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

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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.

Entries are now closed for the West of Ireland Open. The draw will be put up on this site before the event.

Tournament days

Friday, March 29, 2013 to Sunday, March 31, 2013

In a turnaround of fortunes and after many previous encounters – Aisling Blake became Irish National champion for first time yesterday after beating the long time champion Madeline Perry in Fitzwilliam LTC – Madeline having won on 14 previous occasions!

For the whole match Aisling moved very well and attacked well taking advantage where Madeline was out of position. Madeline for her part played well and took balls early and picked up a lot of shots during the match – but unfortunately for Madeline this wasn’t enough to overcome Aishling’s onslaught and hunger for the title.

The final scoreline read 3-1 to Aisling (11-8, 5-11, 11-6, 11-2) . Madeline was gracious in defeat and promises to return to regain her title.

In the playoff for 3-4 places Laura Mylott beat Ciara Maloney  3-0

Full tournament results can be viewed here

Best of luck the the Irish Junior teams which are now selected for the Le Mans and Zurich upcoming events.

Teams are as follows:

5 Nations  15^th-17^th March (Le Mans)

U13 – Girls

Ellie McVeigh (U)

Emma McGugan (U)

Rachel Quigley (C)

U13 – Boys

Conor Moran (L)

Scott Gillanders (L)

Sam Buckley (L)

Donal O’Shea (C)

U15 Girls

Stephanie Ryan (L)

Hannah Craig (U)

Sinead Walsh (M)

U15 Boys

Oisin Dunne (L)

Luke Logan (L)

Morgan Kelly (L)

Sean Dineen (L)

U19 European Championships  23^rd-1^st April ( Zurich)

Girls

Breanne Flynn (L)

Griffin Gillanders (L)

Boys

Michael Craig (U)

Sean Conroy (L)

Oisin Logan (L)