Posts in category: TTI News

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)

A big entry and a great weekend of table tennis at The Arena this weekend as ten National Junior titles were decided over the course of two days.

On Day 1, the Under 18 & Under 13 titles were up for grabs.

Under 18

In the Under 18 events, Table Tennis Ireland was delighted to introduce two new trophies which were generously sponsored. The sponsors agreed with the Board of the Association to dedicate the Junior Boys trophy to Alex and Kitty Thackaberry, and the Junior Girls Trophy was dedicated to Teresa Devaney.

New trophies and National title honours up for grabs and there were some fantastic battles to decide their destination.

In the Junior Girls, Hannah Lynch Dawson was in supreme form, defeating Rebecca Finn and Chloe O’Halloran to make the Final. In the other half of the draw, Kate Whelan showed impressive form beating Nga Nguyen and Katie McGlone to progress to her 2nd National Under 18 Final of the year. The Final was a tense match, with Whelan dropping the initial set but levelling at 1-1. Hannah then pushed the pace to claim the 3rd and 4th sets, and she was delighted to claim a fantastic victory on the back of some recent injury problems.

In the Boys, in form Zak Wilson was eager to claim a title, having played extremely well at the National Seniors a fortnight ago in the same venue. UCD’s French based pair Alexander Gillen and Adrien Beretta were intent on stopping him, with Alan Walsh and Ryan McConkey also having title aspirations in a competitive category. In the end, Wilson was imperious, beating Beretta in the semi-final before beating his team-mate Gillen in the Final – this caps a great season for Wilson as he claimed the inaugural Thackaberry trophy.

Under 13

In the Under 13 Boys, the top seeds all cruised through the first group stage. The breakthrough performance of the weekend was Bunninadden’s Dapkus, playing his second event of the year having performed well in the Connacht Junior Open earlier this season. Dapkus eliminated 3rd seed Dillon Byrne to progress to the Semi-Finals. In the last four, Connacht’s Thomas Joyce and David Taylor progressed to the Final and showed why they are jointly ranked 1st nationally in this age category. In the Final, it was Joyce who emerged triumphant to claim the Under 13 National title in straight sets.

In the Girls, again the seeds looked good with Mia O’Rahilly Egan from Donic and Natasya Barry from Athlone looking in good form. O’Rahilly Egan has been dominant all season, winning every National Ranking event. Both progressed to the Final with wins over Saoirse Jordan and Lucy Craig. The Final was a thrilling encounter, with Natasya eventually emerging as the National Champion, taking the 5th set by 12-10.

On to Day 2, with the Para and Cadet Titles up for grabs and with Hopes players also in action:

Para

The Para Juniors played across a number of categories, with Paddy Vaughan impressively claiming two titles – Mixed and Boys Standing. Sinead Keon claimed the Girls event and Ulster’s Gary Quantrill claimed the Class 1-5 event.

Cadets

In the Under 15 Girls, it was Katie McGlone and Rebecca Finn who were the outstanding players in action, and they both progressed to the Final without ever looking likely to lose a match. In the Final, they traded sets to set up a 5th set decider which Katie managed to claim by 11-8 to claim her 4th National Cadet title – a fantastic achievement for the Irish international.

In the Boys,  Owen Cathcart continued his season long dominance, and was really impressive in claiming the title without dropping a set over 8 matches – super stuff from Owen. Congratulations also to Dylan Grace of Mountrath TTC for 2nd place and pushing Owen in the Final.

In the Hopes we had a really big entry, with lots of matches for the players in a fun, unpressurised environment. These players are the future of our sport and will progress to the more serious business of National titles over the coming years, but for now, their focus is on development and progressing their game.

Results

Junior Boys : 1. Z Wilson, 2. A Gillen, 3. A Beretta ;

Junior Girls : 1. H Lynch Dawson, 2. K Whelan, 3. K McGlone ;

Cadet Boys : 1. O Cathcart, 2. D Grace, 3. J Kelly ;

Cadet Girls : 1. K McGlone, 2. R Finn, 3. M O’Rahilly Egan ;

U-13 Boys : 1. T Joyce, 2. D Taylor, 3. A McLoughlin ;

U-13 Girls : 1. N Barry, 2. M O’Rahilly Egan, 3. S Jordan ;

Para Boys : 1. P Vaughan, 2. C O’Callaghan, 3. G Quantrill ;

Para Girls : 1. S Keon, 2. C Folan ;

Para Mixed : 1. P Vaughan, 2. C O’Callaghan, 3. S Geoghegan ;

Para WChair : 1. G Quantrill, 2. J Colbert, 3. M Henderson ;

At the annual Intervarsities championships held at QUB on 6/7 March, the UCD team(poictured above) of Rory Coffey, Matt Finlay, Kris Foster, Max Frick, Ananay Jain and captains Jack Donnelly & Kieran Reilly won Gold, defeating the UCC Team of Declan O’Brien, Alex Cooney, Darragh Buckley, Roman Puotkalis, Naqiyuddin Misran, Saurabh Anand and Kieran Murray (NPC Con Higgins) by a 9-3 scoreline. 

