This weekend was some great table tennis played as some of Ireland’s top players gathered for the Ulster Senior Open.
In the Men’s event, Paul McCreery and John Murphy cruised through to the Final – McCreery didn’t drop a set and only Daryl Strong stretching John Murphy, taking their match to 5 sets. Murphy took a first set lead in the Final, but then McCreery upped a gear and took control of the match, going on to grind out a 3-1 victory over his international teammate and claim the Ulster Senior Open title.
In the Women’s event, Ashley Givan recorded another home province victory, cruising to the title in straight sets with a win over Connacht’s Sarah Timlin. Earlier in the event, young guns Katie McGlone and Hannah Lynch-Dawson both caused big surprises, each with 5 set wins over Jean Wyse and Sabina Devereux respectively to progress to the semi-finals – a great achievement for both young players.
Ballymena’s Pawel Sulkowski claimed the Class II singles title with a straight sets win over Jonathan Porter. Sulkowski also went all the way to the Final of the Veterans event, taking Pioneers Kevin Mackey to 5 sets – Mackey proved too strong for him and claimed the title, preventing what would have been a fine double for the Ulster man.
In the other events, McCreery and Murphy were a formidable partnership in the Open Doubles, claiming the title with a win over Logue and Robinson. In the Under 21’s, Dawid Sulkowski added to his father’s victory with a great win in the Under 21’s, defeating Jonathan Porter in the Final – Porter thus having the dubious distinction of finishing runner-up in both competitions to the father and son pair! However, the youngster will have been delighted to reach the 2 Finals in one day and will look to go one step further next time out.
Please see attached full results with thanks to Jamie McConkey.