Susannah Hughes Jordan won her fourth U18 Girls title in Portadown at the Co Armagh Championship last week. The Enniskillen junior was seeded number one and entered the rated draw at the semi final stage where she met Zoe Dickson from the ATT club in Ballymena. Susannah advanced to the final with a flawless performance winning by a score of 6 -1 6-2.
Her opponent in the final was hometown favourite, Sophie Murray the number two seed, fresh from winning the Sligo, Galway and Meath titles. A girl at the top of her game and hence presenting a considerable challenge.
The first set was an engrossing mix of power serving, big hitting and subtle drop shots as each girl probed for an early advantage. Susannah managed to break first and surged to a 5- 3 lead. Sophie stormed back hitting ferocious ground strokes particularly off her backhand to take the next game leaving Susannah to serve for the set. The ensuing game was a classic with the Fermanagh player edging out a multi deuce alternating break and set points.
With the first set under her belt Susannah then took a two game lead before Sophie struck back to level at two each. Susannah held serve and then broke to lead 4-2 and although Sophie won the next game to make it 4-3, the number one seed closed the match out 6-4 6-3. This victory means Susannah maintains her number one Ulster status in the under 18 category as the season nears its closing stage.
The presentation was made by Lyn Jamison and George Lucas, the president of Ulster Branch Tennis. Also in attendance was the match referee George Stevenson and Rosamund Thompson junior convenor, Ulster Branch.
Other Fermanagh juniors were involved in the championships notably Jared Monaghan and Connor Donaldson who reached the semi finals stages before exiting.
Kyran Maguire and Conal Whiteley proudly represented the Irvinestown club in a very competitive u12 boys singles and gained much experience for future tournaments.
