Posts in category: TTI News

Blackrock College emerged as the big winners at the end of play at the 2015 All-Ireland Schools Finals in Tallaght on Wednesday 6th May as once again, the National Basketball Arena played host to a major National event when the cream of schools Table Tennis went head-to-head for the right to call themselves All-Ireland Champions.

‘Rock swept all before them as their three teams on show – U18, U15 and U13 boys, all claimed the top prize to give the South Dublin School an unprecedented treble of All-Ireland Titles. They didn’t have it all their own way however, as the U13 Boys in particular had to hold off the strong challenge of a tricky St.Gerards side in a tight match before eventually pulling through 4-3. In the Under 15s, they managed to wrestle the title back from the clutches of St. Louis of Mayo, who were aiming to defend the crown they came away with 12 months ago. It was sweet success in the end for Blackrock, who have been rewarded for their consistent, year round training regime by this flurry of National Titles.

The other Multiple winner, on a day which saw five different schools crowned champions, was Manulla NS in Castlebar. Manulla, no stranger to All-Ireland glory, were successful in defending their Boys title which they won in 2014, and this year the girls also managed to join the party as they went away as champions for 2015. In the Final match, Manulla overcame a formidable St.Ronan’s team 4-2 in an epic battle to now firmly establish themselves as the team to beat in Irish primary school table tennis.

Cavan Royal – led by Irish Number 1 ranked female player Hannah Lynch Dawson, brushed all aside in convincing fashion to take the U19 Girls title, while the girls of Mountrath CS followed up the U13 title they secured in 2014 by taking home the U15 crown – just reward for the countless hours put in over the season by Jimmy Hayes and all of his players. In the U13 Girls Event, it was the turn of Leinster Champions Colaiste Bride to emerge victorious, and in truth the result never looked in doubt as they secured 5-1 wins in both the semi final and final matches.

It’s also worth noting the performance of St Louis of Mayo, who despite coming up just short, did go away with 3 Silver Medals of their own in U15 Boys, U15 Girls and U13 Girls events. Ulsters Malone College also fell agonisingly short, as along with their Silver in the U13 Boys, they claimed Bronze in the U15 Boys and this could easily have been much more had they managed to clinch their semi-final which they eventually lost on the deciding doubles to St.Louis – arguably the match of the tournament.

Congratulations once again to the winners and all those that made for an enthralling day of Table Tennis. They will all of course be back again next year fighting for the 2016 All-Ireland Schools Titles. 

A special thanks also to Tournament Referee Tony Martin and Con O’Ceadaigh for their efforts in ensuring the smooth running of the event and to Tony Higgins for producing a slide show capturing the day.  Follow the link to view.   

See here for the final results from the day.

All-Ireland Schools Finals 2015 – Results

Under 19 Boys:

1st Blackrock College
2nd The Green CBS
3rd Ballyclare High

Under 15 Boys:

1st Blackrock College
2nd St. Louis Comm. College
3rd Malone College

Under 13 Boys:

1st Blackrock College
2nd Malone College
3rd St. Gerard’s College

Under 19 Girls:

1st Cavan Royal
2nd Colaiste Muire
3rd Loreto College, Foxrock

Under 15 Girls:

1st Mountrath CS
2nd St. Louis Comm. College
3rd Mercy High

Under 13 Girls:

1st Colaiste Bride
2nd St. Louis Comm. College
3rd Cavan Royal

Primary School Boys:

1st Manulla NS
2nd St’ Ronans NS
3rd Summercove NS

Primary School Girls:

1st Manulla NS
2nd Cloghroe NS
3rd Scoil Bhride

The Junior Interpros took place in Little Island Sports Complex, Cork on Saturday 18th April.

It was Leinster who emerged victorious after the days play as they claimed 3 of the 6 gold medals up for grabs and with it taking home the Victor Barna Shield, edging out a spirited Ulster Squad who went away with 2 golds of their own.

Ulsters Owen Cathcart was awarded for a flawless display in the U15 boys category, earning himself the prestigious Colum Slevin Award for Player of the Tournament.

See below for a full list of results.

