Tralee Table Tennis Club, Tralee, Co. Kerry
Despite the sub-zero weather conditions and very icy roads, 43 young players turned up to play in the first Munster Stiga Junior Challenger Event, hosted by Tralee Table Tennis Club. There was a large local contingent and players also travelled from clubs in Killarney and Kinneigh.
After registration at 9 AM, play got under way bang on time at 10 AM. A total of 168 matches were played on twelve tables over the next few hours.
Players were initially divided into groups of four who played each other in a Round Robin format to help decide which divisions to allocate players for the main event.
There were four divisions, with twelve players in each of the top three. Each division was split into two with the six players again competing in a Round Robin format. The seven players in Division Four played each other and the winner and runner up contested the Division Four final.
The finals were contested between the winners of the sub-divisions, Winner of 1A vs. Winner of 1B. etc. In the First Division Final, local favourite Andrew O’Callaghan put up a very good show against Killarney’s Michael Lagan, losing by a 3-1 margin.
This was a great chance for junior players to gain experience in a tournament, and every player got at least eight matches. All matches until the finals were played best-of-three.
Prizes for the top four in each division were sponsored by STIGA and supplied by TommyFitzgerald Table Tennis.
Results:
Division 1:
1st Michael Lagan (Killarney)
2nd Andrew O’Callaghan (Tralee)
3rd Jamie McCarthy (Kinneigh), Trevor Tobin (Kinneigh)
Division 2:
1st Eoin Foran (Killarney)
2nd Brandon Boyle (Tralee)
3rd Brielle Brady (Killarney), Kerry O’Mahony (Killarney)
Division 3
1st Donagh McMahon (Tralee)
2nd Michael Creagh (Tralee)
3rd Devon Brady (Killarney), Darren Chester (Tralee)
Division 4
1st Kevin Browne
2nd Mark Fitzgerald
3rd Nykyta Puotkails (Killarney, and our youngest player!), Joe Slattery (Tralee)