Hogan takes European Glory

Global Snooker

Congratulations to Irishman David Hogan who has just beaten his countryman Mario Fernandez to become the 2009 EBSA European Amateur Champion and just as importantly, book his place on the main tour for 2009/10 as a result…

Mario Fernandez 4-7 David Hogan

43-81, 68(67)-1, 38-76, 25-61, 78(66)-9, 1-81, 6-86(78), 8-108(104), 90(90)-8, 72-8, 42-68(50)

RIBSA

21-year-old David Hogan has become the latest player to secure a spot on the main tour for next season with an excellent 7-4 victory over Mario Fernandez.

David got off to a good start in the best of 13 final as he moved 3-1 ahead early on, though Mario took the last of the morning session to leave himself right in touch at just 3-2 down. The second session however saw David resume in inspired form, knocking in breaks of 78 and 104 on his way to a 6-2 lead.

Fernandez did not give up and did his best to put some pressure on by taking the next two frames, but he had left himself too much to do and Hogan duly got over the line with a break of 50 in frame 11 to secure a crucial victory.

David told Global Snooker:

“That was getting really hard”

“I thought I’d blown my chance of going to the Main Tour when I didn’t finished number one in Ireland this year.”

“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.”

“I’ll have a few days off and then my coach P.J. Nolan will have me hard at work again, preparing for the Main Tour.”

With David’s confirmation, that leaves just five places up for grabs on the 2009/10 tour, four of them likely to be awarded to wildcards as selected by the WPBSA…