This weekend history was made! It was the final weekend of the Spring Ulster Junior Match-plays. Enniskillen tennis club had a massive 11 juniors qualify for the provincials. Qualifiers for the match-plays have competed locally among members from Irvinestown, Omagh and Donegal. For the first time ever the under 14 match-plays were hosted in Irvinestown and Enniskillen.
Sarah Cousins is the current Ulster number 1 and was out to defend that ranking. Weather conditions were difficult at times but this did not prevent Sarah from playing her trademark hard-hitting game. Her first match on Saturday was against Parveen Hariri from Windsor Tennis club. Despite some fine tennis from Parveen, Sarah’s power game was impossible for Parveen to defend against and Sarah won the match with the loss of just one game.
Sundays first match was a semi final against the Ulster number 4, Belfast’s Jessica Leeman. Sarah played almost flawless tennis with only a handful of mistakes and too many winners to count resulting in another win for Sarah with the loss of just one game. The final was against the Ulster number 2, Emma Coalter from Lurgan. This match saw Sarah at her very best. Her shots were far too powerful for Emma to deal with, Sarah hit some forehands at speeds that made the spectators gasp! This match was won without losing a single game. Sarah confirmed in a very definitive manner that she is Ulsters number 1 under 14 girl.
The under 16 boys match-plays were held at the Belfast Boat Club. Jared Monaghan is in his first year of this age group and finished Ulster number five in the winter match-plays, so this time he was hoping to finish in the top 4. Jared won his first two rounds comfortably so this set up a semi final against the number 1 seed Chris Cree from Bangor. The match turned out to be a very closely fought encounter. At one set each it went to a champions tiebreak, Jared took control and won it 10/5. Elated at this victory Jared was unstoppable in the final and won the match against Matthew O’Boyle 6/4 6/3. To take the Ulster number one spot in his first year is a huge and well deserved achievement.
It is the first time that two players from the west, in fact, from the same club have achieved Ulster number one status at the same time! This is a truly remarkable achievement for local tennis players to take a leading role in Ulster tennis. The Club is very proud to have new standards being set by their juniors playing at this level. Their delighted coach Matthew McGann stated that “performing at this level takes a great deal of commitment and hard work. Sarah and Jared have put in that time and effort and will surely inspire their club-mates to follow in their footsteps.”
Other notable performances from among the twelve matchplay qualifiers from Enniskillen were Daire Dillon, finishing Ulster number 4 in the under 18’s. It’s his first year in this highly competitive age group so it is a fantastic result for him. Laura Griffin finished number 5 in the under 16’s. Her racquet speed is incredible and as this is also her first year in this age group the future looks bright for her.
It is also noteworthy that so many junior tennis players from Enniskillen are regularly qualifying for the match-plays. The club is very proud of the hard work and great sportsmanship displayed by all of our competitors!
The club wishes Sarah and Jared the best of luck as they compete in the National Matchplays next month.
