Dungloe’s Shaun Sharkey reached the final at the European 8 Ball Championships in Killarney at the weekend.
Sharkey, who captained Ireland at the 2018 World Championships, lost out to top Northern Ireland man Dylan Leary in the final.
Sharkey had a superb tournament, getting one better than at the last instalment of these Championships, when he reached the semi-finals.
Leary has been one of the continent’s best players in recent times and defeated Sharkey in the decider.
In one of the games of the tournament, Sharkey overcame England’s Shane Thompson 7-4 in the semi-final.
In his quarter-final, Sharkey disposed of Giuseppe D’Imperio from England. D’Imperio had beaten Mick Hill in his previous game, but Sharkey was red hot, winning 7-2.
Sharkey previously beat Jerome Lebret from France, Belgium’s Yassine Mellouli, France’s David Thomas, Troy Zammit from Malta and England’s Eric Webber.
Donegal was well represented at the Championships in the Gleneagle Hotel.
Mini Morris and Tina Reaney were on the Ireland Ladies B team and in their first taste of team pool.
Helena Sharkey helped the Irish Ladies A team to a semi-final, where they lost out 8-6 to Northern Ireland.
In the women’s singles, she reached the quarter-finals, losing out to Kate Wringe from England after wins over Ashleigh Dinsmore, Cathy Hunt and Sandra De Sousa.
Rory Buchanan was a member of the Ireland C team, who lost to Ireland’s D team in the ‘C’ section semi-finals.
Ireland’s D team won that tournament, beating France in the final, with Charlie Ruddy from Donegal the team manager.
Charlie Ruddy