Racketlon is finally back in Ireland, with a great day of entertaining matches.
The tournament attracted entries from all over Ireland and the UK (including some players originally from
Slovakia and Romania), with a wide range of skills across the 4 sports, making for some very interesting
matchups.
One of the first matches in the Mens A quarter final proved to be the closest match of the day and really
emphasised the Racketlon saying that “every point counts”. Gervis Knox, a table tennis coach at Ormeau TT Club in Belfast and member of David Lloyd Tennis Club, took on Paul Tierney from Newtownabbey, a member of Cavehill Tennis Club. Gervis won the table tennis very comfortably 21-2, but Paul proved to be a more rounded Racketlon player with solid Badminton and squash skills from his university days and turned the match around to lead by 10 points (44-34) going into the tennis. While Gervis was the better tennis player and won 21-12, it was not quite enough and Paul won the match by 1 point 56-55.
The ladies A featured two local players, Emily White, a member of Banbridge Leisure Centre and strong table tennis and tennis player, and Emily Flynn from South Lakes Leisure centre, a very strong table tennis player. While they both beat eventual champion Christine Duncan in Table Tennis, Christine proved too strong in the other disciplines, with Emily White finishing runner-up and Emily Flynn finishing in 4 th place.
The Mens A final was a high quality affair between Matt Davidson (UK number 3) and Keith Lesser (UK over 40 champion). Keith won his favourite Table Tennis discipline, but Matt’s youth and all-round excellence proved too strong and he prevailed to win the Mens Elite category.
The Mens B and C categories were very popular and provided a great opportunity for all levels to participate. It was impossible to predict the outcome of the matches due to the wide range of skills across the 4 sports. Fermanagh man David Hutchinson won the Mens B with local Lurgan man David McClimonds prevailing in the Mens C.
The Mens Over 55 featured tournament organisers Gary O’Hara from Craigavon and Mervyn Kelly. Gary won a closely fought semifinal against Steve O’Kelly from Bray in County Wicklow, before taking on Mervyn in the final. Table Tennis and Badminton were closely fought affairs with Gary taking a 1 point lead into squash. Gary’s stronger squash skills proved decisive and he went on to win.
Ruth Greenlees from Cavehill Tennis Club in Belfast had a busy day, finishing 3 rd in the Ladies A and proving too strong for Aoifin Shorten from Sligo to win the Ladies Over 55.
The junior U18 final was a closely fought affair between Daniel McFaul and Rafferty McKeag. Daniel won the Table Tennis and Badminton before Rafferty fought back by comfortably winning the squash. However Daniel was able to build on his 14 point lead going into the tennis to close out the win.
The prizes were kindly presented by Councillor Peter Haire, Vice Chair of Leisure Services at Armagh City,
Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council and a big supporter of sporting events in the area.
The tournament finished with a meal at local pub/restaurant Harry’s Bar & Kitchen where the players and
organisers could relax after a hard day’s play.
While the competition was great, the camaraderie was even better. A one hour match between 2 people across 4 sports builds new friendships, and every player really enjoying the experience and will now be part of the extended Racketlon evangelising team in Ireland!
Source: Racketlon Ireland
Racketlon Ireland organisers Gary O’Hara and Mervyn Kelly.
