Featuring player profiles and match scores from Senior International versus Scotland…A 4:3 victory for the Irish Team.
Slevin lost to David Hannah
Heasley lost to John Broe
Leanord won against Janet Smith
Slevin/Kelly won against Hannah/Broe
Slevin/Leonard won against Smith/Hannah
Slevin won against John Broe
Heasley lost to David Hannah
The students of Gaelscoil Naomh Phádraig in Lucan are looking forward to their first year taking part in the Leinster Schools League. Although the school has a fine sporting tradition, table tennis is relatively new to the curriculum. It is only the second year that students have received coaching as part of the Women in Sport initiative but already the benefits are clearly seen with a number of students enjoying the sport so much that they have progressed on to their local club – Club Donic, while others took part in the very successful STIGA Challenger Tournament in Lucan in October.
Over 60 enthusiastic children from 3rd and 4th classes took part in last week’s session. It was clear from the atmosphere in the hall that the students (and teachers!) were enjoying the drills set up by coach John Murphy and were relishing the opportunity to practice their skills ahead of their in house competition next week.
Best of luck to all taking part.
The Ulster Branch has today released the first list of Junior Rankings for Season 09/10…Click here to download ranking list.
A squad of 7 Irish players travel to Stockton this weekend for the Stockton 4 Star event. This is a great opportunity for some of our young talents to compete at international level and we wish the squad all the best.
Boys
Ryan Farrell
Jonathan Porter
Kevin Hutchinson
Conor Mullally
Girls
Katie McGlone
Elayna McGlone
Hannah Lynch-Dawson
Congratulations to all selected and in particular to debutants Conor Mullally and Hannah Lynch-Dawson.
Full draw available here: http://etta.tv/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/stockton.pdf
At Leg 2 of the STIGA Challenger event in Club Donic, Lucan, attendance records of this innovative Tournament Series were smashed with 139 children taking part. For many, it would have been their first experience of tournament play, having been introduced to the game by ITTA Coaches through ITTA Participation Projects. Every player got at least 7 matches, with players banded into divisions to ensure they played at the appropriate level. The group winners went on their division semi finals and final. The children came from all over Leinster with many schools/clubs in Dublin represented but also great numbers from Carlow, Mountrath, Ballyroan and Wexford.
The ITTA in conjunction with the Irish Sports Council funds table tennis coaching in many schools throughout the country. It was great to see the hard work of the students, teachers and coaches paying off with many different schools represented in the later stages of the competition. Particulalry impressive were the CBS Wexford trio who claimed all 3 top spots in Division One. Already, we are seeing players from Divisions 3 and 4 last year make the move into higher divisions now as they contined their development. Many thanks to our extremely hardworking team of parents and volunteers who contributed massively to the success of the event. Also thanks to our coaches who are doing a great job in not only developing new players but promoting exciting tournaments for their players. See main results below:
Division 11st Place: Eammon Roche (Wexford CBS)2nd Place: Stefan Kalchev (Wexford CBS)Joint 3rd Place: Harry O’Reardon (Wexford CBS) Stephen Farrell (Club Donic)
Division 21st Place: Claire Heller (St. Ronans)2nd Place: Kevin Wang (Club Donic)Joint 3rd Place: Justynne Fabian (Carlow) Emily McWey (Ballyroan)
Division 31st Place: Alex Voznyuk (Club Donic)2nd Place: Emma Kavanagh (Carlow)Joint 3rd Place: Ger Maher (St. John’s) Lily Wang (Club Donic)
Division 41st Place: Kate Whelan (Ballyroan)2nd Place: Daniel Owenarak (Carlow)Joint 3rd Place: Naill Cawley (Carlow) Conor Byrne (St. John’s)
Division 51st Place: Scott Jestin (Rathdowney)2nd Place: Nathan Butler (St. John’s)Joint 3rd Place: Luke Massey (no club) Aisling Cowan (Tara)
Division 61st Place; Daria Dorynska (St Ronan’s)2nd Place: Grace Seery (St. Ronan’s)Joint 3rd Place: Claire Healy (Club Donic) Cara Brady (Mountrath)
The Irish Senior Squad travelled to the Isle of Man over the past weekend to take part in the Senior Six Nations Championships. Good results are important for the Irish players as well as for the country as this prestigious tournament carries World Ranking points. Paul McCreery and John Murphy formed the Men’s Team with Peter Nilsson coach. Amanda Mogey and Claire Nelson represented the Women’s team with Arthur Brett as NPC.
