Badminton in Offaly: Offaly teams play in Leinster

An 11 strong, but very young, Offaly U13 team travelled to Dublin to play in the Leinster Inter-county competition. For the morning seeding competition, the Offaly team of Reece Treacy, Charlie Larkin, Kyle Newton, Scott Heffernan, Cillian Cronley, Fergus Conroy, Lisa-Marie Newton, Emma Hanlon, Lucy Hanlon, Kate Doyle and Katelyn Guinan were drawn in Pool 3 with Laois 1 and Meath. Other teams in the competition were Dublin 1 and 2, Kilkenny, Laois 2, Carlow, and Wexford.

Pool games

Reece Treacy and Lisa-Marie Newton led off for Offaly in Boy’s and Girl’s singles against Laois. Reece met his equal in his game. The Laois player went well ahead in the beginning of the game, and was ahead 11/6 at the changeover. Reece finally got to terms with his opponent and narrowed the gap to 3 points where it stayed until the opponent reached 17 Reece hit his stride and began a comeback 14/17 to 15/18, 16/18, 17/18, then 17/19, 18/19 and at 19-all Reece went into high gear and won the game 21/19. What a comeback! Meanwhile Lisa-Marie was struggling against her bigger, stronger opponent. The game ended 14/21 in favour of Laois.

Offaly players hit their best patch of the day with a winning streak of 3 games. Reece and Charlie Larkin won 1^st Boys’ doubles 21/12; Emma Hanlon and Lucy Hanlon won 1^st Girls’ Doubles 21/16; and Kyle Newton and Scott Heffernan won 2^nd Boys’ doubles 21/14. Lisa-Marie and Kate Doyle were not so fortunate. Laois 2^nd Girls’ doubles proved very strong and the Offaly girls lost 9/21. In the mixed game, a boy and girl playing together, Kate and Charlie gave it their all, but came up short 10/21. With match score of Offaly 4, Laois 3, Offaly were declared the match winners.

Offaly were back on court against Meath. Meath were a far tougher team than Laois. They were bigger and stronger than Offaly, were very mobile and skilful, and hit harder. Emma and Lucy, in 1^st Girls’ pushed them hard but couldn’t break their offense, but scored well themselves, reaching 16. In this match, Katelyn Guinan played with Scott Heffernan in mixed. Scott was very strong at the back, and very mobile and Katelyn had great reflexes where she was covering. They pushed Meath almost to the limit before losing 19/21. The other games were very one-sided to Meath.

After losing so heavily to Meath, and a win over Laois, a big win for Meath against Laois seemed a safe bet. Laois paid no attention to the odds, and Meath only slipped past them 4-3. With one win and one loss, Offaly were into Division 2 for the finals, a huge step up from the bottom of Division 4 where Offaly U13 finished last year.

Division 2

Division 2 teams were Offaly, Kilkenny, and Carlow. Offaly were drawn first against Kilkenny. Kilkenny were bigger and stronger, but Offaly were very competitive. With practice against strong opposition, Offaly were improving with very match. Again Reece Treacy led off in Boys’ Doubles. From the beginning he took the game to Kilkenny. It was only in the last few shots that be lost 19/21. Lucy Hanlon took a turn a singles and showed why she was Runner-up in Offaly U13 singles. Like Reece, Lucy stayed with her opponent and challenged for the win. Unfortunately, she too fell short by 2 points, 19/21. Reece came off the court from his singles and after a rehydration break, was back on in 1^st Doubles with Charlie Larkin. The boys were competitive, but couldn’t stay with the Kilkenny lads and lost 15/21.

Emma Hanlon teamed with Lucy for 1^st Girls’ doubles. Again Offaly were very competitive, but tripped at the last hurdle and lost 19/21. Kyle Newton and Fergus Conroy couldn’t do as well in 2^nd Boys’ doubles, losing 12/21. Kate Doyle teamed with Lisa-Marie Newton, and made the big breakthrough for Offaly, and made winning look easy, winning 21/7. Kate then teamed with Kyle for the Mixed game. Kate and Kyle were the best boy and girl to cover the court on the day. Their play complemented each other, moving as a team, not two separate individuals. Their teamwork paid off and Offaly scored another win, this time 21/19.

As loser of the first match, Offaly were on court again against Carlow. Again Reece, the Offaly U13 Singles champion, led off in singles. He found Carlow as tough as Meath and suffered a huge defeat. Lisa-Marie, Offaly U13 Girls’ singles champion was very competitive, but again failed to close out a match and lost 19/21. Reece and Charlie were held to high single digits in their doubles game. Emma and Lucy managed to get into double digits, but then Scott and Cillian slipped back to a single number. Lisa-Marie and Katelyn showed Carlow the real face of Offaly badminton, with a massive 21/11 win. Emma Hanlon and Scott tried to get across the line, but came up short 16/21.

