Susannah wins North Leinster U18 Girls Title -22/06/2008

Susannah wins North Leinster

Susannah Hughes Jordan travelled to Mullingar to compete in North Leinster U18 girls singles last weekend. The competition was intense with established Irish ranked players Aoibheann Tully and home girl Emma O’Rouke seeded ahead of the ELTC junior in the draw. Susannah had lost earlier this year to both girls in the national match plays held at Sutton Lawn Tennis Club and was fully cognisant of the challenge that lay ahead.

Susannah’s first opponent was Elaine Houlihan who proved to be a dangerous floater in the draw and who raced away to a 4/2 lead in the first set before the Ennikillen junior found form to reel off seven games in a row. Ship steadied, Susannah completed the match 6/4 6/3 and earned a place in the semi final.

There she encountered Aoibheann Tully the number two seed and outplayed this difficult opponent 6/3 6/3 to set up a place in the final against the number one seed and hometown favourite Emma O’Rouke.

Susannah was in top form taking the first set 6/2 and quickly established a 3/1 lead in the second set. Emma, true to her ranking fought back to go 4/3 and so the match took on a gladiatorial aspect as both girls vied for the ultimate prize. Susannah managed to hold serve at 5/5 thus forcing Emma to serve to stay in the match. Locked at deuce many times in this the deciding game, Susannah completed her victory with a flashing forehand pass as her rival tried to attack the net.

At the presentation the President of the club, Andrew O’Rourke thanked all the participants for braving the inclement conditions and making the tournament a resounding success. The newly elected President of Leinster Tennis, Patricia Sheridan was in attendance and assisted in the presentation of the prizes and expressed her admiration of all the contestants. So ended a memorable day and Susannah travelled back to Enniskillen with perhaps her most prestigious title yet.