UCC v UCD 3-9

O’Brien v Foster (11/9 11/8 11/6)

Cooney v  Frick (3/11 11/8 11/7 3/11 11/6)

Puotkalis v Reilly (6/11 8/11 8/11)

Buckley v Jain (4/11 4/11 12/10 7/11)

Anand v  Finlay (6/11 10/12 8/11)

Misran v Coffey (5/11 5/11 2/11)

O’Brien v Frick (7/11 12/10 13/11 5/11 11/9)

Cooney v Foster (6/11 5/11 7/11)

Buckley v Reilly (3/11 5/11 7/11)

Puotkalis v Jain (5/11 8/11 9/11)

Misran v Finlay (8/11 9/11 9/11)

On their way to the Gold Medal, UCD defeated IT Tallaght 12-0, NUIG 12-0 and QUB 12-0, while UCC defeated IT Tallaght 11-1,  NUIG 10-2, and QUB 10-2 to guarantee Silver position.  This was a 16th title in a row for UCD, retaining the Hubert Wine Perpetual Challenge Cup.

Individual Men’s Singles

Declan O’Brien (UCC) retained his Individual Men’s Singles title by defeating Kris Foster (UCD) 3/0 in the final.   However Match of the Day was his semi-final battle against German Max Frick (UCD) who he had narrowly beaten over 5 sets in the team event.   Declan lost the opening set to Max 8/11 but a change in tactics saw him winning the next three sets 11/7, 11/8, 11/9.  Meanwhile in the other semi-final, UCD’s Kris Foster defeated his team-mate Kieran Reilly 3-1.  The beaten quarter-finalists (all by a 3-0 scoreline) were Stuart Herron(QUB), Robin Schneider(ITT), Alex Cooney(UCC) and Conor Beades(TCD).

In the final Declan repeated his team victory over Kris (11/7, 11/7, 11/8).

Darius Knight of England put up a top class performance to secure the men’s senior title at the Munster Open which took place at the Neptune Stadium in Cork.

Knight, who was participating in this tournament for the first time, secured his place in the final after eliminating Ulster’s Ashley Robinson in a thrilling five-game match at the quarter-finals before overcoming third-seeded Gavin Rumgay of Scotland in four games at the semi-finals stage. Knight’s opponent in the final, Ryan Jenkins of Wales, succeeded at the quarter-finals after defeating Leinster’s Ryan Farrell in straight games. The Welsh proceeded to overcome another Leinster player, Gavin Maguire, without conceding a game.  

Knight, who was second seeded, secured the first point in the opening game before racing to a three point lead in the encounter against the fourth-seeded Jenkins. From here, Knight led all the way before winning by four points. It was the same scenario in the second game as Knight was in the driver seat from the start, however, Jenkins recovered towards the end of this second game to prevail. Then, it was Jenkins turn to lead at the start of the third game as he took a five-point advantage at 10-5. The determined Knight found his form to reduce deficit before eventually levelling the score at 10-10. Knight made two good forehand topspins to win the two deuce points and to lead by a game. Once again, Jenkins started brightly in the fourth game but it was Knight who had the upper hand towards the end of the game as he led at 8-4, 8-6 and 10-6 before winning the last point with a forehand topspin where his opponent was unable to retrieve. Leeside club coach, Ben Haughton, was on the sideline to provide advice to Knight in this tournament.

Miroslav Horejsi from the Czech Republic, who was top-seeded, was edged out by Gavin Maguire of Leinster at the quarter-finals. The match went to five thrilling games. Horejsi took the first game before losing the subsequent two games by the narrowest of score margin. He levelled the score after winning the fourth game to force the match into the deciding fifth game. It was a nail biting fifth game with both the players having to play the two-point deuce when the score was tied at 10-10. Finally, the seventh seeded Maguire managed to win the two points to knock out Horejsi from this tournament.

Charlotte Carey of Wales took her place on the winner podium when she defeated Ulster’s Hannah Lynch Dawson at the final stage of the women’s senior event. Dawson took a brief lead in the opening game before Carey raced to a three-point lead towards the end of the game. The top-seeded Carey won the game on 11-7 score. The Welsh increased her intensity in the subsequent two games to win the title. Prior to the final, Carey beat Leinster’s Katie McGlone in five games while Dawson edged past Cherith Graham of Wales in four games.

Ryan Jenkins and John Murphy of Wales and Leinster combined well to beat the English and Munster pair of Darius Knight and Alan Walsh in straight games to win the men’s doubles title. The women’s doubles title went to Charlotte Carey and Katie McGlone of Wales and Leinster who overcame Hannah Lynch Dawson and Sarah Timlin of Ulster and Connacht in four games.

Charlotte Carey was on the winner podium again when she combined well with Leinster’s Gavin Maguire to beat the Ulster and Leinster pair of Ashley Robinson and Katie McGlone in straight games in the mixed doubles event.  

