Irish Sporting Eye

By Gerard Mulreaney ( @gerardmulreaney ) Ireland’s newest Snooker star Ross Bulman got his first professional win at the recent Northern Ireland Open, and now is set to face his idol in the UK Championships next week. The 18-year-old from Youghal will walk out at the Barbican Centre in York on Thursday to play Ronnie O’Sullivan, a player he calls, ‘The best player to ever hold a que.’ “Playing Ronnie O’Sullivan is a huge one for me, probably the best opportunity of my lifetime,” said Bulman. In the Northern Ireland Open in Belfast Bulman beat China’s Zhang Jiankang 4-1 in the first round, before succumbing 4-2 to world number fifteen Joe Perry. He was happy to finally get that first pro win: “Getting my first win was probably the best thing ever. I’ve been waiting on that for almost seven months, so it was good to get it there. “It was a very tough game, I could’ve been 3-1 up, with a small bit of luck on my side. However, I was happy enough with 4-2 in the end a...

By Gerard Mulreaney ( @gerardmulreaney ) Ireland head coach Stuart Littler is ‘buzzing’ following his sides qualification for the 2021 Rugby League world cup in England, after they topped their qualifying group. Ireland beat both Spain and Italy, but Italy’s win over Spain had already guaranteed Ireland’s qualification ahead of their clash, but Ireland still proceeded to beat the Italians 25-4 in Santry. Littler was happy they achieved what they set out to do: “The game between Italy and Spain happened, and Italy gained the win which meant we had qualified. Objective one was complete. “I told the players when we met, objective one was to qualify for the World Cup. Objective two was to win the group and get the higher seed going into the world cup. We’re building something now, over the next two years to get to that world cup.” “I’m absolutely buzzing, it’s a massive achievement. It’s more about the team than myself. I’ve got a great staff behind me. They do a lot...