This is the last ranking tournament of the season. This is a one day event and the club will be looking for parents to help transport the players to and from this event. Entries are being taken at the club and Thursday 24th is the the last day for entries. The official closing date is Tuesday 29th. Players who miss the 24th deadline should contact Vicky Ridgeway directly with their entry.

ENTRY FEES	1 Event € 8
	2 Events €12
	3 Events €15
	U19's only €8	Open to last year Juniors also
	U10's only €5

Proposed Timetable	Check in
Boys & Girls Under 12	9am
Boys & Girls Under 17	10.30am
Girls Under 10	12.00 noon
Boys Under 10	12.30pm
Girls Under 14	2pm
Boys Under 14	2.30pm
Mixed Under 19	3.30pm

 

National Championships 2005 (ClassI)
IWA, Clontarf, Dublin
Sat 3rd March
(Closing Date: Monday 21st February 2005)

Timetable				Entry Fees	Senior	Junior
ClassII	9am	Gents Singles	12 noon	Gents Singles	10	8
Mixed Doubles	10am	Ladies Singles	2pm	Ladies Singles	10	8
U21	10am	Gents Doubles	2pm	Gents Doubles	8	6
Vet Gents	10am	Ladies Doubles	4pm	Ladies Doubles	8	6
Vet Ladies	12 noon			Mixed Doubles	8	6
				Gents U21	8	6
Entries to:				Ladies U21	8	6
Mr. Tommy Keenan				Vet Ladies	10
20 Oakwood Road, Finglas				Vet Gents	10
Dublin 11				Class II	8

 

Ballincollig Open 2005

The Ballincollig Open is taking place on Friday February 4th & Saturday 5th at Colaiste Choilm. This is Munster Senior and Junior ranking event.
The Senior events (Senior, Vets and U21's are being held on the Friday night and the Junior events are being held on the Saturday. Entries are now being taken at the club.

PLAYERS PLEASE NOTE.
As discussed at training on Thursday night, your name will not be put on the official entry form until you pay your entry fee (see below). The last day for receipt of entry through the club is Thursday 28th. Entry after that date must be directly through Geraldine Hegarty of the Ballincollig Club.

 

ENTRY FEES	1 Event	2 Events	3 events
SENIOR	€ 10	€15	..
JUNIOR	€ 8	€12	€ 15
Under 10's	€5	€12	.
Proposed Timetable	Day/Check in	.	.
Mens & Ladies Senior	Friday 19:00	.	.
U21's & Vets	Friday 20:00	.	.
Boys Under 14	Saturday 9:00	.	.
Girls Under 14	Saturday 9:30	.	.
Boys & Girls Under 10	Saturday 10:30	.	.
Boys Under 17	Saturday 12:30	.	.
Girls Under 17	Saturday 13:00	.	.
Boys Under 12	Saturday 13:30	.	.
Girls Under 12	Saturday 14:00	.	.
.	.	.	.

 

Munster Open 2005

 

Link to code of conduct

Accommodation:

Beech Hill recommends the Country Club Hotel in Montenotte. The hotel is providing a table tennis rate of €40 per person sharing. The hotel has lots of off-road parking, restaurant, bar and is located in a quiet part of the city, about 10-15 walk from the city centre. Tel. 021-4502320

Directions to Venue:

Address:
Knockfree Ave, Gurranabraher, Cork - phone 021 4301071
For people who know where Watercourse Rd, Neptune Stadium and North Mon are - coming from Watercourse Rd you pass Neptune Stadium on your left and North Mon on your right, go through next traffic lights (you are now on Sunvalley Drive ) and take a right at next roundabout , Parochial Hall is on left, Sam Allen Sports Complex is across road.

Coming from Dublin:
After you pass through Fermoy the next village is Rathcormac. After Rathcormac you will hit the motorway. This will take you all the way to Cork. The 1st roundabout (under a flyover) is at Dunkettle. The 1st exit on this roundabout is for Rosslare, the 2nd exit is for Jack Lynch Tunnel, take 3rd exit for City and Glanmire. This brings you to another roundabout where you take 1st exit for City. Continue on the dual carriageway and at the end of the dual carriageway take the exit ramp onto North Ring Rd before Moran Silversprings Hotel (follow N20 for about 3 miles) until you come to a sign for Limerick at Blackpool, at bottom of a hill (the other sign here is for City Centre)... after you take this right turn, for Limerick, turn left at next set of traffic lights just before Shell Petrol Station, go straight through next lights up the hill until you come to a T Junction at Farranree Church and take a left, go through next roundabout and Parochial Hall is 500 metres on your right

Coming from Limerick:
Pass Commons Inn Hotel on your left and turn right at traffic lights just after Shell Petrol Station (this petrol station will be on your right), go straight through next lights up the hill until you come to a T Junction at Farranree Church and take a left, go through next roundabout and Parochial Hall is 500 metres on your right

Coming from town: Jury's Inn is on Andersons Qy - drive along this Qy towards Merchants Qy and Opera Hse Qy,, turn right at Cork Opera Hse (at 4th traffic light from Jurys Inn),, you are now on Christ Ring Bridge,, turn left at light on other side of bridge, this is Popes Qy,, veer immediately to the right up the hill, keep left at next traffic light, go straight through next traffic light at North Cathedral Church, after about 500 metres take a right on to Wolfe Tone St and take a left at next light,, you are now on Sunvalley Drive and take a right at next roundabout , Parochial Hall is across road from the Sam Allen Sports Complex

Irish National Junior championships

ALSAA Table Tennis Club - Dublin
8th & 9th January 2005

Travel arrangements:
Friday 7th	17:45	Meet at Silversprings Hotel Car Park
		Travel by road to Dublin (Rory, Brian, Alice-Anne, Gus)
		Staying at the Clontarf Court Hotel
Saturday 8th	8:15	Depart for Venue (ALSAA table tennis club)
		After the tournament we plan on going to the Leisureplex in Coolock
		Return to the hotel for approx 7.30pm
Sunday 9th	8:15	Depart for Venue (ALSAA table tennis club)
		Return to Cork by road. Players will be dropped off at the side entrance to Merchants Quay at approx 21:30
Costs		Approx €100 per head
		Entry fees not included
		All players are entered in 2 events
PLAYERS PLEASE NOTE	1	We intent to leave on time each morning to travel to the venue in order to be there on time for warm-up. Any player who delays our departure time will not be considered for future trips.
	2	When lights our are called you are expected to adhere to it. It is important that the U17's appreciate that the U14's have a serious event on Sunday while the U17's enjoy themselves in the U19 mixed
	3	Beech Hill does not permit girls and boys to congregate in each other's rooms or the rooms of other clubs that may be in the hotel, unless the room door is left fully open. The club views breeches of this regulation seriously and will take the appropriate action to ensure that it does not occur again.
EVENT TIMETABLE		CHECK-IN TIMES
Please note that ITTF tournament rules apply. The code of conduct approved by the ITTA will be enforced.		SATURDAY B.17 -09.00 A.M. B.12 -09.00 A.M. G.17 -10.30 A.M G.12 -10.30 A.M	SUNDAY B.14 - 09.00 A.M. G.14 - 09.00 A.M. U.19 - 10.00 A.M.

