Offaly badminton season gets into full swing

Mucklagh Community Centre was alive with swinging badminton racquets when the Offaly Juvenile Singles were held there. The largest turnout for many years participated in 10 events, Boys and Girls in U11, U13, U15, U17 and U20.

U11:

Only two boys and five girls entered the U11 competition so they all played in one group, with separate trophies for Boys and for Girls. Liam Conroy, Killoughey, was the highest winner over-all, with 7 victories out of 7 matches, and claimed the Boys’ Championship winners’ trophy. Jimmy Maher, Country Club, finished in the Runners-up slot with 5 wins and a Silver medal. In the Girls’ competition, Grainne Maher, Killoughey, finished with only 2 loses, one a 10/11 loss to clubmate Ella Neville, to claim the Championship Winners’ trophy.

The race for Silver and Bronze was between Ella Neville and Bria Quinn, both Killoughey. Both girls finished with 4 wins apiece, but Ella claimed the Silver medal with 69 points while Bria had to settle for Bronze with 51 points. Grace O’Malley, Boora, claimed the Plate Winners’ trophy, and Annie Dillon, Boora, went home with the Plate Silver medal.

ABOVE: U13 Boys:  U13 Boys who were winners in the Offaly Juvenile Singles.  B Row:  Noah T, Plate 3rd, Msichael, Plate Runner-up, Páidí, Winner Plate.  F. Row:  Max, Championship 3rd, Kyle, Championship Winner, Fergus, Championship Runner-up, William, Championship 4th. TT44201

U13 girls:

Eight girls lined out for the U13 competition. Following a preliminary round, they split into two groups of four: Championship players were Faye Dunne, Killoughey; Cara McEvoy, Killoughey; Lucy Hanlon, Boora; and Bláthnaid Collins, Killoughey. Maja Bochniah, Country Club; Roisin Maher, Killoughey; Millie-Marie Kelly, Clara, and Katie Lambe, Boora, qualified for the Plate. Lucy Hanlon swept all 3 games in the Championship to claim the winners’ trophy. Close behind with two wins was Faye Dunne, winner of the Silver medal, followed by Cara McEvoy in third and Bláthnaid Collins in fourth, both with Bronze medals.

The Plate became a much tighter competition. Katie Lambe and Roisin Maher each won two games and lost one game to 9 points. However, Katie defeated Roisin in the head-to-head, so was declared the Plate Winner. Roisin had to settle for the Silver medal. Third and fourth required a countback. Maja and Millie-Marie each won one game, but Millie-Marie scored 17 points in her 2 losses to claim third while Maja could only score 15 in her two losses for fourth place in the Plate. Both girls received Bronze medals.

U13 boys:

With 14 boys entered in U13, a preliminary round was necessary to divide the group into Championship and Plate. On the Championship side, Fergus Conroy, Killoughey; Bobby Duffy, Boora and Killoughey; Darragh Conroy, Killoughey; Kyle Newton, Killoughey; Noah Quinn, Killoughey; William Keenan, Killoughey; and Max O’Rourke, Rahan, qualified for the Championship. Páidí Corroon, Killoughey; Noah Treacy, Killoughey; Grasjam Gaska, Country Club; Dylan Kearney, Rahan; Michael Hanlon, Boora; Oisin Murphy, Phoenix; and Adam Keyes, Rahan, entered the Plate.

Kyle Newton emerged the top of Pool 1 with 3 wins. Fergus Conroy was second, Bobby Duffy, third and Darragh Conroy, fourth. In Pool 2, Noah Quinn had to withdraw, leaving Max O’Rourke in first and William Keenan in second. Victory in semif-inal 1 went to Kyle Newton. Victory in semifinal 2 was won by Fergus Conroy. In the final, Kyle outscored Fergus 11-4 to claim the Championship Winner’s trophy. Fergus went home with the Silver Medal. In the game for third and fourth, Max O’Rourke defeated William Keenan to claim third, with William receiving fourth. In the Plate competition, Páidí Corroon, Dylan Kearney and Noah Treacy finished level with two wins apiece. On the countback, Páidí and Noah each scored 9 points in their loss, while Dylan only scored 3. Páidí won the head to head with Noah so was declared the winner.

In Pool 2, Michael Hanlon was outright winner with 2 wins. Oisin Murphy was in second place. In the first semi-final, Páidí defeated Oisin 11-4. Michael and Noah fought for every point and at 10-all, Michael scored the final point to win 11-10. In the game between the two third place players, Dylan defeated Adam 11-6. The final between Michael and Páidí was another close contest. Páidí finally emerged on top to claim the Championship trophy, 11-9, leaving the Silver Medal to Michael. Noah flew through his game for third and fourth, defeating Oisin 11-4. Both players received Bronze medals.

