147 Academy star David Hogan created history in Belgium this weekend when he became the first Irish man to win the European Snooker Championship. The final was an All-Ireland battle with Mario Fernandez from St Johns Limerick. David won the final 7 frames to 4 in superb match in front of a large audience in Antwerp. David won the European Title and the EBSA Nomination for a wild card on to the WSA main tour next season to play professional snooker.
It was a fantastic overall performance from the Irish Team at the European Championship with Tony Thorpe reaching the last 32 and Brendan Thomas reaching the last 16 and Joe Delaney reaching the final of the Masters Event. Brendan O Donoghue reached the Semis, Mario Fernandez finished Runner Up and David became the Champion.
David said after the final that his training program helped him with his Confidence, Self-Belief, Concentration and score power to win this Title. As his coach it was fantastic to watch David fulfil his potential and win this major title and pro ticket. I hope this gives all my other Academy Members to the Self-Belief to win more major titles.
David works very hard on his game and has listened to my advice for over 10 years now and I was so proud of the way he played in the biggest match of his career to date. David had a superb Championship finishing second in his group. In the Last 32 he beat Yvan-Van-Velthoven from Belgium 4 frames to 1 including a 101 break.
In the Last 16 he beat Sean Bullock England 5 frames to 4 and In the Q Final he beat Tony Drago from Malta 5 frames to 1. In the Semi Final he beat Sasha Lippe from Germany 6 frames to 0 with breaks of 77, 89 and 103, and he won the final 7 frames to 4.