Following a disappointing 4th place finish in the 2009 event in Dublin, the Men were keen to register at least a medal performance in the Team event and they did not disappoint. They got off to a flying start, with 3-0 victories over Wales and Isle of Man on Friday night. England were next up, with the highly world ranked Darius Knight and Chris Doran looking formidable. While the Irish lost 3-0 here, the highlight was the spirited effort by McCreery in bringing Knight, ranked 358 place above him in the ITTF World Rankings, to a final set decider. Ireland then defeated Guernsey 3-0, John Murphy battling to a five set victory over Gary Dodds, the Guernsey Number One. The final match was to decide 2nd place against Scotland. This was a thrilling match, with McCreery taking two wins and Murphy with the other. McCreery’s performance in a titanic struggle against Scotland’s Craig Howieson showed off the Ulster man’s full array of skills. Ireland thus claimed 2nd place in the Team event and Silver Medals.
Mogey and Nelson came in to this event full of confidence following their performances at both the Senior European Championships and the Commonwealth Games. They recorded impressive wins against Wales, Scotland, Guernsey and the host nation. Key results included Mogey’s win over Alice Loveridge, who went on to win the Ladies Singles in the Individual Event. The Irish Women also claimed Silvers in the Team event, which meant that the team took the overall Silver Medals for the combined Team Event.
The Irish medal haul was not yet complete, with McCreery winning a bronze in the Individual Men’s Singles Event, losing out to Darius Knight in 4 close sets in the Semi-Final. Claire Nelson also scored a bronze, losing to eventual winner Alice Loveridge in the Women’s Singles Semi-Final. Mogey did not progress from a very tough group which included 2 good English and Welsh players, while Murphy made it to the last 8 before succumbing to Howieson of Scotland in a thrilling 5 setter.
Overall, this was an excellent performance from what is still a very young Irish team squad and their coaches in bringing home 3 Silver Medals and 2 Bronze Medals.
Congratulations to all involved.
See below results from Leinster Grand Prix. In the Men’s event, current Number 1 in the Butterfly Senior Rankings John Murphy continued his run of fine form, defeating Easpoint’s Gavin Maguire in the Final. In the Women’s event, CYM Terenure’s Rita Kacsandi took the title, beating Teresa Devanney in the Final. Full report and results to follow.
Mens :
Singles : 1. J. Murphy , 2. G. Maguire.
Band 1 : 1. C. O’Rourke , 2. J. Meder.
Band 2 : 1. A. Redmond , 2. J. Meder.
Band 3 : 1. D. Blom , 2. M. McDonnell.
Band 4 : 1. J. Dennis , 2. R. Davies.
U21 : 1. S. Zhao Li , 2. C. O’Rourke.
Vets : 1. R. Davies , 2. D. Zatylny.
Restricted : 1. R. Gavin , 2. A. O’Reilly.
Women :
Singles : 1. R. Kascandi , 2. T Devaney.
Band 1 : 1. D. Murphy , 2. K. McGlone.
Band 2 : 1. A. Walker , 2. K. McGlone.
U21 : 1. S. Dolan , 2. R. Kenny.
21+ : 1. T. Devaney , 2. J. Wyse.
All major competition results are published in the national papers (Irish Times, Irish Independent, Irish Examiner and the Belfast Telegraph) under the Sports Factfile/Round-up every relevant Monday Morning………..so members
can keep up-to-date with all competition/event results even if they do not have access to the website…
On Saturday the 2nd of October players arrived at Fivemiletown High School to play in the annual Northern Bank Fermanagh Junior Open. This year entries travelled from Belfast, Dublin, Monaghan and a large number of entries from Mayo and Cavan. The standard was very high for a junior tournament and the day ran very smoothly under the watchful eye of Tournament Referee Tom Mitchell and the Fermanagh Table Tennis Association Organising committee.
