23rd Irish Open Championships

The 23rd Irish Open Championships take place next week in Leisureplex in Stillorgan. Over 120 competitors from all over the world will descend on Dublin for the tournament, which begins on Friday January 21st and concludes on Sunday 23rd.

Both amateurs and a handful of professionals will be vying for the €3,000 first prize. In total the prize fund stands at an impressive €15,000.

Everyone will be looking to loosen European number one (and defending champion) Dominic Barrett's recent stranglehold on the tournament. The Englishman has been victorious two out of the last three years, and was only prevented from that being three-in-a-row when beaten in the final by fellow Englishman Paul Moor in 2009.

There are plenty of competitors making the trip across the Irish Sea from the UK again this year, despite the current economic climate. The strength of the field may not quite be what it was when the tournament was a European ranking event back in 2005 and 2006, but it will be undoubtedly be a fiercely-fought competition, with many Irish male competitors desperate to become the first ever home winner.

Ones to watch on the Irish front include World Cup representative Stephen O'Connor, Paul Stott, Graham Turner and Alan Gibbons, all of whom are well used to progressing to the latter stages of the tournament. There is some exciting young talent coming through here too, of which 18-year-old Simon English is possibly the one with the biggest potential to go deep into the tournament.

Two-time home winner Kerena Dykes will be looking to make it three titles in four years in the newly reinstated ladies section, after last year's experimental mixed section was scrapped after negative feedback from competitors.

The desperado round has been retained again this year. However, pinfall after round one will be carried forward this year, unlike last year. Qualifiers from the desperado round will have the worst of their original eight games replaced by their qualifying desperado game. The changes will prevent any controversy and will certainly make for a fairer tournament for all competitors.

The Irish Open always makes for an exciting start to the new year of bowling, and this year should be no exception. The atmosphere is always electric on finals day, and lets hope when it comes down to it the home crowd will have one or more competitors to support.

For entries or information, contact Sean Kennedy on 086-8248222, email sean@leisureplex.ie or Lorraine Mayland on 01-2881656.