Moate's Claffey among the winners at national pool championships

Moate native Alan Claffey came away from the recent All- Ireland Pool Championships as the new national men's intermediate singles' champion.

The event was staged at the Gleneagle Arena, Killarney, with the Westmeath Pool Association sending six teams across four different categories in pursuit of national success.

Westmeath was represented by three men’s teams, an over 50s team, a ladies' team and an U23 team.

The standout moment for Westmeath came from Claffey, who captured the intermediate men’s singles title in superb fashion.

Alan defeated Kerry’s Dave Curtain by an emphatic 8-1 scoreline in the final to claim the national crown. His achievement was even more impressive considering the competition featured a field of over 200 players.

There were also strong performances across the team events. The Westmeath 'A' team reached the shield final, narrowly losing out 10-8 after a highly competitive match.

Westmeath 'B' enjoyed another excellent campaign in the men’s junior team section. After topping their group with four wins from four matches, and defeating Meath 14-12 in the quarter-finals, they narrowly missed out on a second consecutive final appearance, losing 14-12 to Tyrone in the last four. Tyrone would go on to win the competition overall.

The Westmeath ladies team also impressed, reaching the shield semi-finals. Meanwhile, the U23s were unfortunate not to progress further, suffering a narrow 5-4 defeat to Kerry in a closely contested encounter.