The Under 10 event was played in a classification style. This meant no player was eliminated and they all played in three stages of round robin. The final group battled it out for the main event prize. In the Under 10 boys Eddie Ditchburn (Mayo) came out on top after defeating Ethan Duffy (Fivemiletown Academy) and James McGrath (Belfast), who came 2nd and 3rd respectively. In the under 10 girls Leah Shekleton (Castlerahan) came out on top with Marie Williams (Mayo) and Lydia McConkey (Fivemiletown Academy) coming 2nd and 3rd respectively.
In the Under 12 Girls they also played a classification style group and the 2nd round group played for the title. Leah Shekleton completed a remarkable double when she claimed the title with a thrilling win over Rebecca Finn (Glenburn). The two girls played an extremely high standard and top spin rallies brought the match to the wire were Leah beat Rebecca in the 4th set. Orla Timlin (Mayo) finished 3rd and Marie Williams (Mayo) finished 4th.
The Under 12 Boys also saw some thrilling matches at a very high standard. The first semi-final saw Ryan McConkey (Fivemiletown Academy) battle hard with Zac Wilson (Glenburn). Zac took the first game 11-4 but Ryan reversed the next set 11-4, Zac took the lead again winning the 3rd 14-12. The fourth set was nailing bitingly close but Ryan took it to the 5th winning 12-10. Ryan stepped up a gear and his fast serves did enough to claim the 5th 11-5. In the other semi-final Mayo battled it out in the form of Brian Dunleavy and Eddie Ditchburn, on this occasion Brian had too much on Eddie as he narrowly won 11-5, 13-11, 12-10. In the final Brian took the game to the top seed and won the first set 11-8. Ryan took the second 11-6, and in the 3rd set Brian and Ryan were neck and neck with Ryan claiming the game 12-10 in a set which had the crowd on the edge of there seats. In the fourth set Ryan was determined to close the door and raced to an early lead, Brian couldn’t find a way back and Ryan claimed the title 11-4 in the 4th set.
In the Under 14 girls the crowd contemplated the semi-final draw and some wondered of a McGlone sister final or an Ulster final or would it be an Ulster girl versus a McGlone, nobody knew, but the only thing that was certain was the girls would provide quality matches. In the first semi-final Katie McGlone (Leinster) played Laura Finn (Glenburn). Laura took the first 11-9 but Katie replied with two 11-8 wins on the trot. Katie pushed hard in the fourth and took it 11-6. The other semi-final saw Elayna McGlone (Leinster) play Hannah Dawson (Fivemiletown Academy), Hannah showed some excellent qualities and took the semi 11-8, 11-3, 12-10. The final saw Hannah continue her good form and she took the final against Katie without dropping a set in the entire competition as she won 11-7, 11-8, 11-4.
The Under 14 Boys semi-finals consisted of 3 local Fivemiletown Academy players and Ciaran Kelly from Leinster. First Jonathan Porter played Dylan Scott, the Academy club mates took to the stage and it was Jonathan who was first off the mark as he claimed the first set 11-7. Dylan really put the second game to Jonathan and was determined not to let Jonathan get too far ahead. Dylan took the game to deuce but lost the game 14-12 Jonathan took the third 11-8 to stamp out Dylan’s attempted comeback. In the other semi-final, Ryan McConkey played Ciaran Kelly. Ciaran was playing in his first tournament of the season after an injury resulted in him missing the Classification. It was Ciaran who took the first set 11-4, Ryan like Dylan in the previous semi-final was determined not to go down without a fight and battled hard to bring the game to Ciaran again the second set was brought to a deuce but Ciaran narrowly took the game 13-11, Ciaran confident from his win went on to close out the game in the 3rd set. A thrilling final was on the cards and the boys didn’t disappoint. Fast topspin rallies were the name of the game and in a gripping first set it was Ciaran who took the lead with a 12-10 win. Jonathan fought back to level it up in another nail biting game and took it 11-9. Jonathan stepped up a gear in the 3rd set and took it 11-3. More fast topspin rallies had the crowd on the edge of their seats as Jonathan claimed the title 11-6 in the fourth set.