Cork Close 2004
"Note Change of date"

"ALL BEECH HILL MEMBERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ENTER THIS EVENT".

One of the oldest, if not the oldest, tournament in the country will be held at Beech Hill on Saturday 4th December 2004. The event will be open to all players affiliated to the Cork Table Tennis Association. The event will feature U10, U12, U14, U17, Senior.

This is not a Munster ranking event. It will be run on round robin basis with the top 2 in each group into the semi finals.

Celtic Table Tennis will be attending the event. This is an ideal opportunity to for those players who need proper table tennis playing gear to purchase training shirts and shorts at a very reasonable price.

 

Proposed Timetable	Check in	Entry Fees
Girls & Boys Under 10	Saturday 9:30	U10	€5
Girls & Boys Under 12	Saturday 9:30	U12, U14, U17 (1 event only)	€6
Girls & Boys Under 17	Saturday 10:30	U14/U17 (2 events)	€8
Girls & Boys Under 14	Saturday 12.00	U17/Senior (2 events)	€8
Mens & Ladies Senior	Saturday 14:00	Senior (1 event only)	€8

STIGA Ulster Junior Open
Saturday 20th Nov
Belfast
The next Irish Junior Ranking will tale place in Belfast on Saturday 20th November.

Tournament Details to date

Travel Arrangements
Friday 19th	Meet at Kent station 1:30	* note - If you arrive after 1:30 you may have to purchase an individual ticket, at extra cost
.	Depart Kent station 2:25	Arrive Heuston Dublin 5:16
.	Depart Heuston for Connolly immediately upon disembarking	Arrive Connolly 6pm approx
.	Depart Connolly 7:00	Arrive Belfast Central 9:05
.	Transfer to Corrs Corner Hotel by private Bus	.
Saturday 20th	Bus to and from tournament	.
Sunday 21st	Depart Corrs Corner 9:15	.
.	Depart Belfast Central 10:00	Arrive Dublin Connolly 12:45
	Depart Heuston 13:20	Arrive Kent Station Cork16:16
	OR (Depending on how quickly we get from Connolly Station to Heuston Station
	Depart Heuston 15:15	Arrive Kent Station Cork 17:55
.	.	.
Tournament Details	Check in 9:30
Entry Fees	U12 €6, U14 €9, U17 €12 U12 & U14 €12, U14 & U17 €18	.
Timetable	9.30am U17 10:30am U12 1pm U14	.
.	.	.
.	.	.
.	.	.
..	.	.
.	.	.

 

HP CONNACHT OPEN
5th & 6th November 2004 in Commercial Boat Club, Woodquay, Galway

Timetable:

Friday: Doubles Events at 7.30 pm
Saturday: Men's Groups 9.30 am

Ladies Groups 12.30pm

Veteran Singles Groups 12 noon

 

Munster Junior Ranking
Thurles CBS
23rd and 24th October 2004

The 2nd Munster Junior Ranking of the season takes place in Thurles Table Tennis Club, which is located at Thurles CBS, on Saturday and Sunday 23rd and 24th October 2004. I understand that the timetable and costs are the same as the Beech Hill Open with the U10's, U12's and Under 14's on Saturday and the remainder of the events on Sunday. I will post times when I get them.

ENTRY:
Entries are being taken at the club and a €10 deposit will be required by Thursday 14th in order to accept you entry.

TRAVEL:
Given the week-end it 's most likely that we will us cars and volunteer are required. Please contact the club if you are prepared tp drive some players to this event

 

Stiga Irish Junior Ranking event taking place in the I.W.A. on
02/10/04 and 03/10/04.

The first Irish Junior ranking takes place at the IWA in Dublin on October 2nd and 3rd. Entry forms must be returned, with cash on or before Sept 16th 2004.

 

1/10/2004	2pm	Meet at Kent railway station
	2:50pm	Depart for Dublin
3/10/2004	5:30pm	Depart Dublin	8:15pm	Arrive Cork
Costs	€100	To cover travel, accommodation, breakfast.
Accommodation		Clontarf Court Hotel (01)8332680
Adults travelling		Jacqueline Mullane, Geraldine Hegarty (Ballincollig), Rory O'Connor and Brian Fitzgerald (travelling by road)

 

IRISH TABLE TENNIS ASSOCIATION LIMITED – MUNSTER BRANCH

CODE OF CONDUCT FOR Tournaments

OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the Code of Conduct are:

To uphold the good name of the Irish Table Tennis Association Limited - Munster Branch and of the Sport of Table Tennis;

To resolve any issue relating to the conduct of any of its members (and other persons under its jurisdiction) in their relations with each other, with officials and with the public.

CODE OF CONDUCT
The following activities/behaviour are expected of Players, Officials, or Parents whether in playing, advisory or supervisory roles

Must wear appropriate Table Tennis clothing (No attire, which could be conceived as provocative will be permitted e.g. Football, GAA or other Sport Shirts).

Must not verbally, visually or physically abuse his/her partner/opponent, the umpire, officials or spectators.

Must not use offensive language on court.

Must not physically abuse his/her racquet, the ball, the table, surrounds or any other equipment while on court.

5. Must fulfil his/her commitment having entered a tournament or accepted an invitation to play in a tournament or match.

6. Must not bring the good name of the Irish Table Tennis Association Limited into disrepute by any unreasonable behaviour.

7. Must at all times comply with the rules and the spirit of the game as applied by the Irish Table Tennis Association Limited and approved by the ITTF.