U15 girls:

Following a preliminary round, Ava Dunne, Killoughey; Lisa-Marie Newton, Killoughey; Jess Mahon, Killoughey; Kate Doyle, Killoughey; Anna Corroon, Killoughey; and Shauna Rose Loonam, Killoughey, contested the Championship. Leanna Spollen, Killoughey; Lucy Morris, Boora; Emma Hanlon, Boora; Emily Egan, Country Club; and Lauren Grace, Boora, played in the Plate. Ava Dunne, Lisa-Marie Newton, and Kate Doyle all finished the Championship with 4 wins. Following a countback, Lisa-Marie was declared Championship winner with 4 wins and 12 points. Ava and Kate each had 4 wins and 9 points, but Ava won the head-to-head so claimed the Silver medal, leaving the third place Bronze to Kate. Anna Corroon finished in fourth with two wins to also receive Bronze.

The Plate was as competitive as the Championship. Leanna Spollen, Emma Hanlon, and Emily Egan all finished on 3 wins. Leanna and Emma each had 13 points in their losses, so the decider was the head-to-head. Leanna won 15-13 to claim the Championship trophy. Emma received the Silver medal. Emily, with 12 points in her loss, received the Bronze medal. Lucy Morris received the fourth place Bronze medal.

U15 boys:

U15 Boys was another large group necessitating a preliminary round to determine Championship and Plate players. Reaching the Championship were Conor McEvoy, Killoughey; Fiachra Buckley, Killoughey; Ciarain Farrelly, Boora; Oisin Coleman, Killoughey; Charlie Larkin, Rahan; Evan Craven, Rahan; and Reece Treacy, Killoughey. On the Plate side were Ciaran Walsh, Boora; Ben Doolan, Boora; Ross Bryne, Clara; Joe Minnock, Rahan; Ronan Lambe, Boora; Cian Guinan, Boora; and Sam Bracken, Rahan.

On the Championship side, Conor McEvoy, Fiachra Buckley, and Reece Treacy finished on 4 wins apiece. Conor and Reece each lost 13/15 so the head-to-head came into consideration. Reece scored the 15 against Conor to claim the Championship trophy, forcing Conor into the Silver medal position. Fiachra claimed the Bronze medal for 3^rd. By a score of 15-14, Evan Craven ousted Charlie Larkin for 4^th place and another Bronze medal.

On the Plate side, three boys had to withdraw from the competition. Ronan Lambe scored a clean sweep of all his games to claim the Championship trophy. Close behind for the Silver medal, losing only to Ronan, was Cian Guinan. Sam Bracken finished in third for the Bronze medal. Derek McDonagh outscored Ciaran Walsh to finish in 4^th.

ABOVE: U20 Boys:  Championship and Plate prize winners in the U20 Boys Offaly Juvenile Singles played in Mucklagh Community Centre. Back Row, Championship players:  Maris, Championship Winner; Conor, 4th; Stephen, 3rd.  Front Row, Plate players; Eoin, Runner-up, Cian, Plate Winner.

U17 girls: U17 Girls was the last event to start, and as time was running out, the games were only played to 11 points. Following a preliminary round, the 12 girls split into two groups of 3 for the Championship and the Plate. Two nail-biting Pool games were played on the Championship side. Aisling Mooney was pushed all the way to 10-all by Saoirse Murphy before she finally managed to score the 11^th point. Both Aisling and Saoirse defeated Siún Joyce. All 3 girls were from Killoughey Club. In Pool 2, Aisling Farrell and Hannah Dunne, both Killoughey, fought another epic battle before Aisling emerged the winner 11-10. Both Aisling and Hannah defeated Kamila Wrombel, Country Club. In the two semifinals, Aisling Mooney defeated Hannah and Aisling Farrell defeated Saoirse. Siún defeated Kamila in the game between the two 3^rd place players.

The final was everything you wanted in a Championship game—low serves, long high clears, drops from the back, and smashes hammered to the floor whenever the girls got a chance. Aisling Mooney finally emerged the winner 11-10, receiving the Championship trophy and forcing Aisling Farrell into the Silver medal position. In the game for the 3^rd and 4^th places, both Bronze, Saoirse defeated Hannah 11-9.

The Plate side was even tighter in Pool 1. Alana Gellar, Killoughey; Zoe Farrell, Killoughey, and Alica Wrombel, Country Club, all finished with one win apiece. Alana, with 8 points in her loss was declared the Pool winner. Zoe was in second, with 5 points, and Alica was third with only 1 point. Pool 2 was more straightforward. Aoife Feighery, Killoughey, defeated Emily Doyle, Boora, and Anastazja Fabisiak, Country Club, to finish top of the table. Emily defeated Anastazja to finish second. Alana and Zoe won the two semi-finals to meet in the final, leaving Emily and Aoife to play for third and fourth. In the 3^rd players game, Alica defeated Anastazja. Zoe bounced back after her pool defeat by Alana to win the Championship final, forcing Alana into the Silver medal position. Aoife won against Emily in the Bronze medals game for 3^rd and 4^th.