The Under 17 Girls saw some of the top seeds crash out in the early rounds in what was always going to be an unpredictable event. The quarters saw Hannah Dawson (Fivemiletown Academy) play Elayna McGlone (Leinster) a repeat of the under 12 semi-final and again it was Hannah who came out on top. Annalise Walker (Fivemiletown Academy) claimed a win against Cherith McBride (Belfast) in her quarter-final to leave the two Fivemiletown Academy players to battle it out in the first semi-final. Annalise took it in three sets, 11-2, 11-6, 11-7 her experience proved too much against the under 14 champion. On the other side of the draw Sarah Timlin was set for Katie McGlone the youngster from Leinster who is still eligible to play in the under 10 event and was by no means an easy opponent as her semi-finalist spot proved. The youngster pushed Timlin in the match with Timlin narrowly winning 15-13, 12-10, 11-9. This youngster is defiantly one for the future. Sarah Timlin who comes from Mayo is part of the Fivemiletown Academy squad and Arthur Brett sat back as his two players battled for the Junior Girls Title. Sarah had too much for Annalise and took the final and title in 3 straight sets 11-6, 11-7, 12-10.
Many people wouldn’t look past local player Neil Irwin (Fivemiletown Academy) to claim the under 17 Boys title. With some thrilling matches the competition was very intense. The groups saw 4th seed Ciaran Kelly (Leinster) come second in his group when Stephen Fawcett (Newbliss) caused a major upset of the day. This meant Ciaran played Darren Reilly (Castlerahan) in the second round, it was one of the best matches of the day, which Darren claimed 11-5 in the fifth set. Darren then had to play Trevor Knox (Fivemiletown Academy) in the quarter-finals and this too turned out to be a classic, with an epic 3rd set which Darren won 17-15 in an end to end thrilling set, Trevor did however regroup and won the match 3-1. The semi-finals saw Neil Irwin play Jonathan Porter but Neil had too much and claimed the game 3-0. However the other semi-final would not be so simple! Kieran Reilly (Castlerahan) was to play Trevor Knox and this really was nothing short of a crowd pleaser. Trevor took the first 11-9, but Kieran pushed hard to take the next two 11-7 and 11-6. Trevor came back to the table and fought hard to bring the game to the fifth winning the fourth 11-7. The last game saw Kieran play better as he moved up a gear as he claimed the fifth set and his place in the final. In the final Neil was not planning on letting Kieran have a chance to use his fighting spirit to come back into the game and Neil was efficient about closing out and finishing the match and he took the title 11-6, 11-5, 11-4.
Fermanagh Table Tennis Association would like to take this opportunity to thank all the participants and spectators who came on the day. Also to our Tournament Referee Tom Mitchell for his assistance and all the players and parents who counted on the day. Finally we would like to express our extreme gratitude to our main sponsors the Northern Bank without their support the tournament would not have been possible, also to Tommy Fitzgerald whose continuous support to FTTA is extremely appreciated. We hope all enjoyed the day and we look forward to seeing everyone and more at next year’s event.
Leinster Junior Classification: Main Results
UCD Sports Centre, Dublin 4.
Sat/Sun 9th/10th Oct.
Junior Boys 1. S Zhao Li ; 2. M Finlay ; 3. W Gallagher.
Cadet Boys 1. S Zhao Li ; 2. C Kelly ; 3. K Hutchinson.
U12 Boys 1. E McGovern 2. C Gallagher ; 3. D Mullally.
U10 Boys 1.K Wang ; 2. R Kelly ; 3. S Cowan.
Junior Girls 1. M Slattery ; 2. K McGlone ; 3. E McGlone
Cadet Girls 1. K McGlone ; 2. M Slattery 3. E McGlone
U12 Girls 1. K Hayes ; 2. N Nguyen ; 3. J Hayes.
U10 Girls 1. N Krawczun ; 2. J Hayes ; 3. C O’Toole.
Full results to follow – congratulations to all who took part.
Following the Irish Senior Classification, the Butterfly National Senior Ranking lists have been published.
In the Women’s, Ulster dominate the top three positions, with Amanda Mogey replacing Ashley Givan as the current top ranked female player in Ireland. Making a massive jump following her impressive performance at the Classification is Edel O’Reilly of Ballincollig TTC in 6th.
In the Men’s, John Murphy reclaims the top spot from Paul McCreery, with event winner Vladislavs Agurjanovs lurking ominously in 3rd place. Ashley Robinson also moves up to 4th following a fantastic win over Agurjanovs at the Classification event. Artur Lewanczuks makes a massive jump, going from 43rd in the Season Opening Rankings to 11th after the event.
Click Rankings Section to download full lists.
