CEREDIGION snooker players Barry Brown and Donald Newcombe returned from Carlow in Ireland in celebratory mood having helped Wales to retain the Celtic Challenge Cup.

With the top eight players from each team, Wales expected a very hard battle against Ireland, who entered the best over 55s team to date, Ireland having lost the Cup last year in Llanelli.

But Wales produced great results to reach their target of 49 points with a session to spare.

Brown scored nine points from his 10 games being one of the highest point scorer for Wales while Newcombe, who also plays out of Rhydlewis Snooker Club, gained a very respectable 7 points from 10.

The win came a week after the juniors also retained their tile in Llanelli.

Brown will now be heading to Leeds on 5 August and will captain the B side in the Men’s Open category.

Unfortunately, Newcombe will miss the event through ill health. His family and friends and the Welsh team wish him a speedy recovery.

Earlier this year 66-year-old Brown qualified for the European Men’s Championships which was held in Bosnia.

He was the first person from West Wales and possibly the oldest person ever in Welsh snooker to qualify for Europe.

He missed out on qualification for the knockout phase by just two frames.