A strong Irish team travelled to the Netherlands last week to represent their country in the World Individual Championships. Under the guidance of NPC Peter Nilsson, Amanda Mogey produced the stand-out performances for the team. Below, ITTAWeb summarises the main results of the event:
Mens
In the preliminary group, National Champion John Murphy recorded a straight sets victory over Yemen’s AL-MAHAQERI, before losing 1:4 to PLATONOVof Belarus. Paul McCreery lost both games of his group, losing in a 3:4 battle agains MPEMBA of Ivory Coast and 1:4 to Iran’s AKHLAGHPASAND.
In the consolation event, John Murphy took a 3:0 victory over MUKTAR, before being eliminated by Canada’s HINSE in the last 64.
McCreery was eliminated by Israeli BEN ARI 2:3 to conclude his involvement in the Singles event.
Both players rankings have been affected negatively by this tournament, with McCreery now at 735, while Murphy slips back to 959.
Womens
The youngest member of the squad, Ashley Givan lost both matches in her preliminary group, losing 3:4 to GODOY of Guatemala and in straight sets to Slovenian SAFRAN. Amanda Mogey recorded a win in her preliminary group over Costa Rica’s Martinez, before succumbing to TODOROVIC of Serbia 1:4.
In the consolation event, Givan was eliminated at the first stage, despite a battling performance against VESKOVSKA of MKD. This will hopefully be the first of many World Championships for the Ulster Junior and she will surely benefit from the experience of playing among the world’s elite.
Mogey also entered the consolation event and produced a string of impressive performances. In the 1st Round, she defeated BALLOUCHY of Morocco 3:0. This set up a tight match with LOPEZ of Guatemala – both players at a similar point on the World Ranking list. Mogey recovered from losing the 1st set to claim a 3:1 victory. In the Round of 32, TCHERESTOVA of Jordan was also put away by a 3:1 scoreline. A confident Mogey then faced MEDINA of Colombia, a player ranked hundreds of places above her in the ITTF Rankings at WR238. Undaunted, she dismantled the South American 3:0 – without doubt her best international result to date. Mogey’s incredible run eventually came to a halt at the Quarter Final stage – American Prachi eliminating her in straight sets. On foot of her performances, Mogey now moves up almost 100 places in the World Rankings – now at 738. Ashley Givan is ranked at 1134.
Well done to the entire team – most will now enjoy a well deserved Summer break before pre-season in July.