Posts in category: National Events

A record 31 teams took part in yesterday’s All Ireland Schools Finals held in the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght.  It was the first year that the Primary and Secondary finals were combined and it proved a great success with supporters from all over the country adding to the great atmosphere. 

The match of the day was undoubtably the U15 boys final between St. Louis Kiltimagh and last year’s winners Blackrock College.  It went right down to the wire with St. Louis finally clinching it in the doubles. Blackrock were triumphant in the U19 boy’s overcoming Ballyclare in another gripping contest. 

Colaiste Choilm beat Malone in the U13 boys semi final to book a place against Presentation College, Carlow who had earlier beaten Colaiste Mhuire, Ballymote.  Colaiste Choilm won out to take the top spot. 

The Primary Boys competition was won by Manulla NS  who beat St. Ronan’s in the final.

The girls competition saw some entertaining and competitive matches across all age groups.

Colaiste Choilm U19’s overcame Balla in the final having beaten Cavan Royal en route.  

St. Louis, Kiltimagh contested both the U13 and U15 competition.  They were successful in the U15s beating  Mercy Heights, Skibberreen but lost out to Mountrath in the U13 final.   

Kerrypike NS came out top in the Primary School Girls Final beating Mountrath.

The event was well supported by all the schools but special mention must go to the supporters from Manulla NS who were by far the most colourful and enthusiastic fans of the day.  They arrived armed with banners and posters and cheered their team along all day. 

Full results to follow

Senior Interpros Champions: Leinster

Veterans Interpros Champions: Leinster 

Under 21 Interpros Champions: Munster

Seniors – R. Greer Shield – Holders: Ulster

The R. Greer shield was first presented in 1950, since then Ulster have clocked up 36 titles including the previous 5 titles and Leinster 25 last winning in 2008.

R. Greer Shield (seniors) total titles since 1984:

Ulster 36

Leinster 25

Veterans – Sport Council for NI Shield – Holders: Ulster

The Shield for the Veterans Interprovincial was donated in 1984 by the Sports Council for Northern Ireland. In 2013 Ulster won their first title in 14 years, in 2012 Munster won in Killarney and Leinster had won the previous 11 titles before that. Connacht won the title back in 1999.

Veterans total titles since 1950:

Leinster 14

Ulster 13

Munster 1

Connacht 1

Under 21s – Clarence Moore Memorial Shield – Holders: Leinster

The Clarence Moore Memorial Shield was first introduced in 1982, Leinster have won the last 11 Under 21 Interprovincial titles since 2003, with Munster winning their last title in 2002 and Ulster in 1998.

Clarence Memorial Shield (under 21) total titles since 1982:

Leinster 19

Ulster 8

Munster 4

Players from across Ireland descended to the fantastic facilities of the University of Limerick to battle it out for the chance to be National Champion in the 2014 Butterfly National Championships.

The achievement of the weekend would have to be Emma LUDLOW’S brilliant battle to claim her first National Senior title. An achievement that looks ever more extraordinary when she came into the event seeded 6^th. At the group stages LUDLOW recorded a significant win over third seed Hannah LYNCH-DAWSON 3-2, which attracted the attention of the watching fans as the two girls’ battled it out. At the quarter final stage she came through a comfortable winner over Marta ZAREBA. The semi-final saw her face the number 1 seed Katie MCGLONE. The match was neck and neck and at 1-1 and the two girls battled hard and in two agonizingly close sets LUDLOW came out on top winning 14-12 and 12-10 to take a 3-1 lead. MCGLONE pulled back the fifth set, but LUDLOW stormed to an early lead in the sixth set and never looked back, she booked her place in the final to face 3 times National Champion Ashley GIVAN.

The final saw LUDLOW take the opening sets 11-9, 11-9 and putting pressure on the experienced GIVAN. The spectators knew the battle wasn’t over and GIVAN pulled back the third 12-10. LUDLOW found another gear in the fourth set and took a 3-1 lead. The fifth set was neck and neck, the score was 9-9 and LUDLOW took the next point to have her first ever National Senior Championship point, GIVAN showed exceptional nerve and took the next 3 points and the set to bring it back to 3-2. However as in the semi-final LUDLOW was determined to wrap up the match, and raced to 10-2 lead. She now had 8 more championship points; but she only needed the one taking her maiden title 4-2. Emma ran straight to her mother Anne who had been anxiously sitting in the stands and a warm embrace from the proud mother was greeted with further applause.

