147Academy player Jason Devaney from Ireland won the Junior Pot Black title in the famous Crucible arena and hopes to be back someday competing in the 888.com World Snooker Championship.
Jason had travelled to Sheffield with his coach PJ Nolan and PJ said afterwards that he was so proud of Jason. The 15-year-old from Ballina in County Mayo beat Duane Jones from South Wales in the one-frame match by a 61-28 score line.
It was a fragmented frame, lasting 50 minutes, and came down to the colours. Devaney knocked in an excellent long pot on the brown and added the blue for victory.
He was presented with the trophy, previously won twice by John Parrott, by 1979 World Champion Terry Griffiths.
Earlier in the week, Irish under-16 champion Devaney beat Sam Craigie and Ryan Clark to reach the final. Jones, a 14-year-old from Mountain Ash ranked No 1 in the Welsh under-16s, beat Eden Sharav and Kishan Kotecha. In the final Devaney beat Jones who he had played last month in the Pontin’s Star of the Future and the Irishman repeated his success again today.
Jason said “I feel great, to be presented with a trophy by Terry Griffiths that was once held by John Parrott said flame-haired Devaney after the final. “It was brilliant to play at the Crucible. We were both nervy at the start but we settled down after a few shots.
Jason went out of his way to thank his coach and mentor for giving him the confidence to win this major title and having PJ with me this week made it even more special and hopefully this will lead to even more success in future, my target now is to win the Irish National Championship and then to turn professional. I would love to be back here in Sheffield in a few years playing as a pro.”