SCOPE

The Code of Conduct will apply in all events run under the auspices of the Irish Table Tennis Association Limited Munster Branch, and to its members and all persons under its jurisdiction taking part in events outside the country.

Procedures

· All offences against the Code of Conduct will be dealt with in accordance with Clause 3.5.2 of the ITTF Handbook.

· In addition any breaches brought to the Notice of the Tournament Referee must be included in the Tournament Referee’s Report to the Management Committee.

· Any offences so recorded may be subject to further disciplinary action.

CTTA A.G.M.

The AGM of Cork Table Tennis Association will take place on Tuesday May 17th at 8.15pm in The White Horse, Ballincollig (upstairs meeting room).

If there is anything that you wish to have on the Agenda could you please let me know before May 12th.

Please try to attend the meeting if at all possible. Could clubs put up a notice or give out a note to your members so that parents and senior players are aware that this meeting is taking place - the more people that show up the more ideas will be generated for the coming season.

Thanks and hope to see you there.

Alice-Anne
Secretary Cork Table Tennis

Munster AGM

All
Anthony Condron, Chairman of Munster Branch asked to circulate this information
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Annual General Meeting of the Munster Branch will take place at the Country Club Hotel, Middle Glanmire Road, Montenotte, Cork on Wednesday June 1st 2005 at 8pm sharp (meeting room upstairs).
Please ensure that all affiliated members in your area are notified that they are entitled to attend this meeting.

The agenda will be as follows:

1. Minutes of previous AGM
2. Secretary's report
3. Treasurer's report
4. Election of Officers

Chairman
Secretary
Treasurer
Marketing Officer
Coaching Officer
Participation Officer
Performance Officer
Childrens Officer
Disipline Officer
Delegates to ITTA
Delegate From Regions

5. Recommendations of the outgoing Officers
6. Matters submitted by County Associations
7. Any other business

Please attend so that Munster Branch can get everybody's views
Also on the Munster website www.ttmunster.com

Regards
Ml

ITTA AGM

ITTA Annual General Meeting and Open Forum - 25th June 2005.

The ITTA Agm will take place in the Holiday Inn Airport Hotel, Dublin on Sat 25th June.

The meeting will be preceeded by an Open Forum which will also be held at the Hotel.

Further information will be available in the next ITTA Newsletter

To subscribe to the Newsletter, please send a mail to mhealy@eircom.ie

From ITTA Marketing

 

New Club Tracksuits

The Grey/Black was the concensus of those who have to be obayed.
Check it here.......Tracksuit .................... Playing Shirt

The Club has arranged special pricing with Celtic Table Tennis on playing gear for next season. All Club members are being encouraged to take up this offer. In particular the Junior members are being requested to purchase the Shorts and Shirts and the purchase of the Track Suit would also be preferred. There are may benefits for both the player and the Club in doing this. Most other sports do so and most Table Tennis Clubs are now doing so. Time we did also !!!!!

From the Club's point of view, it is imperative that all its players are turned out at tournaments in table tennis attire, as opposed to attire associated with other sports. You don't see other sports using table tennis gear. It is important that the players look the part. It's good for the players, good for the Club and good for the sport.

From the players point of view, it is also important, especially at a tournament, that all Beech Hill players are visable to their coaches. It would be a lot easier for coaches to spot players during a matches if they are wearing club gear. It could be the difference between winning or loosing a match simply because they did not have the input from their coach during the match because the coach did not see them. Also players wearing non-tabletennis attire are handing a phycological advantage to the opponent.

The costs are as follows:

Track Suit €54 including Beech Hill Logo
Playing Shirts €23 including Beech Hill Logo
Playing Shorts €20 including Beech Hill Logo

There will be more details available at the Club shortly

 

WEST CORK OPEN - 2005

Beech Hill had a smaller than normal attendance at this years West Cork Open. However those who did attend performed well.

Under 10 girls: With Kate O'Brien withdrawing from the event, it was left to Aisling Healy to fly the flag and she did so with her usual consistency to take the event rounding off a good season.

Under 10 Boys: David Gillen was most unfortunate having taken ill at the event and was unable to participate.

Under 12 Boys: With Aiden Grabe missing, Scott Shellard would have expected an easy run to the final. Ian Brown had other ideas and almost caused a major upset taking Scott all the way to the 5th before loosing 14-12. Scott beat David O'Shea from Thurles to take the title.

Under 12 Girls: Cliodhna Kelly was unfortunate to come up against No. 1 seed, Sinead Hennessy in the 2nd round. This left Aisling Healy and Stephanie McKenna to fight out the quarters with victory to Stephanie and her first Semi Final. Unfortunately the competition was too strong for Stephanie who still finished with her best result of the season.

Under 14 Boys: Ian Shellard took 3rd place in the Under 14's after loosing out to Tony Leahy in the Semi's. While under 12 Noel Gillen took 2nd place in the Plate.

Under 14 Girls: Evelyn Mullane had an easy passage to the Final where she met with Sinead Hennessy yet again. As always these two put up a good show of hard hitting no-nonsense table tennis with Evelyn coming out on top.

Under 17 Boys: At the start of the season Ruairi Oliver and Ian Shellard would have been expected to be contesting this final however the Thurles boys have been putting in a massive effort in training this season and it is now beginning to show with their 1st and 2nd place. Ruairi and Ian did manage 3rd and 4th.

Under 17 Girls saw Emma-Jane Helen make her first appearance of the season at a Munster ranking. The first surprise result came in the groups stages with Evelyn Mullane defeating Andrea Shorten. Emily D'Arcy had a fine win over Rebecca McCarthy. The semi finals saw Emma-Jane pushed all the to 13-11 victory in the 5th against Clare O'Callaghan while Katie McSweeney beat Emily D'Arcy. In the final Emma-Jane was again pushed all the was by Katie McSweeney with victory eventually going to Emma-Jane Helen 11-9 in the 5th. Clare O'Callaghan to 3rd place from Emily D'Arcy who also had her best result of the season.

 

Tibor Bednar

24 Year old Tibor Bednar ranked 32 in Slovakia has recently joined Beech Hill. His presence at the club is great boost to both the coaches and the players and his arrival is the culmination of a lot of hard work and organisation by the club. The Chairman would like to pay particular tribute to Brian Fitzgerald and Milos Soukup for their help, both before and since Tibor's arrival.

