BADMINTON: Offaly juveniles are back where they belong in Division Two

Offaly Juvenile Badminton teams are back in Division 2 Leinster Inter-counties, thanks to a talented, hardworking U17 team.
For the last several competitions, Offaly has languished in Division 4, and at the bottom of Division 4 at that.
The U17 team, in order that they appeared on court, of Wyatt Winston, Natalie McIntyre, Cian Dillon, Shannyn Healion, David Gibbons, John O’Meara, Shibani Venugopal and Avrit Rose Machado put pride back into Offaly Intercounty Badminton.
Offaly were fourth seed in a Pool of Kildare A, Carlow, and Kilkenny B, but preliminary predictions meant nothing to this team.
V Kildare A: Offaly were plunged in at the deep end, meeting Kildare in their first match. Wyatt Winston, singles was up against the Kildare player who is ranked 6th or 7th in U17 Leinster. Wyatt is a ranked U15 player.
The results were as expected, a 21/12 win for Kildare A. Natalie McIntyre, Offaly singles player that represented her school, Gallen, in Offaly PP schools, was no match for her Kildare opponent and lost 10/21.
Boys 1st Doubles was an epic encounter. Wyatt and partner Cian Dillon had never played together before, and got off to a very slow start, trailing 11/2 at the half-time changeover.
After that, the Offaly pair put their game into top gear and began clearing, dropping, and smashing their way back into the game. Wyatt and Cian levelled the score at 18-all, but Kildare found another gear and ran out winners 21/18. Natalie was back on court with Shannyn Healion for Girls Doubles 1.
Even though Offaly girls were dominate in most matches in U19 and U13, Natalie and Shannyn fell to the racquets of Kildare 13/21. Second Boys Doubles, David Gibbons and John O’Meara could only go one better when they lost 14/21.
Offaly’s fortunes looked to take a turn for the better when second Girls Doubles, Shibani Venugopal and Avrit Rose Machado were ahead of Kildare at the changeover. However, in the latter quarter of the match, the girls were overtaken and lost 18/21. Offaly finished on a high note. Shannyn and Cian won the Mixed Doubles 21/18.
V Carlow: Wyatt Winston stepped into another tough singles against a highly trained player from Carlow. This time, the speed and reflexes of Wyatt prevailed and he won 21/17.
Natalie couldn’t keep the momentum going for Offaly when she lost her singles 14/21. Wyatt and Cian Dillon picked up the pace for Offaly and won their doubles 21/15.
Again Natalie and Shannyn Healion struggled and could only score 8 points in their doubles game. David Gibbons and John O’Meara let no shuttles fall idly to the floor and scored a 21/14 win.
Shibani Venugopal and Avrit Rose Machado held the team and spectators in suspense as they fought out a close game, and they left the final outcome to the last stroke of the game when they won 21/20. Shannyn and Cian finished with a flourish for Offaly, winning 21/13.
V Kilkenny B: Wyatt breezed through his singles against Kilkenny B, winning 21/1. Natalie tasted her victory with a 21/8 victory in Girls Singles.
Wyatt and Cian lost no time in playing their 1st Boys Doubles game, winning 21/6. Shannyn and Natalie didn’t stand around either, waiting for the shuttle to come to them, but attacked with a vengeance and won 21/11. David and John kept the scores rolling for Offaly, scoring a 21/10 victory. The last two games were closer.
Shibani and Avrit Rose were never threatened in their game, but only opened up a small margin of space, winning 21/15. Shannyn and Cian finished on the same score, winning 21/15. With two match wins and one loss, Offaly played their way into Division 2 in the race for the medals.
V Meath A: Meath A were the first opponents against Offaly in Division 2. Offaly appeared stale after the break between Pool games and the Divisional games.
They started slowly in all their games and played with more hesitancy than in the earlier session. Wyatt met a very classy Meath A player in singles, but was up for the challenge and won 21/14. Natalie was suffering from a blistered hand and injured ankle and wasn’t able for the singles game and lost by a huge score.
Wyatt and Cian put Offaly back on track with an excellent 21/11 win. That was the last glimmer of victory for Offaly. Shannyn and Natalie lost 11/21. David and John could do no better in their doubles, losing 11/21.
Shibani and Avrit Rose upped the scoring, but to only 15 points, so now Meath A had control of the match. Having won against Kildare A, Cian and Shannyn suffered a surprise 15/21 loss.
V Kilkenny A: Offaly had made short work of Kilkenny B, but Kilkenny A were at a different skill level. Wyatt had another outstanding victory in singles, 21/11. Shibani stepped into Girls Singles for Offaly and fought with great determination and played very well, but came up short 14/21. Wyatt and Cian started slowly in their doubles, but recovered quickly and swung on to win 21/13.
Shannyn and Natalie started slowly and never recovered enough to be competitive and lost 12/21. Two of the next three games were highly controversial. There was no question about the 2nd Girls doubles, they could only amass 7 points.
Five disputed line calls, some very blatant against Offaly when Kilkenny were refereeing led to two 21/20 losses for Offaly and left them in the bronze medal position. The Offaly U17 team can hold their heads high knowing they put Offaly back in the Division they played in for most of the past 30 years.