The Northern Ireland National Billiards Championship was won by Paddy Donnelly who retained his title after defeating Tony Buttimer 754-406 in the final, staged at the West Belfast Club. Donnelly was always in command of the match, a break of 164 the highlight of an easy win. This break was also the highest in the competition.
In the earlier rounds Donnelly had been lucky to survive his quarter- final match against Freddie Cahoon who had a number of golden opportunities to clinch the game before Donnelly edged home by just 14 points. He subsequently had a more comfortable passage in the semi-finals where be defeated Frank Trainor 809-336.
Last year's finalist Davy Elliott was expected to meet Donnelly again in the deciding match, but after an easy win against Eugene Rogan in the quarters, in which he had runs of 136, 94 and 80, he had to concede his semi-final encounter against Buttimer due to illness.