Posts in category: TTI News

The Munster Junior Girls Table Tennis team of Ballincollig’s Emily Burns and Leah Daly, and Kinneigh’s Aisling Healy had a hugely successful weekend at the Junior British League Qualifying event in Grantham, Lincolnshire.
The girls sailed through their programme of matches to a thrilling play-off against Burton Uxbridge at the end of the day.They finished in 1st position, beating their English opponents 3-nil.  Emilly, Leah and Aisling secured a place for the Junior Girls in the next stage of the League in Wolverhampton in October.
The Munster Cadet team of Ballincollig’s James O’Reilly, Gearoid O’Donoghue and Alan Walsh got off to a shaky start with some tough matches against Team London.  They drew that match 3-3 and went on make some spectacular wins. However the match ratio went against them as the day wore on and the team failed to qualify for the next round.  They finished 3rd in their group of 6 – an excellent result for three  u14s in their first British League event.  Better luck next year!
The Junior Boys team of Kinneigh’s Barry and Brian Kelleher, Damien Tobin and Killarney’s Michael Lagan also had a very eventful day.  They faced tough opposition from the very start and though all boys played exceptionally well and won many matches, they didn’t finish in the top two in their group.  The Junior Boys learned a lot from their weekend, got experience against players with different styles of play and look forward to using that experience on the domestic scene from September. 
The Cadet Girls team of Killarney based Valentina Poutkalyte, Devon and Brielle Brady and Courtney Drummond had a great day in Grantham.  They won some fantastic matches.  The young  girls, none of whom have played at this level before, gained valuable experience which will benefit them hugely at Munster and Irish Rankings in the season ahead.
All in all, while the entire Munster Junior British League Team had a successful and enjoyable weekend in Grantham,  the weekend undoubtedly belonged to Emily, Leah and Aisling.  Well done girls and congratulations to Coach, Alan Hurley.
Thanks to Colette O’Reilly for the report and photo

Ireland’s first day at the European Youth Championships got off to a disappointing start. First into action was the Cadet Girls, who faced off against Belgium at 9am this morning. Ashley Givan was first into action against Florence Vanacker. Givan raced into a one set lead, but Vanacker fought back to take the next three sets and edge Belgium into a 1:0 lead. Edel O’Reilly, making her debut at the European Championships, was ice cool as she defeated Evi Janssens in straight sets to level the match. Next up were the crucial Doubles, and the Irish duo pushed Belgium all the way in a thrilling 5 setter, before eventually succumbing 11:9 in the 5^th set. Givan was immediately back in action, levelling the match at 2:2 in another 5 setter. That set up a final match showdown between O’Reilly and Vanacker. Again, O’Reilly took a one set lead, but Vanacker was on the comeback trail again and took the next 3 sets to take the match for Belgium. But this was an encouraging performance by the Irish Cadets who will look to take a win against either Israel or Ukraine in their next group matches.

At lunch time today, the Junior Boys were into action against Luxembourg. This was a match that the Irish were hoping to win and they will have to work hard to pick themselves up from a disappointing less. Paul McCreery took two wins as expected, defeating Jan Thews and Sven Hansen, dropping just one set along the way. This is a big tournament for McCreery, capping off a fine season for the National No.1, and he will be delighted with his start.  Teammates Robinson and Logue would have hoped to pick up that crucial 3^rd win. Logue was closest, taking a 2 set lead against Eric Glod. Glod fought back to take the 3^rd 14:12 and from there cruised to the victory. Robinson lost out to Jan Thews and Sven Hansen. The Junior Boys will be back in action at 9am tomorrow(7am Irish time) – which will be streamed live here:

http://www.laola1.tv/en/int/ettu/video/205–.html

12 months ago an Irish team produced an outstanding performance at the Senior Schools International hosted by the ITTA in Limerick. Roll the clock forward and a squad of 12 Irish players travel to Lilleshall, England for the 2011 iteration of this event this weekend.

Last year, the squad (pictured), claimed 4 individual Gold medals and 1 team Gold – a remarkable achievement. Of the 2010 squad, the vast majority remain in 2011 and will take a very positive experience into the Lilleshall event. Speaking ahead of the event, ITTA Performance Director John O’Donoghue stated:

“Following last season’s amazing feat of winning four Golds out of six in the individuals in the event staged in Limerick,we are looking forward to a fantastic Schools International. We have strong teams in all age groups and we are optimistic for a good tournament and while it will be difficult to rrepeat last year’s triumph, we are hopeful of some medal winning performances.”

Boys Preview

In the Senior event, the Irish Boys are Sam Logue and Ashley Robinson. Robinson claimed Gold in the Intermediate Individuals last year, while Logue missed much of last year’s event with an injury and will look to make up for that in 2011. They have been drawn against England B, Scotland B and Guernsey and will certainly look to progress from this group. Robinson is 2^nd seed in the Individual event.

In the Intermediates, Eastpoint’s Ryan Farrrell and Ballincollig’s Declan O’Brien team-up. They have a yough group draw and will face England A. Both players are in the top 10 here and will look to have a big impact on the tournament to finish their season off on a high.

Jonathan Porter and Kevin Hutchinson are in the Cadet event and again will face a strong England A selection.

Girls Preview

Munster’s Deirdre Murphy and Connacht’s Sarah Timlin(playing her last event at Junior level) make up the Irish team here and will face both England and Scotland A in the Group. They will have a difficult task against the hosts, but may well cause an upset against the Scots.

At Intermediate Level, that familiar partnership of Ashley Givan and Edel O’Reilly move up an age group from last year and will look to medal over the course of the weekend – they certainly will be pumped up for this event.

Hannah Lynch-Dawson and Emma Ludlow feature for the Cadet Girls. Both will fancy their chances and Lynch-Dawson is the highest seed of the non-English based players.

Further event details are available here:

http://www.estta.org.uk/News%2012%20-%20Lilleshall%202011.html

Best wishes to the Irish squad.

From the 11th-13th June a squad of 8 Irish Cadet players travelled to Hasselt, Belgium for the International Youth Cup.

This event is frequently attended by Irish squads and allows for lots of matches against opponents from all over Europe. Overall, there were good showings by the team which included some players making their international debut; Evin McGovern, of Club Donic, Gearoid O’Donoghue of Ballincollig TTC and Zak Wilson of Glenburn TTC. Both Boys teams(Cadet/Under 12) finished  16th from about 45 teams. In particular, Ryan Farrell did well in the Singles, losing a close match to be eliminated at the Round of 32.lost close in last 32. Zak Wilson’s performances were also a highlight, winning 13 of his singles and all of the others showed good promise for the future.

Full Squad

Emma Ludlow

Hannah Lynch-Dawson

Ryan Farrell

Kevin Hutchinson

James O’Reilly

Gearoid O’Donoghue

Evin McGovern

Zak Wilson