The Ballyearl Open took place in the Ballyearl Leisure Centre, Newtownabbey on Friday 19th April and Saturday 20th April.

Accomadation

The Knockagh Lodge, 236 Upper Rd, Greenisland BT38 8RP -Tel:- 02890 861444

 Twin room £50 – Quote:- Ballyearl Open

Tournament days

Friday, April 19, 2013 to Saturday, April 20, 2013

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

[nggallery id=20]

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

The Irish Open Over 35s & Over 40s was held w/e 22^nd/23^rd March commencing on the Friday evening at 5.30p.m.  There was a bit of a delay with the opening matches.  The weather was particularly bad this week but in spite of torrential rain/flooding and even snow in Belfast all participants turned up and play commenced.  There was an eight man draw in each event and apart from David Cassidy (035) withdrawing injured all matches were completed.

Keith Moran (Connacht) competed in this event for the first time and finished a very creditable third in the Men’s 035 event, beating Alan Megaw  (Ulster) 3/1 in the play off for 3^rd/4^th.

The Men’s 035 final was a very hard fought encounter between the defending champion Neil Murphy (Leinster) who was actually seeded at No. 2 and Dara O’Flynn, also from Leinster who was seeded at No. 1.  Neil after a match which lasted just under 70 minutes, finally overcame Dara in the 5^th game 9/4.

In the Over 40s event, David Ayerst (Ulster) lived up to his No. 1 seeding position and defeated Ciaran McCoy (Leinster) in an excellent game 3/1.

Play proceeded smoothly over the two days and Irish Squash would like to thank Mount Pleasant for the use of their excellent facilities and hospitality.  Credit is also due to the players who travelled in appalling weather conditions.  Commitment to squash is very much alive and well and all matches were played in a good and sporting spirit.

Tournament Director

John O’Connor (assisted by Maria Blair)

FULL RESULTS

The Irish Open Over 35s & Over 40s was held w/e 22^nd/23^rd March commencing on the Friday evening at 5.30p.m.  There was a bit of a delay with the opening matches.  The weather was particularly bad this week but in spite of torrential rain/flooding and even snow in Belfast all participants turned up and play commenced.  There was an eight man draw in each event and apart from David Cassidy (035) withdrawing injured all matches were completed.

Keith Moran (Connacht) competed in this event for the first time and finished a very creditable third in the Men’s 035 event, beating Alan Megaw  (Ulster) 3/1 in the play off for 3^rd/4^th.

The Men’s 035 final was a very hard fought encounter between the defending champion Neil Murphy (Leinster) who was actually seeded at No. 2 and Dara O’Flynn, also from Leinster who was seeded at No. 1.  Neil after a match which lasted just under 70 minutes, finally overcame Dara in the 5^th game 9/4.

In the Over 40s event, David Ayerst (Ulster) lived up to his No. 1 seeding position and defeated Ciaran McCoy (Leinster) in an excellent game 3/1.

Play proceeded smoothly over the two days and Irish Squash would like to thank Mount Pleasant for the use of their excellent facilities and hospitality.  Credit is also due to the players who travelled in appalling weather conditions.  Commitment to squash is very much alive and well and all matches were played in a good and sporting spirit.

Tournament Director

John O’Connor (assisted by Maria Blair)

FULL RESULTS

The Carlow Junior Open took place from March 15th to 17th. There were 8 events from under 11s, 13s, 15s, 17s foe boys and girls and a Under 30s event.

For a full list of all matches and results see here

The Legendary Squash player Jahangir Khan backed the 2020 bid for Squash to enter the Olympics. Jahangir has been elected to the Pakistani Olympic committee and hopes to further Squash’s goal of becoming and Olympic sport.

Congratulations to David Ryan who added to his growing list of open titles by winning today the 2013 German Open Super Series – a fantastic result again and a well deserved victory.

Ireland is participating in the 5 Nations tournament in Le Mans this weekend. The event involves girls and boys in the under 13 and under 15 age groups from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England and France.

The Irish team are pictured here at Dublin Airport before their departure. The teams are outlined below.

We wish them every success in their venture and look forward to some fantastic squash.

Results are published online here

[nggallery id=18]

Sutton recently beat Fitzwilliam to take the ladies All Ireland Squash Club Championships title for 2013.

Rosie Barry beat Aoileann Ní Chomhraí to put Fitz 1/0 up, while Breanne Flynn beat Griffin Gillanders to level the match. Stephanie Ryan then played Vicky Menzies/Bennet in the decider and won 3/1 giving her team the title.

Sutton now qualify to take part in the European Squash Club Championships in Italy in September.