Players hooked on Roy’s invention
The hook rest, the brainchild of Cork born inventor Roy Barry, which allows players play around difficult ball positions, will be officially unveiled in a match between Paul Hunter and Ken Doherty.
Barry, said that the rest, which has been officially sanctioned by the World Snooker Association will go on general sale next month.
“I have been playing snooker since I was nine and I was playing out of the 147 Club in Cork. The one shot that was always hard to do was when you had to try and play over the ball.
“So I invented something which allows players to go around such a shot. I was working in painting and decorating and then I quit the job three years’ ago for this.
“Ben Dunne gave me a dig out at first and since then I have had 13 investors involved. We have a staff of three at the moment and that will be up to 10 at the end of the month.
“The demand is incredible. We have had emails from all over the world wanting to buy the rest,” he says.
And the interest from professionals has been incredible too he explained.
“Ken Doherty brought me over to Preston and the pros were very impressed.
“Steve Davis saw it and did a piece on BBC while Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jimmy White were also really impressed. It is now retailing at 70 and the demand is huge.”
And this is not the end of the invention line for the Corkman. “I have other stuff written down and in the pipeline. My ambition is to have five products in the next 10 years,” he says.
For more details log onto www.thehookrest.com
