Tenniskillen.com

Juniors shine brightly at Enniskillen Tennis Tournament

The results,scores and winners are available online.

The Junior Closed sponsored by John Quinn & Co took place at Enniskillen Tennis Club last weekend amidst some frost and heavy rain. However, except for two matches, all were completed on time and some splendid play was on view for the large crowd who ventured up to watch the competition.

The U18 Senior Singles was a compelling event with several of the competitors rightly feeling they had a chance of sharing the spoils. Finn Corrigan who has recaptured his enthusiasm for the game continues to play like a player who never been away. He defeated Josh Hanna in a very close first set and went on to take the second in decisive fashion. This earned Finn the chance to take on the No1 seed Connor Donaldson and although at times a real upset seemed possible, Connor dug deep and his experience pulled him through a tight match. In the other half of the draw, Suzannah Hughes Jordan got the better of Scott Gilbride and then succeeded in repelling the challenge of Steven Miller 6/4 7/5 to earn a place in the final against Connor - now scheduled for Tuesday night. And what a contest that should prove to be!

Finn Corrigan was well compensated when taking the doubles completion with Conor Donaldson with Joshua Hannah and Steven Miller filling the runners up spot. The decisive match in the U16 Mixed Doubles was the narrow victory of Jared Monaghan and Alison Glass over Joshua Hanna and Emily Donaldson in a close three setter. This was a good win for Jared and Alison who continue to show great appetite for the game and are being duly rewarded for their hard work throughout the year.

The U16 Girls Singles saw Sarah Cousins defeating the No1 seed Emily Donaldson 6/3 7/6 in a tight semi-final scrap with both girls showing great baseline skills. However, this time it was the younger girl, Sarah who came through and although she was beaten by her sister Hannah in a closely contested final, Sarah will still take many positives from this particular competition. Another highly promising junior, Claire Reihill took the consolation event with a good win over Orla McConville.

A semi-final clash of the U16 Boys Singles saw one of the finest matches of the tournament. The consistent and never say die attitude of Conor McShea would have been sufficient to overcome almost all opposition. However, in this instance the opposition was Matthew Duffy and shots were being traded relentlessly from every part of the court. In the end, the steely determination and the barrage of hard hitting forehands from Matthew Duffy proved just enough to clinch a tense final set tie-breaker. Headon Hughes Jordan deservedly took the final against Matthew 6/3 6/3 and justified his number one seeding. The consolation event saw Conor McShea gaining compensation when he overcame Daire Dillon in the final.

The U14 Girls Doubles saw Hannah Cousins and Claire Reihill win each of their round robin matches. Their match against Alison Glass and Laura Griffin was the ultimate roller coaster, with Alison and Laura threatening to upset the apple cart with a match point in their favour. To their eternal credit, Hannah and Claire responded to the challenge and proceeded to take the marathon final set championship tie-breaker 15-13.

The U14 Boys Singles saw Sean Dillon just edging out the luckless Simon Barton in a tremendous tussle for a place in the semi-finals. However, it was Jared Monaghan who took the title in decisive fashion over Headon Hughes Jordan. The consolation final was a close encounter between David Casey and Daire Dillon with David clinching the match 9-6. The final of the U13 Mixed Doubles proved to be an outstanding match with Ronan McKeever and Sarah Cousins just outpointing David Casey and Hannah Cousins in a titanic struggle taking the third set championship tie-break 10-6.

The U12 Boys Doubles was a round robin event. It proved so tight that the first and second placings could only be separated by game difference. Although Tom Hughes Jordan and Carl Sangwine did just enough to win the trophy, it was the runners-up Oliver Guette and Oisin Mackin who caught the eye with an inspiring win in an earlier match over the top pair taking the third set 10-8. However Oliver and Oisin were themselves outdone in an equally compelling match when they were just outpointed 12-10 in the final set by Dylan Funston and Euan Gebler.

In the U12 Boys Singles, Kyle Hobson got the better of Dylan Funston in a very competitive match taking the third set champion set tie-breaker 11/9. Both boys emerged with enormous credit and reflect the abundance of talent on offer at the club at U12 level.

The Novice Girls Doubles saw Aoibheann Cox and Hannah Sharkey taking the spoils from Dearbhla Dillon and Danielle McKinney. This was a very competitive but highly enjoyable round-robin and Sasha Funston, Caoimhne McCaffrey, Sarah Russell and Lara Todd all played their part in making this a memorable event. Hannah Sharkey also took the consolation novice girls singles defeating Caoimhe McCaffrey 7/3 in the final. The U12 girls singles was won by the talented Eimear Smyth who overcame the rapidly improving Dearbhla Dillon who is another player for the notebook.

The Novice Boys Singles was deservedly won by Dylan Funston after all his sustained efforts throughout the weekend. He overcame Robert Weir in the final of this event. The consolation event was won by Euan Gebler who fended off Ruairi Kelly 9/5.

The winners were presented with trophies by the sponsor, John Quinn. Tributes were paid to the outstanding achievements of club coaches Matthew and Louise McGann, who have built up a solid junior base at the club in recent years and this was reflected in both the number of entries and the standard of play witnessed throughout the weekend. The U18 Singles final between Connor Donaldson and Suzannah Hughes Jordan and the U14 Boys Doubles between Sean Dillon / Jared Monaghan and Headon Hughes Jordan / Conor McShea will take place on Tuesday evening.