Two match losses meant the bronze medals for Offaly, but again, bronze in Division 2 is a huge positive step for Offaly U13 badminton.

Post Primary Schools U19

Four Offaly secondary schools travelled to Dublin to compete in the U19 Leinster competition, Sacred Heart School and Ard Scoil Chiarain Naofa boys in Division 3 and St. Brendan’s girls and Killina’s boys in Division 2.

Tullamore SHS played in a qualifying pool with East Glendalough and Wilsons Hospital School. East Glendalough was the first school up for Sacred Heart. The team of Shannyn Healion, Shibani Venugopal, Andzhelina Plugchieva, and Adriana Strembu won the four singles games, never allowing more than 8 points in a 21 point game. Due to time constraints caused by a huge entry, scores were shortened from 30 points to 21, and when a team won 4 of the 6 games, the match was declared completed, so Sacred Heart did not play doubles against the Wicklow team.

Wilson’s did not show on the day, so SHS were through to the finals. Sion Hill, Dublin, and St. Joseph’s, Navan, reached the finals with Sacred Heart. If the preliminary round was one-sided for SHS, the finals were very competitive, 3 matches, three 3-all draws.

Sion Hill met SHS in the first match. Every point became critical. Shannyn Healion lost 1^st Singles 11/21, Shibani Venugopal fared better, losing 16/21. Andzhelina Plugchieva put things right for SHS with a 21/4 win. Adriana Strembu continued for SHS with a 21/12 win. When Shannyn and Shibani lost 1^st doubles 17/21, the pressure was on Andzhelina and Adriana, and they answered the call, winning 21/14. When the scores were added, Sacred Heart were on top 107-93, a win for SHS. Sion Hill played St. Joseph’s and outscored them by 4 points in another draw.

St. Joseph v SHS was next. St. Joseph girls scored big wins against Shannyn, 4/21 and Shibani, 8/21. Andzhelina and Adriana won for SHS, 21/13 and 21/9. SHS showed their strength in doubles in two competitive games, but Shannyn and Shibani fell short 17/21. The cold, hard, facts. If SHS were to win, Andzhelina and Adriana had to hold the 2^nd St. Joseph doubles girls to less that 8 points. The SHS pair went on to win 21/16, but St. Joseph won on points 101-92. Each team had one win, so total points scored had to be counted. St. Joseph’s finished with the highest number to claim the gold medal, Sacred Heart were second with silver, and Sion Hill received bronze.

Ard Scoil Chiarain, Clara met St. Peter’s, Wexford and Kings’ Hospital School, Dublin. Against St. Peter’s, even though Ard Scoil were ahead 4-1, the teams played the 2^nd doubles game. Myles Handy won 1^st singles 21/12. Aaron Kelly followed with a 21/18 win, and Jamie Larkin won the 3^rd in a row for ASCN 21/8. Kevin Gavin’s game was a slight hiccup, losing 10/21. Myles and Kevin picked up the pace again with a 21/17 win in 1^st Doubles. Aaron and Jamie finished the match 21/15 for a 5-1 win for Ard Scoil.

Kings’ Hospital were tougher opponents. Myles got ASCN off to a shaky start with an 8/21 loss. Aaron put the team back on track with a 21/17 win. Kevin Ardiff put Kings’ Hospital back in front with a 21/14 win against Jamie Larkin. The game was level again when Kevin Gavin won 4^th singles 21/16. Myles and Kevin put up fierce fight to get ASCN back in front, but fell short 19/21. When Aaron and Jamie lost 2^nd doubles, Kings’ Hospital were match winners 4-2. Kings’ Hospital went on to defeat St. Peter’s, so with second place in the Pool, Ard Scoil Chiarain did not qualify for the finals. The boys could hold their heads high going home, knowing they did the best they could for their school on the day.

Disaster struck Baldoyle before St Brendan's girls and Killina could play their games. A power cut occurred in Baldoyle, wiping out the lighting in the badminton centre, so the teams were sent home because they couldn’t play without lights. This is the second time St. Brendan’s have been sent home for a power cut. The first time they were to play Coláiste Naomh Cormac so they played the match in Offaly and didn’t have to return to Dublin. Good luck to St. Brendan’s and Killina if they get to go back to play at a later date.