Posts in category: TTI News

An action packed day was had at the recent Ulster Junior Championships held at
Fivemiletown College with the new format of play devised by Tony Phillips to ensure
that all competitors played plenty of matches. 
 
The U12 and U17 categories kicked off the action in the morning. Zak Wilson, fresh
from his Munster Open heroics where he won the U12 Boys was victorious again
defeating his great nemesis Ryan McConkey from Newbliss in three straight sets.
However the match was a lot closer than the scoreline suggests, with Zak winning 13-11,
11-8, 13-11 to be crowned Ulster U12 Boys champion. Joshua Hall (Newbliss) came
from an unseeded position and did exceptionally well to finish in 3rd position with Dylan
Duffy also from Newbliss, finishing in 4th position. Glenburn’s Owen Cathcart excelled
in winning the consolation event with Dylan Murdock (Castlerahan) finished in 2nd
position.
 
The U12 Girls was once again a battle between Glenburn’s Rebecca Finn and
Castlerahan’s Leah Shekleton. The standard of play between both these girls was
exceptionally high with both girls still eligible to compete at U10 level! After some
scintillating rallies, it was Finn who came out on top defeating Shekleton in five close
games. Elizabeth Cathcart (Glenburn) finished in third position with Emily Hill
(Islandmagee) claiming 4th
 spot. Lydia McConkey (Newbliss) did well to oust Amber
Harrison (Fivemiletown Acadmey) to win the Consolation event.
 
Castlerahan tasted their first gold medal of the day when Kieran Reilly was victorious in
the U17 Boys. Reilly was in imperious form all day and had to produce his best table
tennis to defeat the up and coming Jonathan Porter (Fivemiletown Academy). In one of
the closest matches of the day, Reilly defeated Porter 15-13 in the fifth set to claim his
first Ulster U17 Boys title. Meanwhile Kieran’s Brother Darren was victorious in the
Consolation event defeating Stephen Fawcett (Newbliss).
 
Annalise Walker who plays for Fivemiletown Academy did well to defeat Hannah Lynch
Dawson who hails from Drung/Fivemiletown Academy. Walker clinched the first two
sets on deuce, and was always ahead in the third set to claim a good win over the rising
star from Monaghan. Laura Finn and Erin Thompson (both Glenburn) finished in joint 3rd
 
position with Erin enjoying a good win over her team mate Emma Ludlow in the quarter-
finals. In the consolation, Emma McSorley (Glenburn) defeated Ballyclare’s Hannah
Ireland in three close games.
 
The afternoon session brought about many shock results with the players enjoying the
chance to play many of their peers.
 
The U21 events kicked off, with Annalise Walker crowned a winner for the second time
on the day defeating Hannah Ireland by 3-0. 
 Many thought Philip Jamison (Larne) was the favourite to take the  U21 Men’s Singles
Title after his recent good performances at the Co. Antrim Open, however his opponents
had other ideas! The first shock appeared when Trevor Knox defeated Jamison in five
close sets. However Knox could not live with the consistency from Kieran Reilly.
Meanwhile James Dawson (Newbliss) was quietly doing the business badgering his
opponents into submission one after one and eventually remained undefeated after some
very good wins to be crowned Ulster U’21 Champion. Jamison finished in 2nd
 position
with Trevor Knox finishing in 3rd
. 
 
The U14 categories in both the girls and boys events where intriguing affairs with many
close matches and a few surprises along the way.
 
In the boys section, Michael Jones made a promising start coming from an unseeded
position to top his group having an excellent win over the third seed Eric Shekleton.
However Shekleton excelled in the 2nd
 round robin group stages to defeat U12 stars
McConkey and Wilson to fight for a place in the semi-finals. McConkey however
ensured his semi final position with a win over Zak Wilson whom he had previously lost
to earlier in the day in the U12 Boys final. Oisin Reilly and Jonathan Porter completed
the semi-final line up. Porter defeated Ryan McConkey in straight sets with Shekleton
defeating Oisin Reilly in 4 close games. In the final, Porter was in cruise control and
never looked in danger defeating Shekleton by 3 games to nil. 
 
Andrew Mulholland who hails from the Ballymoney club did exceptionally well in his
first Ulster tournament to win the consolation event defeating Joshua Hall from Newbliss
3-1. 
 
