Posts in category: TTI News

Paul McCreery played a thrilling match at this morning’s European Youths. This Round of 64 match against Croatian Luka Fucec was always going to be a test for the Ulster Junior, and his hopes of progressing looked slim as Fucec, in commanding form, moved into a 3:1 lead. McCreery did not let his head drop though as he valiantly fought back to take the next two sets and set up a 7th set decider. As always, the final set is a test of nerve, poise and character – qualities the Irish Number One has displayed in abundance over the past 12 months. He did not disappoint, recording a 11:6 victory to take the match and progress to the Round of 32.

McCreery is back in action at 4pm today, taking on Jonathan Groth of Denmark. As always at these events, it doesn’t get easier as you progress and Groth is a formidable opponent. Ranked 15 in the European Junior rankings, Groth has been is fantastic form in Istanbul, breezing through his Second Round match 4:0 over Ronneborg of Norway. Check back here for results update this afternoon.

Best of luck Paul!

At the European Youth Championships this morning, Ireland’s No.1 Ranked Junior and Senior player Paul McCreery progressed to the last 64 with a 4 : 0  (8 5 11 5)victory over Petr Handl of the Czech Republic. McCreery will be delighted to have set up a 2nd round encounter with Luka Fucec of Croatia. Fucec is a dangerous player, ranked just below McCreery in the European Rankings. Fucec recently qualified for the Youth Olympic Games and has already won a Silver medal in the Junior Boys Team event as part of the Croatian National Team. Fucecd has never faced Irish opposition before, and tomorrow is sure to be a stern test of his credentials.

In yesterday’s evening Singles, Ashley Robinson had a tough Austrian opponent Christian Wolf and after two close sets at the start of the match he found himself 2-0 down 11-9 on both occasions . His opponent got stronger after that and eased his way to a 4-0 victory. Sam Logue was next in action against the Cypriot Number One Nikola PANAGIOTOU and he again lost the first set close but recoved to level the match at 1-1. His opponent then took control of the game playing aggressively and  although the sets were close 11-7 in all of them, Sam struggled to get the initative in the game.

In the Mixed doubles  McCreery and Givan record their first victory of the day of the day over a pair from Georgia/Armenia and then lost out 3-1 to a Polish duo. Robinson and O’Reilly lost in Round One to a Bosnian pair.

The only boys doubles match was Sam Logue and his Finnish partner, Pauli HIETIKKO played a pair from Kosovo and they won 3-0 for the right to play a Hungarian pair today.

In the Cadet Girls event, today’s 2nd Round sees Ashley Givan face Valerie Tischler of Austria, while Edel O’Reilly will play Ajila Kovac of Bosnia. Both girls will be hopeful of progressing to the 3rd Round.

The Irish team in Istanbul at the European Youth Championships swing into action today in the individual events starting with the Junior Mixed Doubles at 14.30 with Paul McCreery and Ashley Givan taking on an Armenian / Georgian pairing and Ashley Robinson and Edel O’Reilly playing two Bosnians. It was an early start for the players with a 9am breakfast call to get some much needed doubles practice as neither pairing has ever played together before! Lack of mixed doubles tournaments in Ireland mean that this will be their first outings together and couple of hours practice is required in the morning! In years gone by Wednesday was traditionally the free day when the young players got to see something of the place they were competing in and I am sure it would be very culturally and educationally interesting to see the historic Gateway to Asia but unfortunately that is all a thing of the past now as not only are the mixed doubles parings in action but the Junior Boys Sam Logue and Ashley Robinson are in action in the singles from 17.00.

The draw for the Singles is as follows:

Junior Boys

2nd Round McCreery v Efstathiou(Cyprus)/Handl(Czech Rep)

1st Round Logue v PANAGIOTOU(CYP)

1st Round Robinson v Wolf(Austria)

Logue and Robinson are first into action in Round 1 this evening. Logue faces PANAGIOTOU, who in the Team event defeated Ashley Robinson. PANAGIOTOU is Ranked 354 in Europe, with Logue at 325. This will be a tough match for the ALSAA player, but he will hope to draw on his recent experiences at the Spanish Open and ITTF Training camp to progress. Robinson faces the Austrian Wolf, which on the surface looks to be a difficult draw. Wolf is ranked 128 in Europe and Robinson will have to produce his best performance of the tournament to progress. McCreery progresses automatically to the 2nd Round due to his ranking of 38 in Europe. Both of his potential opponents are unranked and he will hope to secure a victory that would lead to a 3rd round clash with Fucec of Croatia.

Cadet Girls

2nd Round Givan v TISCHLER(Austria)/HAMZAYEVA(Azerbaijan)

1st Round O’Reilly v HALITI(Kosovo)

The Irish Girls face unranked opponents in the Singles. Haliti from Kosovo is a known quantity for Edel O’Reilly and coach Amanda Mogey, as in the Team event Ashley Givan recorded a 3:1 victory over the Kosovan. O’Reilly would be delighted with a similar result to progress to the next round. Givan will also be hopeful of progressing – Azerbaijan finished in bottom position in the group and Tischler of Austria has struggled for a win in the Team event.