Beech Hill has Brian, Tibor, Katie and Rebecca travelling to the Bangor Open. We wish them the best of luck.

National Championships 2005
Congrats Brian and well done

Sat March 5th: "Brian Fitzgerald wins his first ever National championships and did so coming from
4 - 8 down in the 5th in his quarter final against Jason Sugrue".

The National Table Tennis Championships which is the penultimate stage of the Irish ranking tournaments was held at IWA Sports Centre in Clontarf, Co. Dublin over the weekend.

Munster's superstar, Brian Fitzgerald who hails from Cork and plays for Fresnes club in France made a sensational comeback from the brink of defeat to capture the National Men's Singles title with a spectacular display of forehand topspin and great fighting spirit. The brilliant 27-year-old attacking player faced his toughest opposition from current Irish number one, Jason Sugrue of Ulster in a thrilling five games in the quarters. This is Fitzgerald's second meeting with Sugrue who is a player of top English club, London Progress. Victory went to Sugrue in their previous meeting.

Trailing 0-1 after the first game, Fitzgerald came back strongly to win the second and third games for a 2-1 lead. However, Sugrue clinched the fourth game to force the match into the decider fifth game. Sugrue raced to a 5-3 lead in the decider game and extended the lead to 8-4. At that stage, Fitzgerald won three successive points with his forehand topspin to reduce the deficit. With the score at 7-8 in Sugrue's favour, Sugrue called for 'Time-Out' in order to restructure his tactics. This does not help as Fitzgerald secured two precious points to lead 9-8 for the first time in this game. Fitzgerald allowed Sugrue to collect another point before claiming two points with his speciality forehand topspin execution to end the match and a place in the semi-final. During the match, Fitzgerald was able to block many of Sugrue's sure winning attacking shots. Eliminating Sugrue is especially great as Fitzgerald has never beaten him prior to this match and since Sugrue is a member of the Irish team to the European Championships to be held at the end of this month in Denmark.

In the semi-final, Fitzgerald encountered another Ulster player, Peter Graham and came off as victor on a score of three games to one. Fitzgerald had a slow start losing the first game. However, Fitzgerald prevailed in the next three games with his accurate shots which won him most of the points to set up a final match against Leinster's Damien Lynch.

The first two games were closely fought in the final match with Fitzgerald winning on an identical score of 11-7. In the third game, Fitzgerald met with little resistance and raced to a 6-0, 7-2, 10-3 lead and the final point was a dramatic forehand
counter-attack from Lynch's forehand topspin which caught Lynch by surprise. Fitzgerald created history by becoming the first player from Cork ever to win the National Championships title. This win is a morale-booster for Fitzgerald as he will lead the Munster Senior team to the Inter-Provincial Championships in two weeks' time. On paper, Munster looks good to give the other provinces tough opposition as besides Fitzgerald, Munster will have the services of two former internationals,
Pat Keane and Mark White.

Besides the singles event, Fitzgerald also participated in the Mixed Doubles and Men's Doubles events. Partnering Chloe Nealon of Connaught in the Mixed Doubles event, the pair reached the semi-final stage before losing to second-seeded combination of Teresa Devaney and Conor Nolan of Connaught/Leinster in straight games.
Fitzgerald and John Bowe of Leinster managed to qualify for a quarter-final place in the Men's Doubles event. Another Munster player, Jim Shanahan of Waterford was in top form to qualify for the semi-final of the Men's Veteran event before losing to top-seeded Kevin Mackey of Leinster on a score of 5-11, 8-11, 5-11.

Brian Fitzgerald road to Championships title
First round group
Beat David Nolan (Leinster) 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-5)
Beat Daniel Keenan (Leinster) 3-0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-3)

Last 16 round
Beat Kieran Burke (Connaught) 3-1 (11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6)

Quarter-final
Beat Jason Sugrue (Ulster) 3-2 (7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 6-11, 11-9)

Semi-final
Beat Peter Graham (Ulster) 3-1 (9-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-8)

Final
Beat Damien Lynch (Leinster) 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-3)

BALLINCOLLIG OPEN 2005

Ballincollig Table Tennis Club was the venue for 3rd Munster Ranking of the season. Here are some of the Beech Hill results.

Aisling Healy continued to dominate the Under 10 girls beating Becky Dineen in the final. Kate O'Brien won the plate competition.

Cliodhna Kelly made a welcome return to competition but was unfortunate to come up against No. 1 seed Sinead Hennessy in the quarters. Aisling Healy also ran into trouble in the quarters. However both recovered their composure to contest the 5th 6th place in the 5 to 8 play off's. With all other matches complete and the hall being taken down they settled into a five setter, oblivious of the fact that the rest of us had homes to go to, with Aisling eventually running out the winner much to the relief of the biggest audience of the day. Stephanie McKenna won the plate competition

Under 14 Girls was always looking likely to be between a Stiga sponsored Evelyn Mullane v Sinead Hennessey (Kinneigh) final and so an exciting one it was with Evelyn Mullane at one stage diving full length to successfully retrieve a wide forehand from Sinead that Shay Given would have been proud of. Unfortunately she was unable to recover to her feet in time for the return (I'm sure that there's a lesson there somewhere). However not deterred by this Evelyn went on to take the final and reverse the dissapointment when these last met. Stephanie McKenna did very well reaching the quarters defeating Maedhbh Kelly in the second round, only to then come up against Evelyn. Maedhbh Kelly finished =9 as did younger sister Cliodhna.

Junior Girls was always going to be interesting, with top Munster players Emma-Jane Helen and Katie McSweeney not attending this event. It became even more interesting with the very welcome return to Munster competition of Clare O'Callaghan and Andrea Shorten (Kinneigh). The Semi-finals paired Clare O'Callaghan against Evelyn Mullane and Sarah Dorney against Andrea Shorten. Clare O'Callaghan eventually overcame the strong challange from Evelyn Mullane after loosing a set along the way. In the other semi Andrea Shorten also dropped a set to Sarah Dorney. The final saw Andrea Shorten take the first and third sets with Clare O'Callaghan fighting back to level the match and into the fifth set which saw Clare O'Callaghan move into an 8 - 2 lead and and from there she went on to take her first Munster Junior win.Sarah Dorney took 3rd place from Evelyn Mullane

In Under 10 Boys David Gillen took 5th in an event which had a very heathy 21 entries.