In the Mens Singles, the level was top class and it was very difficult to predict a winner. Remarkably, the semi-final pairings were identical to 2013, with Gavin MAGUIRE facing John MURPHY and Paul MCCREERY facing international team-mate Ashley ROBINSON. Murphy showed his supreme battling skills to push MAGUIRE all the way in an exciting match on the show court which had the crowd on the edge of their seats. MAGUIRE raced in to a 3-1 lead, showcasing his talent as he looked to move to the Final. Murphy is never beaten though and came back to level at 3-3 to set up a final set decider. Having been pushed all the way by Declan O’BRIEN in the Quarter Final, this was a step too far for MURPHY and MAGUIRE showed nerves of steel to progress to the National Senior Final. On the other side of the draw, MCCREERY had progressed all the way to the Semi-Final without dropping a set – he looked focussed and determined to retain his title.  He faced Ashley ROBINSON in the semi-final, and looked to avenge ROBINSON’s win from the Under 21s on Day 1. This was a spectacular match with both players playing some outstanding table tennis. McCreery fell 3-2 behind and for a moment he looked like he might relinquish his title. However, he battled back and we had another final set decider – with the margins so fine at this level, the experience of being National champion must have some bearing on the outcome, and McCreery just edged out the impressive ROBINSON to progress to the Final. Many commentators expressed the view that for ROBINSON, he will one day claim this title, but for 2014 we had a re-match of last year’s Final.

The eagerly awaited Final pitted two top class players against each other and they gave a demonstration of skill, athleticism and mental strength to provide a thrilling conclusion to the Championships. Maguire at 3-1 up must have fancied his chances of recording his 2^nd National Senior title. McCreery, always composed, found himself battling again as he had done in the Semi-Final. He stepped up a gear that Maguire, on the day, could not match, claiming the 3 remaining sets (3,4,7) to claim a consecutive National title and bring the Eddie Limberg trophy home. The crowd cstood to acclaim both players and McCreery himself jumped on top of the table to celebrate, a mix of joy and relief etched on his face – he had been pushed all the way by Maguire.

In the Veterans, Dariusz Zatylny edged out Daryl Strong to claim the title. Ashley Robinson claimed the Under 21 Men’s Final, with a fine win over McCreery in the Semi-Final and a straight sets win over World Championship team-mate Ryan Farrell in the Final. In the Under 21 Women’s Final, Leeside TTC’s Chloe O’Halloran edged out UCD’s Sarah Timlin in an exciting Final.

In the Doubles, Katie McGlone and John Murphy teamed up – MURPHY had targeted this title as the only National title he had yet to win, and both players showed great strength and quality to claim the title with a win over Givan and Maguire in the Final. Murphy added to his title haul by combining with Paul McCreery to claim the Men’s Doubles title, with a win over Maguire and Robinson. It was great to see Amanda MOGEY back in action after significant injury troubles and she did not leave the Nationals empty handed, combining with Ashly Givan to claim the Women’s Doubles title.

The Para events saw some shock results. 18 Year old Colin Judge, recently confirmed as a member of Paralympics Ireland Fast-Track Panel of athletes, claimed his first National title in a tense Final against Philip Quinlan. Rena McCarron Rooney claimed the Women’s Wheelchair Singles, while Philip Quinlan and Ronan Rooney claimed the Doubles title, following a marathon semi-final over John Finn and Colin Judge and a Final win over Rena McCarron Rooney and Christine Doyle.

In the Class II Singles, UCD’s Kevin Hutchinson was in outstanding form, progressing to a title win without dropping a set, including an impressive win over Paul O’Toole at the Final stage.

Thanks to our wonderful team of volunteers, Event Referee Con O’Ceadaigh, Umpires, Media Team and our Logistics team. Congratulations to the 2014 crop of National Champions.

Full results available here (Knockout Draws) and here.

