Silver Surfers put their spin on the game in snooker challenge

SILVER SURFERS from St Mark’s, who have a combined age of 984, came out with top honours as they competed in their third annual snooker challenge.

The St Mark’s Silver Surfers’ Snooker Challenge 2023 was held in the Roadstone Social Club over two days at breakneck speed, with 11 men battling to win the title.

With three tables in operation on Tuesday last week (September 5), matches were played over three frames in a ‘best of’ format.

Peter Mullen, Andy Tuite, John Hume, Desmond Freeman, John Cleaver, John Smith, John Murphy, John O’Connor, Brian Merriman, Tony Kenny and Pierce Ennis all took part in the competition.

However, it was two men who battled through the first round, quarter-final and semi-final stages to earn their place and go head-to-head in the decider last Thursday, (September 7).

The two players in the final were Pierce Ennis and John Smith, with Pierce taking the title after three tight frames.

This was the third time that the snooker competition took place, with Jimmy Dunne winning the inaugural iteration back in 2018 and John Murphy taking the spoils in 2022.

All players gave a strong account of themselves, stepping up from the usual pool table they practice on.

St Marks Silver Surfers is an active retirement group, and the pool team has an incredible combined age of nearly 1,000, with many of the members in their 70s.

There are around 200 members of the active retirement group, with a waiting list open for anyone seeking to join and meet for activities in St Mark’s GAA Club every Monday and Wednesday.

Part of the group’s activities is the pool team, which typically has around 15 players enjoying games on a Monday morning and afternoon.

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