Munster Table Tennis were delighted to “unveil” a brand new venue for the Munster Open this year in the Munster Technological University Arena in Cork City. The event took place on the 13th and 14th January. 198 entries from 111 players were received across the 16 different competition categories including U/11 and U/13 Girls for the first time in a number of years. The number of players represents a 30% increase on 2023 and the number of entries is a whopping 80% increase on 2023, proving that table tennis is recovering post Covid. The largest entry was 40 in the Men’s Singles, followed by 24 in the Restricted Singles in the Restricted Singles followed by 15 in both the Women’s Singles and the Para Open categories. The Veterans category was a disappointing 10.
The overall highlight of performances at the Munster Open had to be the competition between Anjali Singh of Ormeau and Emily Flynn of Craigavon over a range of categories. Both won two categories, with the other very often the runner up in those categories – Anjali won the Women’s Singles and U/17 Girls while Emily won the Women’s U/21 and Girls U/19 categories. Another significant pattern was the number of champions from 2023 who successfully defended their titles this year. Tom Davis of DCTT repeated his success with a win in the Men’s Singles, Anjali Singh in the Women’s Singles and U/17 Girls, Paddy Vaughan (unattached) in the Para Open and Ben Watson (Civil Service) in the U/19 Boys. The most successful club over the weekend was a more mixed affair compared to 2023. Leeside had three winners as had Ormeau and Loop. In respect of the inter provincial rivalry, Ulster players won out with 8 winners over Leinster with 5 winners followed by Munster with 3 winners.
Another highlight was the repeat use of live streaming by Club Sportscast to provide live commentary of matches and interviews with players over the two days. Munster TT would like to thank those coaches who offered their services to provide commentary on matches.
The category winners were:
Senior Men: Tom Davis, DCTT
Senior Women: Anjali Singh, Ormeau
Restricted Singles: Kevin O’Keeffe, Leeside
Vets: Eduardo Da Silva, Loop
Para: Paddy Vaughan, Unattached
U/21 Men: Adam Faulkner, Osmond
U/21 Women: Emily Flynn, Craigavon
U/19 Boys: Ben Watson, Civil Service
U/19 Girls: Emily Flynn, Craigavon
U/17 Boys: Vincent Ni, Loop
U/17 Girls: Anjali Singh, Ormeau
U/15 Boys: Clifford Tan, Loop
U/13 Boys: Karsten Close. Ormeau
U/13 Girls: Samanta Pusinskaite, Leeside
U/11 Boys: Jay Forde, Unattached
U/11 Girls: Samanta Pusinskaite, Leeside
Finally, but not least, thanks go to Tournament Referee, Adrian Brown, and Assistant to the Referee, Niall O’Flaherty, along with Adam Brown who provided IT support, and to the umpires who provided effective management of the many matches played over the weekend.
Pictures below:
