This weekend saw the Irish Masters Open 2013 take place in Fitzwilliam LTC. There were 8 events taking place – Mens O45/50/55/65/70 and Womens O 45/50/55.
We had 59 entries in the Tournament and all sections were keenly contested. Our eldest contestant was Hazel Marsh – now well into her eighties and we set a record of having the oldest couple competing with John Mc Bride in the Men’s Over 65 section and his wife Hilda in the Ladies Over 55 Section (she won’t say how much ‘Over’)
There was an excellent Final of the Premium Mens Over 45 section with Michael Cowhie beating Dave Flynn 3 nil. There were some incredible rallies and the score of 7, 6, and 7 did not reflect the closeness of the games.
At the other end of the spectrum there were some great battles fought in the Men’s Over 70 section with Myron Evans beating fellow Northern Ireland competitor Alex Richardson in a game that lasted almost 60 minutes.
Seamus Daly had some great matches in the Men’s Over 65 section. A really tough semi final against Tom Cantwell saw him come back from 7/4 down in the 5th set to win and then despite enjoying himself to the full on Sat night, he still had enough left in the tank to beat Arthur Adair in the Final.
There were three Ladies Sections and the closest fought was the Ladies Over 55 where 5 ladies played each other in a Round Robin. Each match consisted of two games and the results were based on the accumulated points scored in the 8 games played. Evelyn Hanrahan from ALSAA won the section with Barbara Sanderson beating Maeve Spotswood into 2nd place by one single point.
In the Ladies Over 50 section Anne Costello won her first tournament at Masters level. She won all her matches – two of them being 5 setters and the final match was won 10/9 in the 5th set!
Finally it was a pleasure to host Kate Collins and her husband Maurice at the dinner on Sat night. Kate is the widow of Liam Collins whom a lot of you will remember from the Bankers Squash Club and later of Fitzwilliam where he was Hon Secretary for many years. From the start, Liam was involved in running the ‘Grobond’ Veterans tournament which eventually turned into the current Irish Masters Tournament. The ‘Liam Collins Perpetual Trophy’, donated by Fitzwilliam LTC, is presented each year to the winner of the Men’s Over 45 section.
Brian McNally
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Please see the winners here.
Winner Finalist
Ladies O/45 Rosie Barry Clare Jones
Ladies O/50 Anne Costello Dympna Reardon
Ladies O/55+ Evelyn Hanrahan Barbara Sanderson
Mens O/45 Michael Cowhie Dave Flynn
Mens O/50 George Hewitt Karam Singh
Mens O/60 John Kielty Martin Maher
Mens O/65 Seamus Daly Arthur Adair
Mens O/70 Myron Evens Alex Richardson
For the full draw and results see here