Check out our Twitter and Facebook pages for pictures and commentaries. Don’t forget to use the #Nationals to join the debate

Senior Men’s – Winner: Paul McCreery

Groups Results

All semi-final places were taken up by the top four seeds, Declan O’Brien coming closest to an upset with a very tight match against John Murphy, John just edging it 11-9 in the seventh set! It took seven sets also to separate John and Gavin Maguire, who repeated his Munster Open win to reach the final against Paul McCreery. And this one went all the way to the final set, with Paul holding on to win!

Senior Ladies – Winner: Emma Ludlow

Groups Results

Under-21s Men’s – Winner: Ashley Robinson

Runner-Up: Paul McCreery
Click here for First Round Groups
Click here for Knockout Results

Under-21s Ladies’ – Winner: Chloe O’Halloran

Click here for First Round Groups
Click here for Knockout Results

Veterans’ – Winner: Dariusz Zatylny

Click here for First Round Groups
Click here for Knockout Results

Men’s Doubles – Winners: Murphy & McCreevy

Click here for Results

Ladies’ Doubles – Winners: Mogey & Givan

Click here for Full Results

Mixed Doubles – Winner: Murphy/McGlone

Click here for Results

Class II – Winner: Kevin Hutchinson

Click here for Groups

Click here for Knockout Draw

Wheelchair Men’s – Winner: Colin Judge

Click here for Groups

Click here for Knockout Draw

Wheelchair Ladies’ – Winner: Rena McCarron-Rooney

Click here for Results (Round Robin)

Wheelchair Doubles – Winners: Rooney & Quinlan

Click here for Results

First Intervarsities Success for U.C.C. in 7 Years

Report: Kayrin Ong

The U.C.C. Table Tennis team headed to N.U.I. Galway over the first weekend in February with only one goal in mind – to bring home the silverware! Our formidable squad of six Men and four Ladies did not disappoint. In the team events, both the Men’s and Ladies’ teams were pitted against the long-reigning champions U.C.D. in the finals.

After the first round of individual matches, it was all-square at 4-4 between U.C.C. and U.C.D. Ladies. The doubles matches would now be the crucial determining factor.  Edel O’Reilly & Huizhuang Xie defeated U.C.D.’s Sarah Timlin & Clodagh McMurrow comfortably in the first doubles match so it was the second doubles match which would either seal the deal or bring us into the excruciating deciding doubles. 

The doubles match looked as though it was going to go U.C.D.’s way when we were 2-0 down and trailing in the 3rd game. However, the game was not over. To everyone’s surprise, the pair of Kayrin Ong & Xie Chen made a great comeback to win the third set and keep the match alive. A change of tactics and great fighting spirit saw the U.C.C. ladies taking the fourth to draw level, and eventually closing out the match in a heart-pounding five-set thriller. Finally, the ladies brought home the cup after seven long years!

In the Men’s Team Event, U.C.C. were unlucky to lose out narrowly to holders U.C.D. in a closely fought final which lasted four hours. Nonetheless, our team of Declan O’Brien, Alex Cooney, Gary Goh, Dave Buckley, Darragh Buckley and Naqiyuddin Misran did well to see off the rest of the participating teams rather comfortably. 

On the second day, in the Men’s Singles Event, our players performed even better with five U.C.C. players contesting the quarter finals. Alex Cooney was unlucky to be drawn against Declan O’Brien in the semi-finals and had to settle for third place. In the Men’s Singles Final, Declan defeated U.C.D.’s Kieran Reilly in straight sets to bring home the Men’s Individual plaque – also seven years since Mark White’s last success in this event!

U.C.C.’s ladies also did well in the individual event. Edel, Huizhuang and Xie Chen took three of the four semi-final places while Kayrin emerged as the Plate Winner. It was a repeat of last year’s final when Xie Chen was staged to play against Sarah Timlin. This time the advantage went to the U.C.D. Representative, with a straight sets win in the final.

With a total of two silverwares and six medals won, the team certainly did U.C.C. proud. The future looks bright and hopefully we can go one better in the Men’s Team and Ladies’ Singles next year!

Queens University(pictured above with President of ITTA Leinster Branch Mr.Tony Martin) are the National Team Tournament champions following a hard fought event win last weekend in Roadstone. The event saw an entry of 15 teams, spread across 3 Divisions according to ranking position.