Team Event Results

Junior Boys – Following a disappointing finish in their first group, the Boys team rallied in their 2nd group, with wins over Kosovo and Cyprus. McCreery took his two matches against the Swiss, but that wasn’t enough as the Irish suffered a 3:2 defeat. In to the final positional play-offs, Ireland defeated Macedonia 3:1, with McCreery recording another 2 wins and Robinson finishing the match off. The last match was against the Ukraine, where Ireland fell to a 3:1 defeat, McCreery taking the sole win. This left Ireland in 34th position from an entry of 40 teams.

Cadet Girls – The Cadet Girls had a succesful event at their first European Championships, with Edel O’Reilly scoring a notable win against Israel’s Nicole Trossman(European No.22). In their 2nd group, they recorded 3 wins out of 3, defeating Kosovo, Azerbaijan and Bulgaria. Both players were in top form, with two 3:0’s and a 3:1 victory. In the final play-offs they faced Switzerland and Ukraine. Against the Swiss, the Girls took the crucial Doubles and O’Reilly was again in top form, taking the two singles victories against Schemp and Gonzales, 3:0 in both. This set up a rematch with the Ukraine, over whom the Irish recorded a victory earlier in the event. This was not to go the way of the Irish – O’Reilly recorded a single victory, but the match finished 3:1 to the Ukraine, leaving Ireland in 31st position from 37 entries.

In her first European Championships, Edel O’Reilly recorded a sensational win over Israel’s Nicole Trosman in the Irish Cadet Girls match against Israel this evening. Trosman is a seeded player in the Singles event here and is ranked 22 in the European Cadet rankings. To put her achievement into context, O’Reilly from Ballincollig TTC has no current European ranking points and does not appear on the ranking list. She will be thrilled with this victory, despite the fact that Israel fought back to take the match 3:1. The match itself was an intriguing affair, with O’Reilly racing into a 2 sets to love lead before Trosman fought back to set up a final decider. O’Reilly held her nerve to close out the match in the 5th and record what is easily the best result of her career to date.

15th July sees a small, but fiercely determined, Irish squad depart for Istanbul, Turkey, to partipate in the European Youth Championships. 557 players from 46 countries in Europe will play at the World Trade Center Istanbul for the right to be crowned European Champion.

Ireland has entered a squad of five players. In the Junior Boys, recent gold medalists at the Senior Schools International – Paul McCreery and Ashley Robinson – are joined by Sam Logue of ALSAA TTC. This squad of players are coming off the back of an epic 09/10 season, with a Premier League win in the Junior British League as well as some outstanding performances in Europe. They are the three top ranked Junior players domestically and significantly are all also in the top 7 of the Butterfly National Senior rankings. McCreery is our top ranked player at this event, and is ranked 38 in Europe at Junior level. Marcus McDonnell is the coach for the event.

In the Junior Boys, Ireland face Romania, Luxembourg and Georgia in Group E. Romania are the top seed and look strong. In Hunor Szocs, they have a very dangerous Number 1 who will look to impose his class on the group – at rank 26 in Europe, he is the only higher ranked player than McCreery in the group. Luxembourg have Sven Hansen as their stand-out performer who may also test the Irish, while Georgia are an unknown quantity.  Ireland will feel they have a chance against every team in this group, and will be disappointed with anything below 2nd place. They will need to be at their very best to challenge the Romanians, but with McCreery and Robinson in top form, and Logue fresh after a minor injury, there is no reason why the Irish cannot progress here.

In the Cadet Girls, Ashley Givan and Edel O’Reilly again join forces in what is becoming a familiar looking pair at this level. Givan has had a fantastic season both domestically and internationally, capped recently with Gold at the Senior Schools International. O’Reilly finished a remarkably consistent domestic season(she recahed the Final of every major domestic Cadet event) as No.2 in the Cadet rankings and at No.5 in the Junior rankings. The girls have a tough draw in Group I, facing Ukraine, Belgium and Israel. Israel are the top seeds in the group and have a real talent in Nicole Trossman – ranked 22 in Europe. Belgium’s Marchetti is also a highly rated player at Cadet level. The Irish are seeded 3rd in this group and will need to pull off some outstanding performances under pressure to progress from this group.

Speaking before the departure of the Irish team, ITTA Technical Director John O’Donoghue stated:

The European Youths is a top class tournament and it a great honour for the selected players to represent the country in Turkey. Wins at this event are a hard-fough for commodity and the team have prepared for the major tests that lie ahead. I would like to wish the players and coaches the best of luck for the Championships

ETTU new web TV partner LAOLA1.tv will cover the whole Istanbul event with “live” and “on demand” broadcasting available for free at http://ettu.laola1.tv