Owen Cathcart, one of Ireland’s top young talents, played at the Molnar Open in Hungary last week.
On the first day at Molnar International was Under 13 boys event. This was Owen’s targetted event coming to Hungary according to National Coach John Murphy who was working with owen in Hungary. There were over 120 boys entered into to the event. The tournament started in groups of four with top two players advancing to the main draw. Owen advanced through the Group;
Group:
Ballnat ( Hungary ) 3-0
Nanth ( Czech Rep ) 3-0
Villadell ( Sapin ) 1-3
Owen looked sharp early on beating both Ballnat and Nanth comfortably. Villadell who was an awkward pimples style beat Owen 1-3 in a close encounter. Nonetheless, Owen progressed to the Main Draw.
Main Draw
last 64 : Zaboj ( Czech Rep ) 3-0
Last 32: Misera ( Germany ) 3-0
last 16: Wesshagen ( Sweden ) 3-1
Last 8: Ocsai ( Hungary ) 3-0
Last 4: Terek ( Hungary ) 2-3
Bronze Medal Won!!!!
This was another good performance from Owen on the international scene winning a lot of tight matches in a row which shows he has strong character. For coach Murphy, beating Wesshagen of Sweden in the last 16 was a real highlight as the level of play in the match itself was very high.
On to the Cadet & Junior events and again Owen recorded some impressive results, progressing to the Main Draw in both events. In particular, Owen was delighted to defeat the Hnungarian No.1 Cadet in a thrilling 5-set encounter. Congratulations to Owen and to coach John Murphy.