Barry Foley of Ireland becomes the first male Irish bowler to win the Irish Open Championship

It was 25th time lucky for an Irish male bowler as Barry Foley became the first home-grown winner of the Irish Open Tenpin Bowling Championships this past month. The tournament was celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and never before had it produced an Irish winner in the men's section.
After Kerena Dykes opened the door in 2007, becoming the first Irish winner in either the men's or women's sections, many thought a male winner would quickly follow.

But Irish bowling fans were made to wait until January 2013 to roar on and crown their first male Irish champion. Foley was in stunning form all weekend, and made his intentions to win the event clear when he bowled the first perfect 300 game of the weekend on Friday, the second day of the four-day event.

By the time crunch-time came around on Sunday afternoon, there was an air of inevitability about seeing the Irishman in the final. And with it also being the 50th anniversary of bowling in Ireland in 2013, you somehow just knew what was coming.

Foley took on Norway's Robin Nordas Grindvik in the final, who himself had beaten bowling legend and former champion Tore Torgerson in the semi-final. But with Leisureplex Stillorgan packed to the rafters there was only ever going to be one winner. Even when the start of the match was delayed due to an arm muscle injury to Foley, it was always going to go the way of the Irish.

Grindvik bowled bravely with the majority of the crowd rooting for his opponent, but ultimately he never threatened Foley's dream of becoming the first Irish man to win the Irish Open. With the final strike of the event Foley dropped to his knees and held his head in his hands, and started to believe that his dream had come true. He was Irish Open champion.

And it was almost an Irish double, as Hannah Cullen, runner-up in 2011 and 2012, battled hard against England's Zara Giles. However, the luck of the Irish ran out for Cullen and she was narrowly beaten to take her third runner-up prize in succession.

Congratulations to both competitors for their stunning performances, and to all competitors, Irish or otherwise, who made the 25th anniversary of the Irish Open one of the most exciting in memory.