Isle of Man: Major pool event 'great exposure' for island

The IPA tour saw three days of pool take place inside the Palace Hotel in Douglas

Visitors got "a taste of what the Isle of Man can offer" after a major pool tournament was hosted in Douglas, the government's tourism lead has said.

The International Pool Association's (IPA) three-day competition, which involved 177 pool players, took place at the weekend in the Palace Hotel.

A mixture of the professional and amateur matches were broadcast on BBC Sport via the red button.

MHK Rob Callister said the event was "great exposure for the Isle of Man".

'Truly amazing'

More than 150 players travelled to the island and took part in the IPA tournament, along with 27 Manx players.

Four separate trophies were up for grabs.

David Addinall, the only professional Manx pool player, got to the last eight of the open competition, where he lost out to Scotsman Liam Dunster after beating Robert Stephen 7-6 in the last 16.

He said: "To have a tournament of this magnitude on the island was truly amazing.

"The pool community is really strong at the moment on the Isle of Man, and it was a fantastic weekend, with so many local people playing, supporting and watching."

Mr Callister, who also played in the tournament and is the political member for tourism at the Department for Enterprise, said there had been "unbelievably good comments from people playing in the event, many of whom had never been to the island before".

He added: "I have spoken to several people who are definitely booking travel back here to have a holiday break."

Marc Farnsworth became champion in the mixed open, Dunster won the professional competition, while Deb Burchell beat her opponent in the ladies' final, and Michael Tomlinson came out top in the amateur event.

The IPA tour, which was first held on the island in 2019, is due to return in January next year.