The U14 Girls category has proved to be a tough category this year with several girls
fighting it out behind the top two girls Lynch-Dawson and Ludlow. The top 6 after the
initial group stages where placed into a final round robin to battle it out for the title. Once
again Hannah Lynch-Dawson was at the top of the tree winning her first Ulster U14 Girls
title. However Hannah was made to work for her win, with Erin Thompson putting up a
good fight with Hannah prevailing 11-9 in the fifth set. Emma Ludlow enjoyed a good
win over Lynch-Dawson by 3 games to 1, however loses to the Finn sisters, Laura and
Rebecca damaged her chances of winning the title. Rebecca Finn was the surprise
package in this event, defeating her older sister Laura and defeating the experienced
Emma Ludlow after some hard hitting rallies. With a three way tie for 2nd position,
Emma Ludlow finished in 2nd position having a superior games ratio with Rebecca Finn
finishing in 3rd position. 
 
Cherith McBride (Ballyclare) was a worthy winner in the consolation defeating Elizabeth
Cathcart (Glenburn)
 
In the U10 Boys, Ethan Duffy (Newbliss) was victorious defeating Bangor’s John Ewing
who was playing in his first ever competition. Glenburn’s starlet for the future, eight year
old Owen Cathcart finished in third position with Castlerahan’s Daniel Murdock in 4th
 
position.  
In an all Castlerahan Consolation final, Joshua Murdock defeated William Love.
 
In the U10 girls, Leah Shekleton was victorious defeating Lydia McConkey and Caron
Jones (Dungannon) to be crowned U10 Champion. L. McConkey finished in 2nd
 position
with Jones in third place. 
 
Thanks go to tournament organizers Rachel McConkey, Jamie McConkey and Amanda
Mogey for ensuring the smooth running of this event. Thanks also go to Arnold Morgan
for assisting with umpiring on the day and Kenny Graham from Fivemiletown College
and his team of helpers who set up the hall. Thanks as usual go to Tony Phillips who did
a lot of behind the scenes work, completing the draw and ensuring that the format
allowed for players to play as many matches as possible within the time constraints. 
 
Results
 
Under 21 Boys    Under 21 Girls
1.  James Dawson (Newbliss)   1. Annalise Walker (Fivemiletown Acad)
2.  Philip Jamison (Larne)   2. Hannah Ireland (Ballyclare)
3.  Trevor Knox (Fivemiletown Acad)
4.  Darren Reilly (Castlerahan)
 
Under 17 Boys    Under 17 Girls
1.  Kieran Reilly (Castlerahan)  1. Annalise Walker (Fivemiletown Acad)
2.  Jonathan Porter (Fivemiletown Acad) 2.  Hannah Lynch Dawson (Newbliss/FMT)
3= Oisin Reilly (Castlerahan)   3= Erin Thompson (Glenburn)
3=Eric Shekleton (Castlerahan)  3= Laura Finn (Glenburn)
 
Under 17 Boys Consolation   Under 17 Girls Consolation
1. Darren Reilly (Castlerahan)  1. Emma McSorley (Glenburn)
2.  Stephen Fawcett (Newbliss)  2. Hannah Ireland (Ballyclare)
 
Under 14 Boys    Under 14 Girls
1. Jonathan Porter (Fivemiletown Acad) 1. Hannah Lynch-Dawson (Newbliss/FMT)
2. Eric Shekleton (Castlerahan)  2. Emma Ludlow (Glenburn)
3= Ryan McConkey (Newbliss)  3. Rebecca Finn (Glenburn) 
3= Oisin Reilly (Castlerahan)   4. Laura Finn (Glenburn)
 
Under 14 Boys Consolation   Under 14 Girls Consolation
1.  Andrew Mulholland (Ballymoney) 1. Cherith McBride (Ballyclare)
2.  Joshua Hall (Newbliss)   2. Elizabeth Cathcart (Glenburn)
 
Under 12 Boys    Under 12 Girls
1.  Zak Wlson (Glenburn)   1.  Rebecca Finn (Glenburn)
2.  Ryan McConkey (Newbliss)  2.  Leah Shekleton (Castlerahan)
3. Joshua Hall (Newbliss)   3= Elizabeth Cathcart (Glenburn) 4. Dylan Duffy (Newbliss)   3= Emily Hill (Islandmagee)  
 
Under 12 Boys Consolation   Under 12 Girls Consolation
1. Owen Cathcart (Glenburn)   1. Lydia McConkey (Newbliss)
2. Dylan Murdock (Newbliss)  2. Amber Harrison (Fivemiletown Acad)
 
Under 10 Boys    Under 10 Girls
1.  Ethan Duffy (Newbliss)   1. Leah Shekleton (Castlerahan)
2.  John Ewing (Bangor)    2. Lydia McConkey (Newbliss)
3.  Owen Cathcart (Glenburn)   3. Caron Jones (Dungannon)
4. Dylan Duffy (Newbliss)
 
Under 10 Boys Consolation   
1. Joshua Murdock (Castlerahan)
2. William Love (Castlerahan) 

FULL RESULTS HERE