By Elliott West
Introduction
Pascal Burke was one of a talented group of snooker players that emerged from the famous CrossGuns Snooker Club in Dublin. Under the watchful eye of Finbarr Ruane Senior, a very gifted amateur player and his father-in-law Christopher Carroll, the club which was established in 1958, became a dominant force in Irish snooker in the 1960s and helped players such as Pascal Burke, Paddy Browne and Eugene Hughes become great.
Pascal was a true great of Irish snooker and literally lived and breathed snooker, spending many hours in snooker halls as an amateur before making that massive transitional leap from amateur to professional. A professional from 1982-1991, Burke climbed to a high of 63 in the rankings but all his titles were won in his amateur days.
Career
Born in 1932, Pascal Burke made his mark on the amateur Irish snooker circuit when he became the Republic of Ireland snooker champion in 1974 and 1976 and the billiards champion in 1980 and 1981. He also reached the semi-finals of the 1974 World Amateur Snooker Championship in Dublin, losing eventually to the Welsh player, Geoff Thomas 2-8. A tournament that was won by Ray Edmonds after defeating Geoff Thomas 11-9 in the final.
Burke was then invited to take part in the 1974 Norwich Union Open, held at the Piccadilly Hotel in London, where he lost to Ray Reardon 2-5 in the first round. An event that was won by John Spencer after defeating Ray Reardon 10-9 in the final. A period of snooker history where Reardon won numerous titles including the World Championship.
Turning professional in 1982 after being accepted as a member of the WPBSA, Pascal’s first professional tournament outing was at the 1983 Irish Professional Championship where he lost to one of his friends, Eugene Hughes 2-6 in the quarter-finals. He then went on to be invited to the 1983 Irish Masters but was whitewashed by Tony Meo 5-0 in the first round. Burke also lost in the first round of the 1983 World Championship qualifiers, losing 9-10 to Paddy Morgan.
Burke’s 1983-1984 snooker season started with a 2-5 loss to Geoff Foulds in the qualifying round of the 1983 International Open but then went on to defeat Geoff 5-4 in the qualifiers for the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, held at Redwood Lodge in Bristol, before losing 3-5 to Joe Johnson in the last 64. A tournament won by Tony Knowles after defeating Joe Johnson 9-8 in the final. An event that was then renamed the following year, becoming the Grand Prix instead.
In the 1984 World Championship qualifiers, Pascal knocked out Billy Kelly 10-7 and Bob Harris 10-4 before losing to Mike Hallett 10-5. A performance that turned out to be his best in his World Championship appearances. This would sadly turn out to be the start of decline as a professional and he was unable to make any further dents in any future snooker season.
By the 1990-1991 season, Burke had dropped to 149 in the world rankings and didn’t compete professionally again. Pascal passed away in 2001, aged 68 in a Dublin hospital after a short illness. A player who will always be remembered fondly by the snooker community, a man who was kind and funny, someone with a beaming smile, impeccably dressed and hair set with pomade.
