Ireland's excellent record in amateur snooker continued yesterday as Robert Murphy and T J Dowling sealed their places in the last eight of the world under-21 championships in Carlow. Murphy gained a 5-2 victory over Luke Simmonds from the Isle of Wight. The Irish number three got off to an excellent start, knocking in breaks of 42 and 34 in the opening frame but Simmonds responded to level matters.
The two then traded frames to leave it at 2-2 with Simmonds making a 92 clearance in the fourth; but the match swung in Murphy's favour when he took the last four remaining colours in frame five, followed by an easy pink over the corner pocket in the next frame to give him a 4-2 lead and he then sealed victory with a 42 break.
Later, Dowling defeated Aaron Mahoney from Australia 5-1 in an hour and 15 minutes and this included a break of 93 in the third.
World Under-21 Championship (Carlow) - Last 16 stage: R Murphy (Ireland) bt L Simmonds (England) 5-2; M Chun Fu (China/ Hong Kong) bt B Farnworth (New Zealand) 5-1; A Norman (England) bt E Brynseels (Belgium) 53; B Haneveer (Belgium) bt E Heinsmann (Netherlands) 5-0; T J Dowling (Ireland) bt A Mahoney (Australia) 5-1; J McBain (Scotland) bt I Barber (Australia) 5-3; R Day (Wales) bt R De Jong (Netherlands) 5-2; J Younger (Australia) bt A Mahitthi (Thailand) 5-2. Quarter-finals (tomorrow) - Fu v Dowling; Norman v Younger; McBain v Murphy; Day v Haneveer.
