Ronan McCarthy is on top of the world of 8-ball pool, as he finally realised his world title dream with an 11-6 victory over Chris Day in the final to win the 2022 WEPF World 8-Ball Pool Championship.

McCarthy arrived at the Gleneagle Hotel last week already a legend within the sport, but his maiden world championship win – 35 years on from his first national title triumph in Northern Ireland – now cements his immortality in the record books, too.

The 53-year-old has enjoyed the time of his pool life in Killarney. He was a vital component of the Northern Ireland side that won the inaugural WEPF World Team Shootout, and in front of family, friends and teammates, he secured the WEPF World Masters last weekend after coming back to defeat in-form Frenchman Yannick Beaufils in a memorable final.

Victory in the WEPF’s premier singles competition not only completes an incredible hat-trick, but he becomes only the second player in history to do the World Men’s Masters and World Men’s Championship double within the same year. McCarthy is the first player from his country to win either of those prestigious individual events. All of this so close to home on the Emerald Isle.

One of the sport’s most popular figures, McCarthy defeated David Ewing (Australia) 8-3 and Mabuti Mbotyeni (South Africa) 8-5 in the last 64 and 32 respectively, before eliminating the final former champion left in the draw, John Roe, 8-5 in the last 16.

“The Babe” then saw off a pair of Ultimate Pool Pro Series event winners in Shaun Storry 9-6 in the quarter-finals and Dom Cooney – runner-up the last time the Championship was held – 10-6 in the semi-finals.

Whilst McCarthy was gaining the majority of attention, Englishman Day was writing his own story, having started his journey in the opening qualification round and winning eight consecutive matches to reach the title match.

Day – a WEPF World Team Championship winner in the past – dropped just six frames during his three qualifying round wins but was pushed close by home favourite Shaun Sharkey (Ireland) 8-6 in the last 64.

From there, though, Day’s victories came with change to spare, booking his final berth after a 10-6 success over number two seed and recent Ultimate Pool Pro Series event winner Karl Sutton in the last four.

McCarthy made an ideal start to the final, racing into a 4-0 lead. Day got on the board with the fifth frame but missed an opportunity in the sixth. His opponent punished that mistake for 5-1 before two more frames put him in total control at 7-1 up.

However, Day dragged himself back into the match, claiming the final two frames before the mid-session interval for 7-3 before chalking up three of the first four on resumption to change the whole complexion of the tie being just two behind at 8-6.

Momentum had shifted, but just like he did during his World Masters victory, McCarthy showed his supreme class in the closing stages and kept his opponent cold. He constructed a reverse clearance in the 15th frame and a break clearance in the 16th to get on the hill, and when Day broke dry again in the 17th, McCarthy reverse cleared once more for his dream to come true.