Scott Shellard took the Under 12 Boys from Aiden Grabe with Noel Gillen =9th and Ruairi Doran =18.

Our Cadet Boys have traditionally failed to do well at the Colaiste Cholm venue and this year was no exception. It must have something to do with the fact that they go to school there. Again Ian Shellard struggled against James Herley in the semi-final and eventually finished 4th to in-form younger brother Scott.

Junior boys suffered the same fate as the Cadets when Ruairi Oliver was beaten by Ian Shellard who was trying to make up for the earlier dissapointment in the under 14's. Ruairi Oliver eventually finishing 4th behind Kieran McCarthy (Kinneigh). Both still under 14, Gary Houben (Thurles) took the U17 title from Ian Shellard.

Thanks to the Ballincollig Club for an excellent event and thanks to the Beech Hill parents who helped to bring the Beech Hill players to the event.

BEECH HILL RESULTS
U10 Girls	U10 Boys	U12 Girls	U12 Boys
1. Aisling Healy	5. David Gillen	5. Aisling Healy	1. Scott Shellard
5. Kate O'Brien	.	6. Chiodhna Kelly	=9. Noel Gillen
. .	.	=9 Laura O'Keeffe	=9. David Gillen
. .	.	=9 Kate O'Brien	=18. Ruairi Doran
.	.	13 Stephanie McKenna	.
.	.	=15 Sarah O'Mullane	.
.	.	=15 Cliona O'Shaughnessey	.
.	.	.	.
U14 Girls	U14 Boys	U17 Girls	U17 Boys
1. Evelyn Mullane	3. Scott Shellard	1. Clare O'Callaghan	2. Ian Shellard
8. Stephanie Mckenna	4. Ian Shellard	3. Sarah Dorney	4. Ruairi Oliver
=9. Maedhbh Kelly	.	4. Evelyn Mullane	.
=9. Cliodhna Kelly	.	5. Rebecca McCarthy	.
=15. Sinead Greene	.	6 Hazel Mullins	.
=15. Sinead O'Mahony	.	=7 Emily D'Arcy	.
.	.	.	.

 

MUNSTER OPEN 2005
by Kim Sin Yap PRO Cork Table Tennis Association

The Munster Open which is the sixth edition of the Irish ranking tournament was held at the Parochial Hall in Churchfield over three days from January 14 to 16. This
five-star tournament is classified as the largest in Ireland and attracted majority of the top players in the country.

After two days of intense battle for the Men's Singles title, the final which was played on Saturday produced one of the best finals of the Munster Open when top-seed Conor Nolan of Leinster emerged as the winner by ousting compatriot and
second seeded Damien Lynch in five thrilling games. Trailing at one game to two, Nolan had to put on his best to win the fourth and fifth games. The first two games were equally contested with the score at one-all and Lynch taking the third game after winning two vital points when it was tied at 12-12. Nolan's great attacking game proved to be decisive where he secured numerous important points to win the title. The fifth game was closely fought with both players engaging in rallies but Nolan had good finishing with his electrifying smash to Lynch's backhand side which the latter failed to retrieve thus giving Nolan the Championship title. This is also Lynch's second runner-up place as he had competed in the 2003 final.
Lynch had to work hard for his place in the final by ousting John Murphy of Leinster in the semi-final stage. The score stood at two games to two and Lynch was leading
5-3 into the fifth and decisive game and that went to 8-6 before Murphy won three straight points to lead 9-8. Murphy gave away two points by topspinning the ball out. Murphy made that up with two identical topspin placement to the same spot on Lynch's backhand side where he was unable to block. With 11-10 lead, Murphy made the same mistake as he did earlier and this gave Lynch opportunity to win the match which he did with a perfect push to Murphy's forehand.

It was a successful outing for Munster Men's team with four of their players occupying the top eight places. David Hayes came in fourth with Mark White and Lawrence Paloma taking fifth and sixth position respectively. Fourth position is Hayes' best finishing in a senior event. Pat Keane playing in only his second national level tournaments since representing Ireland as a junior player ten years ago achieved eighth place. Paloma participating for the first time in this tournament gave an inspirational performance before going down 1-3 to eventual winner Conor Nolan. The same goes to White who gave Lynch a tough time in the quarters. Lynch is a national player and has represented Ireland at last year's World Championships.

The Munster Open lost a high profile player in the form of Brian Fitzgerald of Munster who has been offered a professional career with Fresnes club in France. Fitzgerald had to pull out from the tournament on the eleventh hour. This will be Fitzgerald second stint in France as he had been successful playing there between 2000 and 2003 with Meaux.

The Women's Singles final also featured two Leinster players with the top seed
Tara Fusco upstaged Ros Carpenter three games to one. Fusco had a dream start by winning the first game comfortably but Carpenter came back strongly in the next game by conceding just one point. It was point for point until 8-8 in the third game with Fusco pulling ahead with excellent topspin strokes which Carpenter failed to return. It looked like an easy fourth game for Fusco when she led 9-5 but the determined Carpenter displayed good skills to secure four successsive points to level the game at 9-9. At this point, Fusco called for time-out where she made tactical change and this helped her to win the game and title.

Munster had two players in the top eight with Linda O'Sullivan and Katie McSweeney finishing in fifth and eighth position respectively. The unseeded McSweeney who is still a junior player caused a major upset of the tournament by eliminating Rhonda Fox who is Irish Senior No.8 and second seeded in the last 16 round to qualify for her first senior quarter-final. McSweeney had a good game in the quarters where she lost to the more experienced Carpenter, the eventual runner-up. Taking a game off Carpenter is already a great feat for this young Cork girl who is also a student of St.Angelas. As for O'Sullivan, finishing in fifth place is her best at national level tournament this season.

The Leinster combination of Damien Lynch and Marcus McDonnell won the
Men's Doubles title beating another Leinster's pair of Conor Nolan and John Murphy on a score of 3-1. Earlier in the semi-final, the winner were given a scare by
Mark White/Gary Noonan combination from Munster where they were stretched to five energy sapping games.

