Success for Gary Walsh in close championship decider

The 2024 Mullingar Close Snooker Championship Final was held in St Mary’s Snooker Club rooms on Bishopsgate Street, Mullingar. This tournament is for the top 16 ranked players on the Westmeath snooker circuit each year, and this year's final saw Gary Walsh proved too strong for Steven von Beaumont, winning 4-1 in the end.

Bill Collentine Plumbing Ltd, Mullingar has sponsored this event from its inception in 1986, which is 34 years, and we are delighted that our sponsor has remained loyal to us for so long. In all those years, only six players have managed to win this event, which is staggering to say the least.

The first frame saw Gary Walsh the more confident player as Stephen von Beaumont seemed to show some nerves trying to defend this title which has only been achieved by the holder four times in the history of the event.

Frame 2:

The second frame Stephen seem to rally and got into the match a was just pipped by one point at the end of the frame. The snooker was not the greatest but both players were finding their game hard.

As in all finals the winning of an event never produces any large breaks and mistakes are not always punished.

Frame 3:

This was another frame that Stephen did not want to loose and only been pipped in the previous frame saw a more determined Stephen.

He was potting every ball that he went for a series of small breaks saw him win this frame convincingly.

Frame 4:

The fourth frame was another game that should have gone Stephen’s way and he lead for a good part of the frame, but a series of safety shots from Walsh saw Stephen miss the kind of shots he would normally knock in. Walsh was just about keeping ahead of his opponent and secured the frame.

Frame 5:

The Final frame saw Walsh grab the frame by the scruff of the neck and he marched off into a good lead and the stature of Walsh and his determination look dangerous.

When Gary gets ahead he is good from the front and he actually romped home to win the match by a resounding score. Result: Gary Walsh Beat Stephen von Beaumont 4-1 (69-07, 47-46, 18-65, 73-47, 61-02)

Victory means Gary Walsh has added the 2024 Mullingar Close Snooker Championships to his 2012 close title. Gary was delighted with the success and dedicated his victory to his uncle Tony Walsh from Dún Laoghaire, who passed away in the last year.

Presentation

Michael Kane chairman invited our Sponsor Billy Collentine to make the presentations to the players. Bill presented the 2024 Mullingar Close Championship Cup to the new Champion Gary Walsh for a second time. Pat Donohoe presented the finalist Steven von Beaumont with his voucher.

The chairman thanked Bill Collentine for his sponsorship and stated that the tournament continues to be successful with the help of our sponsors. He thanked Ger O’Connor and Pat Donohoe, treasurer, for their help with the running of the event.

Champions Roll of Honour 1986-2024

1986 S Smyth, 1987 G O’Connor, 1988 - 2002 M Kane, 2003 T Parker, 2004 M Kane, 2005 - 2008 G O’Connor, 2009 no event, 2010 and 2011 T Parker, 2012 G Walsh, 2013 T Parker, 2014 R Toal, 2015 R Toal, 2016 G O’Connor, 2017 M Kane, 2018 T Parker, 2019 - 2022 R Toal, 2023 S v Beaumont, 2024 G Walsh.