By Elliott West
Introduction
Today’s piece focuses on the former professional snooker player, Eugene Hughes. Hughes was born in 1955 in Carlow, Ireland. A professional from 1981-1997, Hughes was part of the World Cup Ireland dream team that won the tournament three years in succession in 1985, 1986 and 1987. Victories that were made possible with the help of the other members of the team, Alex Higgins and Dennis Taylor who made up the All Ireland and then Ireland ‘A’ teams. The victors beat England ‘A’, 9-7 in 1985 and Canada, 9-7 in 1986 and 9-2 in 1987. The England team was made up of Steve Davis, Tony Knowles and Tony Meo and the Canadian team consisted of Cliff Thorburn, Kirk Stevens and Bill Werbenuik.
Professional Career
Eugene Hughes turned professional in 1981 and reached his highest World ranking of 20 in 1986. His best runs excluding his World Cup victories, came in semi-finishes at the 1984 Jameson International and the 1986 BCE International. He also qualified for the World Championship on five occasions, including three successive years between 1985-1987. He also managed to get to the second round in 1986, beating David Taylor, 10-7 losing to Cliff Thorburn, 13-6 in the next round. In 1987, Hughes got to the first round but was defeated by one of the finalists that year, Joe Johnson, 13-7. Eugene additionally lost six Irish Professional Championship semi-finals between 1982-1989.
Hughes retired from being a professional in 1998 but continued to play as an amateur. He had some success, winning the Irish Over-40s title in 2007 and has also been very successful at billiards, winning the Irish title for the eighth time in 2008. Hughes now lives in Baltinglass in County Wicklow.
Summary
Eugene Hughes had a very successful career as a professional and deservedly should be remembered as one of a group of players from the Republic of Ireland who have excelled on home and UK soil. A multiple World Cup winner and player who went deep into tournaments, Hughes had highest break of 132 at the 1980 Professional Ticket Event and made a sizeable amount in career earnings, £222,669. He also made eight career century breaks. A fine Irish player and someone who is worthy of his time as a professional player.
