In the ladies tour event – Breanne Flynn beat Griffin Gillanders in a close 3-1 match which showed great skill and improvement by both players. The future of Irish ladies squash looks to be in good hands. Congratulations to both players who played a great battle.
In the mens A event and competing for the Irish National title – in a thrilling battle in Fitzwilliam LTC Derek Ryan and Arthur Gaskin battled for the 2012 Irish National title. In a marathon 1 hour 43 mins the pair played a tough five set thriller that had the crowd on the edge of their seats. Gaskin played a hard hitting game wearing down Ryan. Ryan however stuck to his plan and played a steady and accurate game. In what was one of the most exciting finals in recent years and an exhibition of some really fantastic squash from both players – the momentum switched between the two players as Derek and Arthur played the game we all love pushing themselves to the very limit.
Ultimately Ryan prevailed – and went to win his 9th Irish National title – his most recent 8 years ago.. making history and a great start for what is sure to be a very exciting year ahead. Final scoreboard : 11/3; 4/11; 11/8; 8/11; 11/9.
Brian Byrne finished in third spot with a 11/7; 11/5; 12/10 win over Niall Rooney.
Interestingly and promisingly for the future there were three juniors in the top 12 this year, Michael Craig (6th), David Ryan (11th) and Sean Conroy (12th). You can find the full results here.
