was ready to put my entry in for next season."

Wendy Jans won the women's title and former world no.8 Darren Morgan secured the seniors crown.

9 comments:

Janie said...

all the full results are on global-snooker.com together with some photos

and lots more photos on my facebook page - just send me a friend request

Janie

Anonymous said...

i dont use facebook :(

well done those who won (through)

Anonymous said...

Great for Irish snooker that they have another champion. Let's hope that he can emulate his fellow countrymen, Ken Doherty and Sean Murphy and go on to lift the World title.

Anonymous said...

Well done to Hogan. It won't be long before someone will hail him as a 'rising star', part of the 'emerging talent', and a 'world champion in waiting'.

Anonymous said...

Good to see the 'Shaun Murphy is Irish' theme re-emerging.

Anonymous said...

Well done David. One less to worry about on the amatuer circuit -:)

I must say Shaun Murphy has the stangest Irish accent I have heard. I have my doubts about him being Irish - I heard a rumour he's a tea totaller.

Anonymous said...

If the Irish are going to claim Shaun Murphy just on account of his name, they might as well claim Ronnie O'Sullivan, as well!

Anonymous said...

i wouldnt wish ROS on the irish in my worst nightmare. the irish are generally a great bunch!

Janie Watkins said...

ROS does have Irish ancestry on one side of his family.

This was the first time Ireland had produced a European Champion, never mind having two Irish in the final and three in the semi finals.

It was a superb testament to the structure of the RIBSA and the dedicated work done by national coach P.J. Nolan who works woth a number of their players, in particular David Hogan.

David may struggle in his first season as a pro, but I've watched him since he was a very young junior and I'll state publicly that I think he can rise very high in the rankings.

He was a quiet, calm determination about him, puts in a huge amount of work in practice and seems to possess huge amounts of concentration too.