Linda O'Sullivan almost won her first doubles title this season when partnering
Fiona Dennett of England came just one point from winning the game and match. With the match at 2-2 and trailing 7-10, the Susan Nealon/Jenny O'Donnell pair from Connaught did not give up and secured three successive points to force the game to deuce at 10-10. O'Sullivan and Dennett could only win a point before the Connaught pair wrapped up the game with a score of 13-11 and took home the title. Earlier in the semi-final, Nealon/O'Donnell pair swept aside the top-seeded pair of Tara Fusco and Rhonda Fox of Leinster.

However, Fusco partnering Dave Butler bagged her second title by winning the
mixed doubles in an easy match on a score of three games to one over
Sabrina Conway/John Murphy pair of Leinster.

The legendary Tommy Caffrey of Leinster beat Dan Foley of Munster to lift the Men's Veteran title in four games. Meanwhile in the Women's Veteran, Ulster's Susan Keating ousted Phylis Kenny of Leinster on a score of 3-1.

The Men's U21 final was between Gary Noonan of Munster against Darroch Keegan of Connaught where the former who is a student of UCC lost in a closely fought
five games. In the counterpart Women's U21 final, Sabrina Conway of Leinster defeated Emma Jane-Helen of Munster on a 3-0 margin.

The Class 2 singles event which is for players with Irish ranking of No.21 and below was a contest between two Munster players, Mark White and Milos Soukup. These two players always produced exciting and close match whenever they meet and this match is no exception. This is a repeat of the 2003 final but this time White reversed that year's result by eliminating Soukup in four games.

David Hayes had a double celebration within a week by taking home the
Boys' U17 title in addition to the National Junior Championships title after brushing aside Ulster's Keith Knox in a three-nil margin. Hayes who hails from Cork explained that making the National Junior team to this year's European Youth Championships in Czech Republic is his target and he is determined to achieve that.
Sabina Kazimagomedova who is from Russia and representing Leinster bagged the Girls' U17 title by humiliating her teammate Amy Tobin 3-0.

The Boys' U14 title was won by Daniel Keenan of Leinster who beat compatriot
Mark O'Flynn in straight games. In the counterpart Girls' U14 event, Connaught's Susan Nealon who is still an under12 player disposed off Claire Nelson of Ulster.

Sam Hanley of Leinster walked away with the Boys' U12 title after overcoming his teammate Neil O'Flynn 3-2. Chloe Nealon was unable to play in the Girls' U12 final and had to concede the title to her sister Susan. Both the Nealons are from Connaught.

Earlier, there was an award presentation to Ireland's only gold medals winner in the World Veteran Championships which was held in Japan last year, Bertie Levinge from Kinsale. Levinge won two gold medals in the Over-80 singles and doubles. The award was presented by the deputy Lord Mayor, Councillor Tony Fitzgerald.

This year's Munster performances were better than last year especially in the men's and women's category.

Results: Munster Open 2005
(all finals)
Men's Singles:
Conor Nolan (Leinster) beat Damien Lynch (Leinster) 3-2
(11-8, 8-11, 12-14, 11-8, 11-8)

Women's Singles:
Tara Fusco (Leinster) beat Ros Carpenter (Leinster) 3-1
(11-6, 1-11, 11-8, 13-11)

Men's Doubles:
Damien Lynch/Marcus McDonnell (Leinster) beat Conor Nolan/John Murphy
(Leinster) 3-1
(11-9, 3-11, 11-4, 11-6)

Women's Doubles:
Susan Nealon/Jenny O'Donnell (Connaught) beat Linda O'Sullivan/Fiona Dennett
(Munster/England) 3-2
(5-11,8-11,11-4, 11-6, 13-11)

Mixed Doubles:
Tara Fusco/Dave Butler (Leinster) beat Sabrina Conway/John Murphy (Leinster) 3-1
(11-3, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6)

Men's Veteran:
Tommy Caffrey (Leinster) beat Dan Foley (Munster) 3-1 (11-6, 11-5, 4-11, 11-6)

Women's Veteran:
Susan Keating (Ulster) beat Phylis Kenny (Leinster) 3-1 (12-10, 8-11, 11-4, 11-7)

Men's U21:
Darroch Keegan (Connaught) beat Gary Noonan (Munster) 3-2
(13-11, 9-11, 5-11, 11-5, 11-9)

Women's U21:
Sabrina Conway (Leinster) beat Emma Jane-Helen (Munster) 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 14-12)

Class 2 - singles:
Mark White (Munster) beat Milos Soukup (Munster) 3-1 (11-9, 11-3, 7-11, 12-10)

Boys' U17:
David Hayes (Munster) beat Keith Knox (Ulster) 3-0 (13-11, 11-4, 11-7)

Girls' U17:
Sabina Kazimagomedova (Russia) beat Amy Tobin (Leinster) 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-7)

Boys' U14:
Daniel Keenan (Leinster) beat Mark O'Flynn (Leinster) 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-9)

Girls' U14:
Susan Nealon (Connaught) beat Claire Nelson (Ulster) 3-1 (8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7)

Boys' U12:
Sam Hanley (Leinster) beat Neil O'Flynn (Leinster) 3-2 (6-11, 11-8, 11-6, 4-11, 11-8)

Girls' U12:
Susan Nealon (Connaught) w/o Chloe Nealon (Connaught)

New Irish Table Tennis Web Site

I received the following email from Gilbert Graham.

"The new Table Tennis Ulster website is now on line at www.ttulster.co.uk

This will be a site positively promoting Table Tennis and will be followed by approved sites for ITTA, and each of the Connacht, Leinster and Munster Branches. Please note there is no other ITTA approved site.

Best wishes for a Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year

Gilbert"

Rory

Cork Close 2004

"Shellard does the business - twice"

Pride of place goes to Ian Shellard who came away from the Cork Close with two 1st place trophies, as he took the Boys Under 14 and Under 17 Cork Close titles.

There was a good turnout of Beech Hill players at the Cork Close which took place over the week-end. Aisling Healy got the club off to the best possible start with victory in Under 10's. In the Boys Under 10 David Gillen was beaten by Tadgh Williams of Skibbereen at the semi-final stage but managed to overcome the disappointment to take 3rd place. Scott Shellard maintained his good form in winning the Under 12 Boys. Stephanie McKenna reached her first final and put up a very creditable performance against Munster No.1 Sinead Hennessy to take 2nd place. Under 14 Boys and Under 17 Boys went to Ian Shellard. A 1-2-3 for Beech Hill in Junior Girls as Katie McSweeney took the title from Sarah Dorney and Rebecca McCarthy.

