Blackrock College emerged as the big winners at the end of play at the 2015 All-Ireland Schools Finals in Tallaght on Wednesday 6th May as once again, the National Basketball Arena played host to a major National event when the cream of schools Table Tennis went head-to-head for the right to call themselves All-Ireland Champions.
‘Rock swept all before them as their three teams on show – U18, U15 and U13 boys, all claimed the top prize to give the South Dublin School an unprecedented treble of All-Ireland Titles. They didn’t have it all their own way however, as the U13 Boys in particular had to hold off the strong challenge of a tricky St.Gerards side in a tight match before eventually pulling through 4-3. In the Under 15s, they managed to wrestle the title back from the clutches of St. Louis of Mayo, who were aiming to defend the crown they came away with 12 months ago. It was sweet success in the end for Blackrock, who have been rewarded for their consistent, year round training regime by this flurry of National Titles.
The other Multiple winner, on a day which saw five different schools crowned champions, was Manulla NS in Castlebar. Manulla, no stranger to All-Ireland glory, were successful in defending their Boys title which they won in 2014, and this year the girls also managed to join the party as they went away as champions for 2015. In the Final match, Manulla overcame a formidable St.Ronan’s team 4-2 in an epic battle to now firmly establish themselves as the team to beat in Irish primary school table tennis.
Cavan Royal – led by Irish Number 1 ranked female player Hannah Lynch Dawson, brushed all aside in convincing fashion to take the U19 Girls title, while the girls of Mountrath CS followed up the U13 title they secured in 2014 by taking home the U15 crown – just reward for the countless hours put in over the season by Jimmy Hayes and all of his players. In the U13 Girls Event, it was the turn of Leinster Champions Colaiste Bride to emerge victorious, and in truth the result never looked in doubt as they secured 5-1 wins in both the semi final and final matches.
It’s also worth noting the performance of St Louis of Mayo, who despite coming up just short, did go away with 3 Silver Medals of their own in U15 Boys, U15 Girls and U13 Girls events. Ulsters Malone College also fell agonisingly short, as along with their Silver in the U13 Boys, they claimed Bronze in the U15 Boys and this could easily have been much more had they managed to clinch their semi-final which they eventually lost on the deciding doubles to St.Louis – arguably the match of the tournament.
Congratulations once again to the winners and all those that made for an enthralling day of Table Tennis. They will all of course be back again next year fighting for the 2016 All-Ireland Schools Titles.
A special thanks also to Tournament Referee Tony Martin and Con O’Ceadaigh for their efforts in ensuring the smooth running of the event and to Tony Higgins for producing a slide show capturing the day. Follow the link to view.
See here for the final results from the day.
All-Ireland Schools Finals 2015 – Results
Under 19 Boys:
1st Blackrock College
2nd The Green CBS
3rd Ballyclare High
Under 15 Boys:
1st Blackrock College
2nd St. Louis Comm. College
3rd Malone College
Under 13 Boys:
1st Blackrock College
2nd Malone College
3rd St. Gerard’s College
Under 19 Girls:
1st Cavan Royal
2nd Colaiste Muire
3rd Loreto College, Foxrock
Under 15 Girls:
1st Mountrath CS
2nd St. Louis Comm. College
3rd Mercy High
Under 13 Girls:
1st Colaiste Bride
2nd St. Louis Comm. College
3rd Cavan Royal
Primary School Boys:
1st Manulla NS
2nd St’ Ronans NS
3rd Summercove NS
Primary School Girls:
1st Manulla NS
2nd Cloghroe NS
3rd Scoil Bhride