Zak Wilson of Ulster showed his superiority to secure the men’s U21 title after defeating Connacht’s Brian Dunleavy in straight games. The Ulster player raced to a quick first game win before receiving strong opposition in the second game. It was not enough as Wilson won the second game by four points and he was in control of the third game leading all the way to win. Prior to the final, Wilson beat Leinster’s Conor Mullally in straight games while Dunleavy eliminated Conor Gallagher of Leinster also in straight games.

Kerry O’Mahoney of Munster produced outstanding performance when facing Leinster’s Claire Heller in the final of the women’s U21 event. O’Mahoney started the final encounter leading by three points before increasing this to seven points when the score stood at 9-2. She quickly wrapped up the game winning on 11-5 score. O’Mahoney’s opponent had a better start in the second game when leading by three points. Heller led all the way to win the second game. O’Mahoney was able to recover to win the subsequent two games without difficulties to lift the title. Prior to the final, O’Mahoney beat Connacht’s Amanda Taylor in four games at the semi-finals while Heller defeated Nga Nguyen of Leinster also in four games. 

Mark White of Munster won the Class 2 event after overcoming Welsh Dave Wetherill at the final stage. After an easy first game, White was given strong opposition in the second game losing by five points. White won the next two games to win the title. Before the final, White beat Ryan McConkey of Ulster in straight games while Wetherill edged past Leinster’s Dave Butler in four games.

Philip Shaw of Munster secured the men’s veteran title after a count-back when three players were tied on the number of wins. Shaw pipped Brian Devereux of Leinster and Connacht’s Kevin Devaney to second and third places. Fourth place was taken by Alan Taylor of Connacht.

Zak Wilson of Ulster won the second title of the day when he beat Connacht’s Brian Dunleavy in straight games at the final stage in the boys’ U18 event. Wilson and Dunleavy progressed to the final after eliminating Owen Cathcart of Ulster and Evin McGovern of Leinster at the semi-finals. After losing the semi-finals match, Cathcart came back to secure third spot after beating McGovern in four games.

Katie McGlone of Leinster recovered on two occasions in the first and second game to win the girls’ U18 title. She beat Munster’s Chloe O’Halloran in straight games. McGlone trailed all the way from the start of the opening game until the score stood at 7-3. From here, McGlone won point after point to finally level at 7-7 before going in front at 8-7. From then onwards, McGlone won three points to win the game.  It was the same scenario in the second game with McGlone trailing at the start before leading briefly midway in the game at 4-3 and 5-3. As the match progressed, McGlone trailed once again at 8-7. At this point, McGlone used her forehand topspin to her advantage to level the score. Then, McGlone went ahead at 9-8. O’Halloran managed to win two successive points to come within a point of winning the game with the score at 10-9. McGlone managed to save the game point to level the score at 10-10. Once again, McGlone’s forehand was the winning factor as she produced another good forehand topspin to win the game at 12-10. McGlone went on to win the third game by seven points.

Prior to the final, O’Halloran beat Ulster’s Hannah Lynch Dawson in four games while McGlone edged past Kate Whelan of Leinster also in four games. Whelan took third spot with Dawson finishing in fourth place.

Owen Cathcart of Ulster progressed to the final of the boys’ U15 event after eliminating David Taylor of Connacht in straight games at the semi-finals. Dylan Grace of Leinster also won a place in the final. He beat James Kelly of Munster in straight games. The stage was then set for the final showdown with Cathcart securing the title winning in four games. Kelly took third place after beating Taylor in five thrilling games.

Kate Whelan of Leinster won the girls’ U15 title after beating Connacht’s Marie Williams in straight games in the final. Whelan was the better player when facing Leinster’s Mia O’Rahilly Egan at the semi-finals winning in straight games. On the other hand, Williams overcame Ciara O’Toole of Leinster also in straight games. Third place went to Egan and fourth position was taken by O’Toole.

The final of the boys’ U13 event was between two Leinster players. Art McLaughlin beat Dillon Byrne in four games to win the title. Third place went to David Taylor of Connacht while Thomas Joyce also of Connacht was placed fourth. It was a thrilling five-game match.

Mia O’Rahilly Egan of Leinster was the better player in the final of the girls’ U13 event. She beat Natasya Barry of Connacht in straight games. Saoirse Jordan of Connacht took third place while Leinster’s Tiegan O’Connor secured fourth position. Jordan won in four games. Egan played O’Connor while Barry faced Jordan at the semi-finals.

Adam Buckley of Munster won the boys’ U11 title, finishing ahead of Brian Tansey of Connacht with two Munster players, Nick McLeod and Luke Murdoch, in third and fourth places.

Silke Heinen of Munster took the title in the girls’ U11 event with Sophie Earley of Ulster finishing in second position. Third and fourth positions went to Leinster’s Sadbh McLaughlin and Amna Mandal.