U17 boys:

U17 Boys was still another group that split into Championship and Plate following a preliminary round. The Championship was fought between Scott Mannerings, Clara; Eoghan Carroll, Clara; Shay Foley, Country Club; Troy Feery, Phoenix; Emilis Aitutis, Country Club, and Stephen Russell, Country Club, playing in two Pools of three players each. Scott Mannerings outscored both Eoghan Carroll and Shay Foley to finish on top of Pool 1 with 2 wins. Eoghan scored 15 to Shay’s 12 to finish in second.

In Pool 2, Stephen Russell finished with 2 wins. Troy Feery was second with a win against Emilis. In the two semi-finals, Scott outscored Troy and Stephen outscored Eoghan. In the final, Scott scored a comprehensive win against Stephen to claim the Championship trophy. Stephen finished with the Silver medal. Troy outscored Eoghan in a much closer game to finish 3^rd. Both boys received Bronze medals.

On the Plate side, Roc Gomez, Boora; Dean Bracken, Clara; Eoin Burke, Clara; Hunor Kiss, Country Club; Tiernan Donnelly, Killoughey; and Alonso Panos, Boora, fought for the honour of Plate Champion. In Pool 1, Eoin Burke emerged on top with 2 wins, followed by Dean Bracken with one win. In Pool 2, by 1 point, 15-14, Alonso outscored Tiernan to finish in second behind Hunor. Alonso lived dangerously in his semi-final against Eoin Burke before finally winning 15-14. Hunor had a much easier time against Dean. In the game between the 3^rd place finishers, Tiernan defeated Roc. In the Plate Final, Hunor earned the Championship trophy by outscoring Alonso 15-11. Alonso received the Silver medal. If Eoin Burke played dangerously in his semifinal, he did the same in the game for 3^rd and 4^th, only this time he came out on the long end of the 15-14 score to claim 3^rd place. Dean also received a Bronze medal for 4^th.

U20 girls:

Five girls contested the U20 competition, so Nikola Ekiert, Country Club; Nicole Murray, Country Club; Zsofia Gulyas, Country Club; Amna Asif, Phoenix; and Kelly Shirley, Clara, played out the competition in one group. What a difference 1 point makes. Amna defeated Nikola 15-14, then Nikola defeated Nicole 15-13. Nikola and Nicole finished the competition on 3 wins apiece, but Nikola had 14 points in her loss, while Nicole had 13. Nikola received the Championship winner’s trophy and Nicole received the Silver medal. Kelly Shirley with 2 wins and 22 points in her losses claimed Championship 3^rd, pushing Amna, with 2 wins and only 11 points into the Plate, which she won, receiving the Plate Championship trophy. Zsofia received the Plate Silver medal.

U20 boys:

The preliminary round threw up a few surprises. Cian Dillon, Killoughey, one of the strong U20 players last year, was soundly defeated by Stephen Newton, Killoughey, last year’s U17 winner. Brian Leonard, Boora, fell to the racquet of Patryk Bochniak, Country Club. Other players to reach the Championship were David Gibbons, Rahan; Rogan Stirrat, Killoughey; Maris Litavenieks, Country Club; Shane Thompson, Rahan; and Conor Lambe, Killoughey. With 4 wins apiece going into one of the last games of the competition, David Gibbons and Maris Litavenieks were level on 4 wins apiece, the only two players with this record. Maris ran David, smashed away from him and returned nearly everything David sent his way and scored a surprisingly easy victory to claim the Championship trophy. David received the Silver medal. Stephen Newton received the Bronze medal for 3^rd place. The 4^th place Bronze medal was fought between Shane Thompson and Conor Lambe with Conor finishing on top with 1 win and 27 points to 1 win and 19 points for Shane. Conor took home the 4^th place Bronze Medal.

On the Plate side, Eoin Lambe, Killoughey; Fionn Corcoran, Rahan; Ryan Fletcher, Country Club; Arnis Litavenieks, Country Club; Brian Leonard, Boora; and Cian Dillon, Killoughey, competed for the trophy and medals. Cian scored a clean sweep in all his games to claim the Plate Winner’s trophy. He had a lucky escape against Eoin Lambe, Silver medal winner, by holding out for a 15-14 win. Eoin, in turn, was lucky to finish in second, but managed to scrape past Fionn Corcoran 15-13, which gave him 3 wins and 20 points to Fionn’s 3 wins and 19 points. Fionn received a Bronze medal for 3^rd. The 4^th place Bronze medal was won by Brian Leonard.

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Coming events:

Girls and Senior Doubles will be played in Mucklagh Community Centre on the 9^th of November and Boys Divisions 3, 4. And 5 will be played the 23^rd of November. Start time for both events will be 9 o’clock due to anticipated large numbers of enteries.