Today was Day 5 of the 56th European Youth Championships taking place in Ostrava, Czech Republic; Today the team event concluded and final positions were decided.
Junior Girls – Ashley Givan, Hannah Lynch-Dawson and Emma Ludlow
The Junior Girls faced BULGARIA in a battle for 33rd position Hannah Lynch-Dawson was up first and she took the opening set however YOVKOVA who is ranked 198 in Europe came out and won the next three sets and gave Bulgaria a 1-0 lead. Three Times National Senior Champion Ashley Givan cruised to a straight sets victory over TSANEVA, the match was tied at 1-1. MEHMED proved too strong for Emma Ludlow taking Bulgaria into a 2-1 lead with a straight sets victory. Ashley dropped the first set against YOVKOVA but found a higher gear and comfortably took three on the trot; the match was tied 2-2. TSANEVA got out of the blocks strong and never looked back as she beat Hannah in straight sets. Bulgaria took the match 3-2 and the Junior Girls finished off the 56th European Youth Championships in 34th position.
Bulgaria 3 Ireland 2
Krasimira YOVKOVA (ER: 198) beat Hannah LYNCH-DAWSON 3-1 (8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8)
Ashley GIVAN beat Monika TSANEVA3-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-3)
Reyhan MEHMED beat Emma LUDLOW 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-4)
Ashley GIVAN beat Krasimira YOVKOVA3-1 (8-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-1)
Monika TSANEVA beat Hannah LYNCH-DAWSON 3-0 (11-6, 11-2, 11-5)
Cadet Boys – Zak Wilson, Alexander Gillen and Owen Cathcart
The Cadet Boys were playing San Marino for 38th position, in the Cadet Boys style this match would not go by without 5 setters being a feature. The first of these came when Alexander Gillen played European 245 Davide MUCCIOLI, Alex took the first 11-9, MUCCIOLI responded taking the 2nd 11-5. From then on nothing would separate the two boys, Alex won the third 11-9, Muccioli won the fourth 11-9 and Alex won the fifth (you guessed it) 11-9. Ireland took a 1-0 lead and Zak seemed to be unstoppable as he cruised to a straight sets victory, given Ireland a 2-0 lead going into the Doubles. Owen Cathcart would join his fellow Ulsterman in the Doubles. They dropped the first 11-9; they took the second and won the third in an epic 16-14 game. San Marino weren’t given up and won the fourth but Owen and Zak found their rhythm and took the fourth 11-4. The Cadet Boys finished 38th in the 56th European Youth Championships.
Ireland 3 San Marino 0
Alexander GILLEN beat Davide MUCCIOLI (ER: 245) 3-2 (11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9)
Zak WILSON beat Federico GIARDI (ER: 242) 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-8)
Owen CATHCART /WILSON beat GIARDI / MUCCIOLI 3-2 (9-11, 11-7, 16-14, 5-11, 11-4)
Cadet Girls – Katie McGlone, Chloe O’Halloran, Rebecca Finn
The Cadet Girls were in a playoff group for 35th to 37th position, yesterday Switzerland beat Ireland 3-1 and Scotland 3-0 so they took 35th and that left the two Home Nations to battle it out for 36th. Katie McGlone showed her good form as she won convincingly in straight sets over Rachel CRAWFORD. Chloe O’Halloran put in another great performance and beating Lucy Elliot European 124, in straight sets 13-11, 13-11 and 11-6. Katie and Rebecca teamed up for the Doubles and they were narrowly defeated in three with two sets ending 12-10 in favour of the Scots. Katie was up next against Lucy ELLIOT and while Lucy won the first Katie took the next three to give Ireland a 3-1 win over neighbours Scotland.
The Cadet Girls finished off in 36th position.
Ireland 3 Scotland 1
Katie MCGLONE beat Rachel CRAWFORD 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-5)
Chloe O’HALLORAN beat Lucy ELLIOT (ER: 124) 3-0 (13-11, 13-11, 11-6)
CRAWFORD / ELLIOT beat MCGLONE / FINN 3-0 (11-8, 12-10, 12-10)
Katie MCGLONE beat Lucy ELLIOT 3-1 (8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-9)
As the Team Event comes to a close we move over to the Individual events with Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles still to come.
Commenting on the Championships so far High Performance Director John McGlone said “The current gap in standard between the larger countries and ourselves is evident from our overall placing in the team events. However, there were more than a few very close 2-3 matches and some good individual wins, including Chloe’s victory against the European No. 22 Cadet. The younger players have gained valuable tournament experience in age groups where they will still hope to be competing in two years time. The players should now be looking forward to their singles matches and using the knowledge they’ve gained from the first half of the event.”
Reflecting on the first half of the European Youth Championships ITTA Chair Patricia Hunter was proud of the players and said “I am delighted to see Ireland so well represented by all of our players who have turned in some excellent individual results, keep up the good work!”
For the full results check out the ETTU Results page.
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