Von Beaumont drops no frames en route to intermediate crown

Westmeath intermediate snooker championships are always tough to win and the two finalists in this year’s final, Stephen von Beaumont and Seán Slevin, have won several intermediate titles between them.

The best of five frames final of the 2022 Westmeath Intermediate Snooker Championship took place last Saturday between the two finalists. Seán Slevin is the provisional Intermediate No. 1 for next season, but Stephen von Beaumont is determined to close the gap on his rival at the top of the rankings.

Richie Toal, a qualified Snooker Billiards Ireland referee, got the final under way and Ger O’Connor acted as scorer for the match.

The final was to be the best of five frames of snooker based in the home of snooker in Westmeath, St Mary’s Snooker Club, Mullingar who are affiliated to the national governing body of snooker in Ireland, namely Snooker Billiards Ireland.

The two best players got to the final, but the Intermediates are the kind of tournament that any of the top ranked players in the Intermediate rankings can win. The rivalry is very hotly contested and with this the final event before the end of the year, there are ranking points at stake, as well as pride.

Frame 1

The first frame saw both players getting used to the atmosphere of an Intermediate ranking final. Seán Slevin started the stronger player getting a small break, but superior safety play and a few tough pots by Stephen von Beaumont brought him ahead towards the end of the frame.

Both players looked up for the final. Seán potted a few great shots but his long potting let him down. Stephen increased his lead with some key pressure shots and won the first frame. 1-0 to Stephen.

Frame 2

Stephen put Seán under further pressure with great safety play in frame two and forced opportunities which he then capitalised on. There were some good safety battles throughout, which Seán kept up with and the frame was relatively close to start with.

But Stephen continued to take advantage of the chances he made for himself with solid tactical play. Another frame to Stephen, and now only one frame from victory. 2-0.

Frame 3

Seán got away to a better start in frame three, potting some nice shots. He had his back to the wall however, and mistakes created by Stephen’s great safety play again were punished by Stephen, who was match sharp after his recent victory. As a result, Stephen had a decent lead towards the end of the frame.

With only a few reds left, Seaán took an opportunity to knock in an important break to frame to bring himself back in the game, but Stephen then put Seán in two difficult snookers which he found hard to escape from. Stephen potted a few more balls to close out the frame and match with another 3-0 victory.

Stephen, after winning the 2022 Players’ Intermediate Championship two weeks ago, now captured this championship without losing one single frame in the event which is very rare, and secured the no. 2 ranking on the Intermediate snooker standings for 2023.

Tournament results

· Champion – Stephen von Beaumont

· Finalist – Seán Slevin

· Semi-Finalists – Pat Donohoe and Keith Mulligan

· Quarter-Finalists: Mark Yeats, Oliver Plunkett, Anthony Cleary and Dennis Brunt

The tournament has been played over the last week with the later stages of the event this past week. This event was hotly contested as it always is and the quarter-finals had a great line-up as follows:

Quarter-final results

No. 9 seed Keith Mulligan beat No. 16 seed Mark Yeats 3-0; No. 4 seed Stephen von Beaumont beat No. 12 seed Oliver Plunkett 3-0; No. 3 seed Pat Donohoe beat No. 6 seed Anthony Cleary 3-0; No. 2 seed Seán Slevin beat No. 10 seed Dennis Brunt 3-0.

Remarkably, the results of the quarter-finals were all 3-0 score lines, which does not happen too often.

Semi-final results

No. 4 seed Stephen von Beaumont beat No. 9 seed Keith Mulligan 3-0; No. 2 seed Seán Slevin beat No. 3 seed Pat Donohoe 3-1.

Final result

No. 4 seed Stephen von Beaumont beat No. 2 seed Seán Slevin 3-0.

Presentation

Our Club Treasurer and Tournament Director Pat Donohoe presented the Finalist’s Voucher to Seán Slevin and the 2022 Westmeath Intermediate Snooker Trophy to Stephen von Beaumont.

Vice-Chairman and referee Richie Toal thanked our loyal Intermediate snooker players for their participation in this the final event of the year.

Pat Donohoe also stated that Stephen von Beaumont has now won back-to-back Intermediate Snooker titles to finish off the 2022 series of Intermediate events, making him a five-time Intermediate champion in Westmeath. Congratulations Stephen, and well done to Seán Slevin who also retains his number no.1 spot on the Intermediate rankings for 2023.

Message of support

The Officers, Committee and Members of St Mary’s Snooker Club want to wish our Chairman Mick Kane a speedy recovery from his recent operation.

We can’t wait to have him back leading the club for years to come.