The Senior men was won by Brian Fitzgerald from Mark White and Larry Paloma.

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Thurles Open, October 23-24, 2004
by KIM SIN YAP

The Thurles Open tournament which is the second Munster Ranking tournament for the 2004/2005 season took place on October 23-24 at the Christian Brothers' School in Thurles. This two-day tournament attracted a total of 105 players from the whole of Munster Province.

After winning last month's Beech Hill Open title, Lawrence Paloma of Beech Hill Club won his second successive Men Senior title by defeating Pat Keane of Limerick three games to one. Paloma used his strong forehand topspin to gain most of the points. He won the first two games with identical score of 11-6 before Keane pulled one back by winning 11-6. Not letting opportunity to slip away, Paloma came back strongly in an energy sapping fourth game to win 11-8. Prior to this final match, Paloma has never dropped a game in all his matches. Keane is making his first appearance since representing Ireland as a junior player ten years ago.

The third place went to Philip Shaw of Beech Hill Club who is also Irish number 47 defeating Jim Shanahan of Waterford in straight games. This is an improvement from last month's tournament where Shaw could only reached the quarterfinal stage. Once again, Beech Hill girls dominated the Under-17 event with four of their girls occupying the top four positions. Katie McSweeney proved that her win at last month's Beech Hill Open was no fluke by defeating Sarah Dorney in a closely contested final winning with a score of 3-2. Dorney has given McSweeney a scare by leading 2-1 before McSweeney made some tactical change to upstage Dorney. The third place was won by Orla O'Reilly and Emily D'Arcy came in fourth.

The Boys' Under-17 final was between Denis Mullane of Thurles Club and
Kieran McCarthy of Kinneigh Club. Mullane who is Irish Junior number 13 has little difficulty to win the match in straight games. This is also Mullane's second successive title within a month.

The first day of the tournament saw a few surprises with James Herley of Ballincollig winning the Boys' Under-14 title defeating Gary Houben of Thurles. Last month's winner, Scott Shellard of Beech Hill Club could only managed to finish in third place.
The Girls' Under-14 final was an exciting match between Evelyn Mullane of
Beech Hill Club and Sinead Hennessy of Kinneigh Club. This is a repeat of last month's final where this time Hennessy managed to avenge the defeat by Mullane winning 3-1.

Scott Shellard of Beech Hill Club has the consolation of winning the Boys' Under-12 title by defeating Aidan Grabbe of Ballincollig. Sinead Hennessy of Kinneigh Club made it a double by winning the Girls' Under-12 title. She won all her matches which was played in a round-robin format.

The Boys' Under-10 event was won by David Gillen of Beech Hill Club which was also played in a round-robin format. He was unbeaten in all his six matches played and he was delighted with his first title since taking up the sport a year ago. With Aisling Healy of Ballincollig opted out of this tournament, Becky Dineen of Limerick has an easy passage to win the Girls' Under-10 title.

The Veteran event was won by Philip Shaw of Beech Hill Club only after a
count-back on games won pushing Jim Shanahan of Waterford and Dan Foley of Harlequins to second and third place respectively. Celtic Table Tennis from Dublin which supplies table tennis items was at this tournament to lend support.

Overall, Beech Hill Club won five titles out of ten contested. Kinneigh Club took home two titles and Limerick, Thurles and Ballincollig walked away with one title each. The tournament ended with prize giving ceremony conducted by
Anthony Condron who is also the organising Chairman. <<<back home>>>

Karlson & Slevin serve up a great evenings entertainment

by Kim Sin Yap

Peter Karlsson of Sweden overcame Colum Slevin of Ireland in an exciting exhibition match at Colaiste Choilm in Ballincollig on Monday night. The match which was played to a full capacity crowd of 200 spectators started with both players displaying attacking skills. After 40 minutes of gruelling match, Karlsson emerged winner with a score of 11-7, 6-11, 15-13, 9-11, 11-7. The third game is the closest with Slevin forcing the game to deuce at 10-10. Karlsson showed good play to win at 15-13. There were some long rallies which had the spectators on the edge of their seat.

Currently, Karlsson is ranked number 22 in the ITTF Pro Tour World Ranking and plays for Elan Nevers which is the top French club in the Super Division. Whereas, Slevin plays for SV Werder Bremen in the second division of the German Bundesliga. For the record, Karlsson has won three World Team medal in 1991, 1993 and 2000. He has also won the European Team medal and European singles title in 2000. In 1991, he won the World doubles title.

This match is sponsored by Stiga which supplies table tennis items such as tables, bats, rubbers, shoes and accessories. Stiga is also the sponsor for the Irish Table Tennis Team. <<<back home>>>

Munster Training Camp October 2004
by Kim Sin Yap

Munster Training Camp
The second Munster Training Camp for the 2004/2005 season was held on Saturday, October 16 at the Beech Hill Table Tennis Club in Montenotte. This training camp brings together young and talented players throughout Munster to train under
Head Coach, Brian Fitzgerald who was assisted by other coaches.

For the record, Brian Fitzgerald has represented Ireland in international tournaments such as the 2001 World Championships which was held in Japan and the European Team Championships Qualification last year. He has also played for a club in France for three consecutive seasons from 2000 to 2003.

A total of eight boys and six girls between the ages of 12 and 17 attended the training. Among the players in the training camp who have represented Munster are
Emma Jane Helen of Kinneigh Club, Katie McSweeney and Evelyn Mullane of
Beech Hill Club.

Brian Fitzgerald explained that the training is geared towards improving the Munster performance in general and improving the players technique and skills in particular. All the players went through two hours of intensive training in the morning and another two hours in the afternoon. It was a successful training camp as all the players showed positive attitude and dedications in their training and the hard work put in by both the coaches. This training camp will be held on a monthly basis until March next year.
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Beech Hill Open 2004

by KIM SIN YAP
The Beech Hill Open table tennis tournament which is the first Munster Ranking tournament for the 2004/2005 season took place on Saturday, 25 September and Sunday, 26 September at the Beech Hill Table Tennis Club in Montenotte. This
two-day tournament have attracted a total of 150 players from Limerick, Killarney, Thurles, Waterford, West Cork, Cobh, Ballincollig and Cork City.

