We have now reached the half way stage of the junior Round Robin which started at the beginning of March with 32 juniors taking part. This event has been generously sponsored by Devenish Practice and provides our juniors with much needed match practice in singles competition. It also provides many of our younger juniors with their first taste of competition and the most important aspect of course is that they enjoy the experience.
Groups 1& 2 consist of juniors who have built up a wealth of matchplay experience over the past 5 years. Jared Monaghan enjoyed a good win over Sarah Cousins which was only decided in the championship tiebreak after Sarah took the second set to level the match. Jared got off to a flyer in the tiebreak and maintained the lead to the end taking the tiebreak 10-4. Ronan McKeever showed why he is becoming one of the most feared competitors at present, with some classy displays which included two excellent performances against Sarah and Jared. His unbeaten run at the half-way stage puts him in pole position for top boy. Kyran Maguire and Laura Griffin also had a tight match in this group with Laura narrowly prevailing 7-6 7-5.
Group 2 saw a three way tie with Oliver Guette just beating Eimear Smyth in a third set championship tiebreak 10-8. However, Eimear got some consolation when she got the better of Hannah Cousins 6-3 7-5. To confuse matters further Hannah beat Oliver by the same margin 6-3 7-5 playing some very solid groundstokes in the process.
Group 3 saw Aran Dillon achieve four wins on the bounce although Dearbhla Dillon provided some stern opposition. Amy Griffin just got the better of the determined Jenson Hanna 9-7 to take third spot in the group.
Philip Coffey was the star in Group 4 winning all his matches. However, Michael O’Hare proved a tough nut to crack but Philip eventually took the match 9-7. Michael narrowly overcame Jamie Coffey 9-8 and Matthew McManus to clinch second spot.
Luke Dillon winner of this competition in 2012, won all four of his matches in Group 5. The ever improving Jack Balfour took second place narrowly beating Hannah Davis and Anna Guette. Ciara Griffin won two of her four matches against Anna and Hannah to clinch third place.
Group 6 saw Declan McBride complete a grand sweep, having his closest match against Marcus Davis who continues to make progress. Tom Kettyles won three of his four matches to clinch second place, having close matches against Fabio Ledwith and Patrick Martin.
Group 7 was the closest group of all with Emmet McGuinness winning three of his four matches but still managing to retain top spot in the Group. Rory Smyth beat Emmet 9-8 but lost against sister Brona 9-7. This resulted in both Brona and Rory tying for second place finishing one point behind Emmet . Eve Callaghan and Sophie Meeke also caught the eye with some lengthy rallies and no doubt will benefit from the experience.
The final round of matches is now underway and will be completed by the Sunday 11th May. All juniors should ensure that they play as many matches as possible during holiday periods and weekends.
