ONE of snooker's most iconic venues will once again play host to a major tournament early in 2019 when the Senior Irish Masters takes place at Goffs in Co Kildare.
Legends of the game Jimmy White, Ken Doherty, Dennis Taylor, Joe Johnson and Willie Thorne will be joined by Senior World champion Aaron Canavan and wild cards Patrick Wallace and Rodney Goggins for the eight-man event, which takes place on January 5-6.
Dungannon's Wallace earned his place by winning a World Seniors qualifier at Celbridge Snooker Club last month, beating Wexford’s Goggins in the semi-finals and Jonathan Bagley – the number one ranked senior in the world – in the final.
Goggins bounced back from that disappointment to claim the final place by winning the Republic of Ireland Billiards and Snooker Association qualifier at The Roadstone Club in Dublin last week and set up a quarter-final clash with 1997 World champion Doherty.
That will be the opening match on January 5 and will be followed by a clash between two former World champions, Dennis Taylor and Joe Johnson.
The day two quarter-finals on January 6 will see Canavan face Wallace in the afternoon and White take on Thorne in the evening.
The two semi-finals and final will be played on Sunday, January 6.
Tickets are available for the gala dinner with all the players on the evening of Friday, January 4, and also for all sessions of play on Saturday and Sunday.
They can be bought at ticketmaster.ie with prices starting from €10.