Premier Division Review

With a strong team of Daryl Strong, Phil Wallace and Peter Graham, Queens would have expected a strong performance and will be delighted with the victory. They were pushed all the way by both Club Donic sides and showed real steel to claim the National Team title with 4 wins from 4. The deciding match against Club Donic 1(Conor Nolan, Paul O’Toole, Conor Fahy) was an intriguing match, with Nolan claiming big wins over both Strong and Graham. This has been a solid season for Nolanand he went unbeaten at the NTT to further illustrate his current form. The match between the Number 3’s of both teams was pivotal, with O’Toole racing in to a dominant 2-0 lead. Phil Wallace fought back admirably, taking all 3 remaining sets in a titanic struggle to claim the win. The final match was a decider for both the match and the title, with Daryl Strong showing all his experience and ability to recover from 1-0 down to claim the win over Fahy. 

Elsewhere in the Division, UCD’s Kevin Hutchinson had two really good wins over Pioneers’ Zatylny and Mackey as he continues to move up the Senior rankings. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day was Donic 2’s Conor Mullally(Ranked 29) straight sets win over Peter Graham(Ranked 7). This was a big win for Mullally and capped a good weekend for a strong Club Donic outfit who claimed both 2nd and 3rd place in the top Division.

Division One Review

With Ulster’s Queens claiming the Paddy Berrigan Trophy, eyes turned to the 2nd tier with some very strong players and teams in action. It looked like a battle between Connacht’s Galway TTC and Munster’s Leeside TTC and that is the way it developed.

Galway had experienced campaigners Terry Dolan and Robbie Gavin with newcomer Dominik Greliki – they progressed cpomfortably through their first 3 matches before the title decider against Leeside TTC. Leeside TTC had Alan Walsh, Matt Haynes and late replacement Ben Haughton in action. This one was another match that went all the way, with Dolan and Grelicki registering two wins for Galway, Alan Walsh and Matt Haynes levelling matters for Leeside TTC. The final match pitted Grelicki against Walsh and this was a thrilling encounter with Walsh going two down before a change of tactics and a focus on big forehand returns saw him fight back to claim a big 3-2 win and the division title for Leeside. Grelicki looked a fine player over the course of the event and will be a player that could take some scalps at the upcoming Munster Open.

So Leeside claimed the Division One title, with Galway in 2nd and John Dennis and his Diamonds claiming 3rd spot.

Division Two Review

New South Dublin outfit Dundrum TTC were big favourites in this Division – a strong looking team of Barth, Szulcs and Marta Zareba looked a class apart. The deciding match was against Beechhill TTC, with Billion, Shaw and Victoriu representing the Munster club. Zareba got Dundrum off to a winning start with a win over Shaw and from there, Dundrum never looked back, going on to claim a 3-1 win and the Division Two title – a strong performance and one that they will look to replicate at a higher level next season.

Overall a great day of play at the Roadstone venue. As always thanks to the clubs and players who participated – this is the only National Club event and represents a great opportunity to players to represent their clubs at National level. Congratulations to Queens TTC, Leeside TTC and Dundrum TTC and thanks as always to our top class volunteer team, in particular Tournament Referee Tony Martin.

FULL MATCH RESULTS

What a day of Table Tennis! 52 teams… over 200 players… 10 divisions… almost 500 matches in one day! It must be a record for any table tennis event in Ireland!

Day One of the Munster Schools’ League 2013-14 took place on 21st November in Leeside Table Tennis Club in the Sports Village in Cork.

Ben Haughton undertook the organisation of this massive event and the day went very well, finishing on time (although the third round matches had to be truncated to Best-of-Three to achieve this). There were very few complaints and almost no tears, and all the kids enjoyed the day, for many it was their first taste of table tennis competition. 

Thanks to all who helped in the set-up and in the clean-up at the end. The Sports Village proved capable of staging a big event, with 26 tables going without a break!

Day two will see them all be back in Leeside in February… watch this space for details!

Results

Here is the final tables from the National Junior League held in Roadstone Sports and Social Club

National Junior League Results 2013