There were great scenes of celebration in the Enniscorthy area following the Irish teams victory in the recent World Pool Championships with three of the five-man squad coming from the town.
he world championships were held in the Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney and saw the Irish team go up against Malta in the final having defeated France in the semi-final.
The squad was composed of Tyler O’Connor, Ben Doyle and Adam Maher, who are all from Enniscorthy, along with Morgan Thomas, Cormac Kerr and team manager, Mark Scally.
Speaking about the victory and being crowed world champions Tyler O’Connor said it was a great feeling for everyone involved.
“We were a five-man team along with our coach and it’s fantastic that three of the squad are from County Wexford,” said Tyler.
He said it was extra special having three team members from Enniscorthy. Ironically, despite playing a vital role in securing a world title for Ireland, the pool players from the Slaneyside town don’t have a base in Enniscorthy to train in and instead they practice at home.
“A couple of the lads have pool tables in their sheds and that’s usually where we practice,” said Tyler, who along with Ben Doyle and Adam Maher have been involved in the county and national pool scene for over a decade.
The three players travelled to Gorey in their teenage years to practice and they occasionally still participate in the session up there but mostly practice at home.
“We’ve been part of the Wexford team for around 12 years and then we’ve been in and out of the Irish squad,” said Tyler.
Because the Irish Pool Association hosted this year’s world championships there were ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams entered with the three Enniscorthy men being part of the ‘A’ squad.
They finished third in their group and that meant they faced France in the semi-final, from which they emerged victorious on a 5-4 scoreline.
That led to a rematch against Malta who had defeated the Irish team in the European championships in February.
This time around the Irish team got revenge and won their world title on a 5-3 scoreline.
Cllr Jackser Owens congratulated the Enniscorthy men on their victory and said it was brilliant to see three local people bringing home a world title to County Wexford.
“I will be calling on Wexford County Council to give the lads a civic reception and I’ll be doing the same at district level in Enniscorthy,” said Cllr Owens.
“It’s absolutely fantastic what they’ve achieved and I think that should be recognised,” he added.
