The ITTA is delighted to announce that two athletes have received generous support through the Paralympics Ireland Fast Track Athlete scheme. This programme provides ring fenced supports for promising athletes that have emerged from the post London 2012 talent search.
Tom Davis and Colin Judge will both receive funding support through this scheme which will see them receive financial support to travel to two high level international Para events later this season.
Judge was delighted with the support from Paralympics Ireland, stating;
“Delighted to hear that I have been successful in receiving funding from Paralympics Ireland. I look forward to travelling abroad and competing in competitions worldwide. I am forever grateful for this wonderful opportunity.”
Davis, still a Junior and a member of the Irish Junior National Team, stated;
“I was really pleased to find out that the funding came through. It’sa brilliant opportunity for me to see how far I can get in table tennis. I have been playing a long time and now I have a chance to show what I’m capable of. I am really looking forward to competing in some tournaments abroad as its a great experience. I love table tennis and really want to do well, this funding gives me a chance to do that.”
This funding news follows the recent announcement that both Senior Athlete Panel members Philip Quinlan and Rena McCarron Rooney have achieved Carding Status for 2014 which will support their efforts over the international season, with the World Championships later this year being the targeted event. So a good year ahead with two promising athletes pushing hard to join Quinlan and Rooney McCarron on the senior athlete panel.
In further good news, Christine Doyle and Colin Judge both have recently returned from the Hungarian Para TT Open.
For Judge, it was a disappointing return from a very tough draw against higher ranked opponents. He will take comfort from his win over Israeli Alon Nigri and will look to bounce back following strong training over the coming months with big performances in the Spanish and Romanian Para TT Opens. Judge also took a set from the eventual winner of the event Ludrovsky of Slovakia, who is World Ranked 7. There is certainly better to come from the promising new National Champion.
Christine Doyle(pictured) produced her best Table Tennis of the last year to take the gold medal in the Ladies Class 5 singles, beating Anna Maria Hentig from Germany and Yvette Moerdijk from the Netherlands. It was very good standard in class 5 and a great result for both Christine & Irish Para Table Tennis.
In the Ladies team Event Christine Doyle class 5 played with Kovacs Ilona from Hungary a Class 1 player and they won bronze in the team event. Again, Christine produced her best Table Tennis in her career to date, with wins over Emmanuelle Ferrier and Monique Sirgant from France, both Class 4 athletes. It was the 1st time Christine has beaten Sirgant who is ranked high in her class.
Speaking following her triumphant return from Eger, Doyle stated;
“It’s great that all the hard training over the last few months paid off. As a result I was able to win my first gold medal in class 5 singles at an international tournament, also winning the bronze medal in the team event made the Hungarian Open my most successful tournament to date. This would not have been possible without the support of my team mates and coach Tibor Pofok. Hopefully this will be a springboard for more success in the future”.
Congratulations to all of the players and to coach Tibor Pofok for all of the recent success.