The Men Senior event was won by Lawrence Paloma from the Philippines who represented Beech Hill Club. An unknown before the start of the tournament, he defeated second seeded Mike Spitere from Ballincollig who is also Irish Junior no.12.
Enroute to the final, Lawrence Paloma caused a major upset of the tournament by defeating Killian Healy of Ballincollig who is the top seed and current Irish Senior no.49 in straight games, 3-0. Lawrence Paloma a left-hander has been playing table tennis in the United States before coming to Ireland.

The Women Senior event was played in a round robin format with Louise Long who is a Garda trainee based in Templemore emerged winner by defeating all her opponents. She is currently Irish Senior no.12. In a crucial match, she defeated
Linda O'Sullivan of University College Cork, 3-0. Linda O'Sullivan who is Irish Senior no.16 has represented Ireland in the European Youth Championships which was held in Moscow, Russia in 2002.

The Under-17 Boys final was between Denis Mullane of Thurles and Ruairi Oliver of Beech Hill Club. Denis Mullane won the title in straight games, 3-0. He faced strong opposition in the third set which went to deuce at 10-10. With good forehand play, he eventually won the game at 13-11.

With Claire O'Callaghan of Beech Hill Club and Emma Jane Helen of Kinneigh Club pulling out of the tournament, Katie McSweeney of Beech Hill Club has an easy passage to win the Under-17 Girls title. Fresh from her participation earlier this month in Dublin at the Irish Senior Classification tournament, the vastly improved
Katie McSweeney has little problem defeating her opponents. She had an easy final match against Sarah Dorney of Beech Hill Club winning 3-0. Earlier in the semifinal, Katie McSweeney has defeated Rebecca McCarthy also of Beech Hill Club, 3-0.

The Under-14 Boys final was a family affair with the Shellard brothers playing each other. Scott, the younger of the Shellard defeated the more experienced Ian in a tough match winning 3-2. This is the first time that Scott has defeated Ian in a tournament.
Both are from Beech Hill Club.

The Under-14 Girls event was won by Evelyn Mullane of Beech Hill Club who defeated Sinead Hennessy from West Cork representing Kinneigh Club in a closely contested final. Earlier in round two, Evelyn Mullane has lost to Sinead Hennessy 2-3.
Evelyn Mullane is the Irish Cadet no.23. After receiving advice from her coach,
she played with more confidence and used her forehand topspin with much effect.

Scott Shellard almost made it a double but he lost to Aidan Grabe from Ballincollig in the Under-12 Boys final. Sinead Hennessy of Kinneigh Club has the consolation by winning the Under-12 Girls title.

The Under-10 Boys event was played in a round robin format with Dylan Casey of Ballincollig emerged winner. Conor Blunt who is from the United States and representing Glenbeigh in Kerry finished in fifth place. This is the first time that he is playing in a tournament in Ireland and he is coached by his father, Roger Blunt.

The Under-10 Girls event was won by Aisling Healy of Beech Hill Club. She defeated Amy Buttimer of Kinneigh Club.

The experienced and much travelled Dan Foley took home the Veteran title. He has represented Ireland in the Six-Nations Veteran Championships which was held in England two weeks ago. Jim Shanahan of Waterford came in second and Philip Shaw of Beech Hill Club finished in third place.

Overall, Beech Hill Club won six titles out of twelve titles contested. Ballincollig took home three titles and Thurles, Kinneigh, Harlequins walked away with one title each.
The second Munster Ranking tournament will be held on the weekend of
October 23-24 in Thurles. The Thurles Table Tennis Club will host this tournament.

Beech Hill Open results:
Men Senior: Final
Lawrence Paloma (Beech Hill) bt. Mike Spitere (Ballincollig) 11-5, 11-4, 11-6
3rd/4th. Placing
Jim Shanahan (Waterford) bt. Killian Healy (Ballincollig) 11-4, 11-7, 13-11

Women Senior: Round robin
Winner: Louise Long (Beech Hill)
Runners-up: Linda O'Sullivan (University College Cork)
Third: Katie McSweeney (Beech Hill)
Fourth: Evelyn Mullane (Beech Hill)

Under-21 Men:
Winner: Mike Spitere (Ballincollig)
Runners-up: Killian Healy (Ballincollig)
Third: Denis Mullane (Thurles)

Under-17 Boys: Final
Denis Mullane (Thurles) bt. Ruairi Oliver (Beech Hill) 11-5, 11-6, 13-11
3rd/4th. Placing
Ian Shellard (Beech Hill) bt. Kieran McCarthy (Kinneigh) 11-6, 11-4, 12-10

Under-17 Girls: Final
Katie McSweeney (Beech Hill) bt. Sarah Dorney (Beech Hill) 11-6, 11-5, 11-5
3rd/4th. Placing
Evelyn Mullane (Beech Hill) bt. Rebecca McCarthy (Beech Hill)
3-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7

Under-14 Boys: Final
Scott Shellard (Beech Hill) bt. Ian Shellard (Beech Hill) 12-10, 11-5, 8-11, 9-11, 11-5
3rd/4th. Placing
Gary Houben (Thurles) bt. Justin Polly (Ballincollig) 11-8, 11-9, 11-7

Under-14 Girls: Final
Evelyn Mullane (Beech Hill) bt. Sinead Hennessy (Kinneigh) 11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9

Under-12 Boys: Final
Aidan Grabe (Ballincollig) bt. Scott Shellard (Beech Hill) 11-6, 11-8, 11-8

Under-12 Girls: Final
Sinead Hennessy (Kinneigh) bt. Naomi McCarthy (Abbeyfeale) 11-2, 14-12, 11-7
3rd/4th. Placing
Cliodhna Kelly (Beech Hill) bt. Kimberly O'Brien (Abbeyfeale) 11-7, 11-8, 11-6

Under-10 Boys: Round robin
Winner: Dylan Casey (Ballincollig)
Runners-up: Colin McCarthy (Ballincollig)
Third: Sean Hennessy (Kinneigh)
Fourth: David Gillen (Beech Hill)
Fifth: Conor Blunt (Glenbeigh, Kerry)
Sixth: Cian Thornbill (Cobh)

Under-10 Girls: Final
Aisling Healy (Beech Hill) bt. Amy Buttimer (Kinneigh) 11-7, 11-9
3rd/4th. Placing
Niamh Buttimer (Kinneigh) bt. Niam