Junior Boys: 1.Ulster ; 2. Connaught ; 3. Leinster

Junior Girls: 1.Munster; 2. Ulster ; 3. Connaught
Cadet Boys: 1.Ulster ; 2. Leinster ; 3. Connaught
Cadet Girls: 1.Leinster ; 2. Munster ; 3. Ulster
U-13 Boys: 1.Leinster ; 2. Munster; 3. Connaught
U-13 Girls: 1.Leinster ; 2.Ulster ; 3. Connaught
Victor Barna Shield ; Leinster.
Colum Slevin Award ; Owen Cathcart

The Senior Interprovincial Championships took place in Roadstone today and it was all traffic to Ulster as they claimed a triple crown for the first time since 1994, Ulster have managed this feat six times now (15, 94, 92, 91, 86, 85). Leinster achieved this more recently three times (08, 07, 05).

Full Results are available here.

Under 21s

The first title for Ulster was the Under 21s – one they hadn’t won since 1998. Ulsters team was Kris Foster, Zak Earley, Aditya Subramani, Erin Thompson, Annalise Walker and the NPC was Arthur Brett. They beat Leinster 7-3 on Friday night and Munster 6-4 on Saturday morning. Leinster claimed the sliver with a 6-1 win over Munster.

Roll of Honour:

Leinster 19 Titles (82, 87, 88, 89, 93, 95, 96, 97, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13)

Ulster 9 Titles (83, 84, 85, 86, 91, 92, 94, 98,15)

Munster 5 Titles (90, 99, 00, 02, 14)

Veterans

Leinster beat Connacht 7-2 and Ulster beat Munster 8-1 on Friday night. Leinster beat Munster 8-1 and Ulster beat Connacht 8-1 on Saturday morning leaving the final session to be the decider between Ulster and Leinster. The Ulster team was Daryl Strong, William Cheery, Wallace Mahaffy, Pat McCloughan, Norman Nabney, Gillian Richardson and Valerie Rolston. The Leinster team was Tibor Pofok, Darius Zatylny, Tommy Caffrey and Teresa Devaney. Pofok claimed the first 3-1 over Cherry, Strong levelled it off 3-1 against Caffrey. Zatylny won what looked like a crucial match 3-2 over McCloughan. Devenay give Leinster a 3-1 lead with a 3-1 win over Richardson. Ulster pulled it back winning the two doubles to level the match 3-3. Strong defeated Zatylny 3-0 and McCloughan clinched the title 5-3 with a 3-0 win over Pofok. Connacht claimed 3rd with a 7-2 win over Munster.

Roll of Honour:

Leinster 15 Titles (89, 90, 96, 00, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 14)

Ulster 14 Titles (84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 13, 15)

Munster 1 Title (12)

Connacht 1Title (99)

Seniors

Friday night saw Leinster beat Munster 9-1 and Ulster beat Connacht 9-1. Leinster beat Connacht 10-0 on Satuday morning and Ulster beat Munster 9-1. The stage was set for a deciding match between Leinster and Ulster. Hosts Leinster was Gavin Maguire, Vladislav Agurjanovs, Ryan Farrell, Katie McGlone, Marta Zareba and the NPC was Marcus McDonnell. The Ulster team was Ashley Robinson, Peter Graham, Zak Wilson, Hannah Lynch-Dawson, Ashley Givan and the NPC was Andrew Dennison.

Robinson set the pace with a 3-1 win over Maguire, Givan followed with a 3-0 win over Zareba. Graham v Agurjanovs was next and the match was neck and neck all the way, Aguriganovs claimed the first set but then Graham took the next 3 (11-13, 13-11, 13-11, 11-9) It was now 3-0 Ulster – a dream start in anyone’s eyes. The next match up is always an entertainer as McGlone played Lynch-Dawson. It was the Ulster girl who came out on top (5-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-6, 13-11) – the score 4-0 Ulster. Leinster weren’t about to let the title go without a fight and Farrell led the charge as he beat Wilson 3-2. Agurjanovs continued the comeback with a straight sets win over Robinson – score now 4-2. Back to the ladies and a repeat of the National final between Givan and McGlone – Givan looked steady and claimed the match 3-1 – this left Ulster needing 1 more match to clinch the Triple Crown. Maguire dominated young Wilson to pull the score back to 5-3. Lynch-Dawson v Zareba was next and Zareba spurred on by her bench, she narrowly lost the opening two sets but fought back to level it 2-2 however Lynch-Dawson showed a touch of class as she dominated the final set and claimed the title for Ulster 6-3.

Roll of Honour:

Ulster 24 Titles (72, 73, 75, 83, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 03, 04, 06, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15)

Leinster 18 Titles (74, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 95, 98, 99, 00, 02, 05, 07, 08, 14)