The Kerry Badminton Doubles County Championships, sponsored by CPC.IE, continued at the Killarney Sports Centre on Friday night last with the Ladies and Men’s Doubles Championships; and it proved to be another action packed night of high quality Badminton.
Both the ladies and mens entries for division 2 could be termed as slightly disappointing but with 16 pairs in the mens division 4.event and 14 pairs in the division 4 ladies it certainly proved to be a night of high octane. Overall it proved to be a night of Moyvane domination as the North Kerry club had representives’ and winners in all four finals, indeed, in both the 2 and 4 deciders 3 out of the 4 contestants in each were from the Moyvane club.
The division 2 ladies final saw the defending champions Maeve Twomey (Killarney) and Elaine Hudson (Moyvane) take on the Killarney Club pairing of Sinead Galvin and Sam Hayes. The champions won the first set in fine style by 21-10 but the Killarney pairing made a brave battle in set number 2.
The Division 2 Doubles title was won by, L/R Elaine Hudson(Moyvane) & Maeve Twomey(Killarney) along with Runners Up Sam Hayes & Sinead Galvin(Killarney).
It was a close hard fought encounter which saw the sides again level at 18 points each but it was the champions that weathered the storm and they claimed their title once again winning by 21-19. Miss Twomey has now claimed another adult County title every season since since she won her first at division 5 in 2011 and for Miss Hudson this was her fourth division 2 doubles title in a row.
The mens division 2 decider saw the recent division 2 singles winner Moyvane’s, James Flaherty team up Castleisland’s Jonathan Keane and these talented teenagers have blossomed into a formidable partnership over the years at juvenile level.
In the other corner were the Moyvane pairing of Timmy Duggan and Donie Enright.It was the teenagers that set the pace from the outset and despite the best efforts of the Moyvane pairing it was Flaherty/Keane that triumphed in 2 sets by 21-13; 21-15;
The mens division 4 final was the other decider which saw 3 Moyvane members on court. The Moyvane pairing were Timmy Flaherty and Padraig Kearney and their opponents were Jebin John of the Tralee County Club and Moyvane’s Jamie Elliott.
It was John/Elliott that settled down faster in the opening set which they won by 21-15. The second set proved to be a really game exciting battle with the sides level at 17 all,18 all and 19 all but it was the top seeds of Elliott/John that claimed the glory and won the set and title by 21-19.
The recent division 4 ladies singles final saw Dingle’s Rachel O’Connor and Listowel’s Aoife Moloney in opposition but on Friday last they teamed up as the top seeds to battle for the ladies doubles title and they forged ahead to the final where they lined out against Moyvane’s Louise Behan and Listowel’s Bernie Rowe who were rated as the second seeds.
The Division 4 Kerry Doubles title was won by L/R Louise Behan (Moyvane) & Bernie Rowe (Listowel) .
The opening set saw the sides level 12 all, 14 all and 18 all but it was the Moyvane /Listowel pairing that got those 2 important points to win the set by 21-19. Now brimming with confidence Behan/Rowe set a steady pace in set number 2 and despite the best efforts of O’Connor/Moloney the set and title was won by Behan/Rowe in that second set by 21-16.
It was a moment to savour for Moyvane’s Behan as she had been on the losing end in this final for the last two years but third time lucky proved to be very true for her and her elation on the night knew no bounds.
Munster Brewster Cup.
The prestigious Munster Brewster Cup competition was held in Bishopstown County Cork on Sunday last and this new look Kerry team had high hopes of going the full way this year as they were pipped by just one point by Cork last year but on the day fate was not kind to Kerry in two different ways.
All Kerry Badminton teams leaving the County generally comprise of 5 ladies and 5 men but a last minute withdrawal of one of the men certainly dented the Kerry chances severely as it left manager Billy Lacey no room for manoeuvre within his squad and more especially in the mixed doubles ties.
On arrival in Cork it was announced that Tipperary had withdrawn which left Counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Waterford which meant that the schedule would be changed to the round robin system and not knock out which would have occurred if the 5 Counties competed and the latter would have suited Kerry so well.
However, the Kingdom did have a good start playing against Limerick. Kerry went into a 4-1 lead but a brave Limerick fight back levelled the tie at 4 games each but Kerry’s second mixed pairing of Miriam Rohan and James Flaherty clinched a 5-4 win for Kerry. Kerry’s next encounter was against Waterford who had earlier lost 9-0 to Cork but Kerry did beat the Decies by 8-1.
So, like last year the crunch game was against Cork but Kerry knew that nothing but a 6-3 victory would guarantee success.
Kerry did have a bright start but the sides were level at 2 games each. A brave Kerry side kept fighting and they went into a 4-3 lead with 2 mixed doubles ties left on court. Kerry needed to capture both for victory but in an absorbing 2nd mixed doubles tie it was Cork who took the laurels in a thrilling 3 set encounter as the Rebels had now reached the magical 4 games won and they retained the Brewster Cup once again at Kerry’s expense.
As the result of the third mixed tie did not now matter it was called off with the Kerry pair leading and it was declared a 4 all draw With 2 players at 17 years of age on the team it was a creditable performance by Kerry and hopefully that augurs well for the future.
The Kerry team as follows:
Edel Broderick, Miriam Rohan,Sinead Galvin, Maeve Twomey, Catherine Murphy,Michael Crossan, Fergal Hannon, Jonathan Keane, James Flaherty. Manager; Billy Lacey.
Munster Juvenile Championships
What a wonderful success story it proved to be for one Kerry youth at the Munster under 13 Badminton Championships in Limerick over the weekend.
The youth in question is Christopher O’Donoghue of the Moyvane Club who won the treble of Munster titles, singles, boys doubles and mixed doubles at Limerick. Christopher teamed up with Peter Burke of Castleisland to win the boys doubles and with Lucy Fox of Waterford to annex the mixed doubles title.
Indeed, the same Peter Burke was Christopher’s opponent in that mixed final and he in turn was partnered by Jean Daly of Tipperary. Another notable performance was delivered by Castleisland’s Seamus Bradley who played well to contest all three semi-finals.
Hopefully the future is bright for Kerry Badminton with so much talent at that level. The coming weekend is a quiet on on the local Badminton front as competitions such as the Intervarsities and the All England Championships dominate the Badminton scene.
