By Elliott West
Introduction
Snooker is awash with great players over the years and one such individual is Dessie Sheehan. Dessie born in Limerick, Ireland, Sheehan competed as an amateur and was a professional player over eighteen seasons between 1981 and 2001.
Career
Turning professional in 1981, Dessie’s first match was against Vic Harris at the International Open where he beat Harris, 5-1. This was followed by a 5-9 defeat to Dene Reynolds at the 1982 World Championship. The next couple of seasons produced little success with Sheehan only managing to reach the last 64 of the 1983 Professional Players’ Championship where Rex Williams beat him, 5-1.
In the 1985 UK Championship, the Irishman defeated Paul Watchorn, 9-7 and George Scott, 9-6 and was drawn against Steve Davis in the last 64. Dessie only won the seventh frame and ended up losing the match 1-9 and was eliminated from the tournament as a result. Despite this defeat, he still managed to accumulate enough ranking points to be placed, 81st, a career best for the 1986/87 season. He also reached his only quarter-finish that season, beating Jack McLaughlin in his first round match at the 1987 Irish Professional Championship before losing, 3-6 to Dennis Taylor.
Slipping down the rankings, Sheehan earned no money for the 1992/93 season and dropping down the rankings, he lost his place on the main tour, ranked 451 in 1997. Dessie went on to enter the World Championship over the next four seasons but lost every time in the first round. This was followed by a snooker drought with Sheehan only entering the 2007 Irish Professional Championship, the first tournament in twelve years.
Further attempts with entries in the Q School and PTC events followed but to no avail and his only success was at the Lisbon Open in 2014 when he won two matches to reach the last 128 but then was drawn against Jimmy White, losing 4-0. He also made a further attempt to qualify at the Q School in 2014 but lost his matches to William Lemons and Duane Jones.
Summary
In summary, Dessie Sheehan remains one of those players that never quite made the higher echelons of the sport but is clearly an accomplished player. A professional career that spanned eighteen seasons, Sheehan has competed with the best and still appears at the qualifiers for the World Seniors. A player that had career earnings of £7,956 and reached the last 64 on three occasions and made his highest break of 96 at the 1987 Irish Professional Championship.
