By Junior Griffin

THE second phase of the County Kerry Badminton  singles County  Championships programme , again sponsored by CPC.IE, Ltd,  took place at the Killarney Sports Centre on Friday night last and which catered for divisions 2 &4 in both ladies and mens singles.

The entries received in both ladies events as well as the mens div. 2 championships were somewhat disappointing  but the mens division 4 c/ships did have a good entry.

In the ladies div 2’s only 5 entries were received, but strange to relate, the fare provided by these 5 ladies was of the highest quality.

Take the case of Moyvane’s Amanda Carmody, the recent division 3 singles winner which was 33 years after her first ever County title. On Friday last Ms Carmody was drawn against Killarneys Samira Hayes and won in 2 sets and in the semi-final she met up with her club colleague and top seed, Saorcha Fitzgerald.

In modern badminton a game is for 21 aces and the winner must win by 2 clear points but the game must conclude at 30 points.

The two Moyvane ladies served up an absolute  spectacle with Ms Carmody winning  in 2 sets by 27-25;30-28. What a cracker it was.

The second semi-final saw Killarneys Niamh Hickey take on Castleislands Ruth Concannon. Strangely enough these 2 players would too  have  a common link.

Last season saw Miss Concannon capture 2 Munster graduate titles and only Sunday week last Miss Hickey achieved the same distinction. On Friday night last it was the in-form Hickey  who battled her way to the final after 3 hard fought sets in the decider the sides were level at both 6 all and 10 all  but it was the Killarney girl who took set number 1 by 21-17.

The second set saw Ms Hickey having the dream start and for most of the set she was Lord of all she surveyed as she took a 19-6 lead. It looked all over but never write off that Moyvane fighting spirit.

Ms Carmody broke serve and suddenly she began to score ace after ace and now she was within 4 points of Ms Carmody, 19-15, but that is where the fairy-tale ended. A break of serve by the Killarney girl saw her regain her composure and the County title was hers by 21-15.

What a week it has been for the Miss Hickey,. Two Munster titles and a Kerry County title, not a bad seven days at all.

The mens division 2 decider proved to be an all Moyvane confrontation  between Donie Enright and Donnacha Moloney. Enright, the defeated Munster graduates singles finalist the previous Sunday set a hot first set pace which he captured by 21-16.

It was a fighting Moloney in the second set in which he came to set point at 20-18 and looked like tying the encounter but the brave Enright fought back to level at 20 each.

The sides were again level at 23 points but the pendulum swung the way of Enright as he captured those 2 vital scores to garnish a 25 -23 win and it was indeed some consolation for the previous Sundays loss.

The mens division 4 contest was the competition of the night with many engrossing encounters but the last two standing were the experienced Timmy Flaherty of Moyvane and the Killarney 17 year old teenager Niall O’Brien, who is only in his second year of adult competition.

Despite the gallant effort of Flaherty,  youth had its triumph as young O’Brien captured  his first adult title in two sets by 21-19;21-11

The ladies division 4 final was the only 3 set final of the night which saw Moyvanes Bridget McCarthy taking on Christine Quirke of the Iveragh club.

It was the South Kerry’s girl second year in a row to contest this decider as last year she fell to another Moyvane girl, Denise Collins, and unfortunately for her, history was about to repeat itself.

The Moyvane girl captured a thrilling first set by 21- 19 but the South Kerry girl came good in the second by 21-10 but it was Miss McCarthy’s name that was to appear on the Cup as she won another tight set by 21-17.

Miss McCarthy’s delight was exuberating, as this Killeedy, Co. Limerick based school teacher has been playing badminton since she was a juvenile and this was her first ever County success at any level.

Inter Counties

The Munster Badminton Association hosted the Inter Counties series for Grades B/D/F/G  in the Limerick UL Arena on Sunday last and Kerry had teams involved  in the latter 3 grades.

In Grade D, which in Kerry would  include both division 1&2 players Kerry took on Tipperary in round 1. The Kingdom had their chancers but it was the Premier County that forged a narrow 5-4 victory. Cork had defeated Waterford in round 1 so it was the Rebels up next for Kerry.

One of the highlights in this match was the victory by  the Kerry mixed doubles pairing of Maeve Twomey and Jonathan Keane who were led in the third set by their Cork  opponents 17-6,but staging a fighting  comeback the youthful Kerry pairing showed wonderful  badminton maturity  beyond their years to forge a classic 21-19 victory that in no small way helped their team to a 5-4 win over the Cork side.

In round 3 it was Kerry v Waterford and buoyed by their Cork win it was Kerry all the way with a 6-3 win. However the final table saw Cork with 17 p0ints; Kerry 15 points; Waterford 12 points and Tipperary  on 10 points.

So now it will be Cork that will go forward to represent Munster in the  All Ireland series proper and yet the Kingdom had inflicted defeat  upon them. Such is the great uncertainty of sport.

In Grade G with all 6 Counties competing the series was divided in two pools of 3 Counties each, with Kerry facing both  Cork and Limerick.

Showing that their hard training over recent weeks had paid off  this Kerry side showed great mettle to defeat Cork by 5-4 and Limerick by 6-3.

It was Tipperary that came good in the second pool and, unfortunately, the honours went to the Premier County but in the 3 games that Tipperary won, Kerry lost out in each, in very close 3 set encounters

Once the draw for the Grade F competition was made Kerry mentors knew it would be a tough battle as the Kingdom were to face  up to Counties Cork, Limerick and Tipperary competition .

From the results in  recent individual and the Munster Graduate competitions both Cork and Limerick players were very much to the fore for ultimate honours and that’s the way it turned out on Sunday last with Cork edging out Limerick for Munster glory  but the Kingdom players did give their all.

For all 3 teams on duty on Sunday last there is no doubt that the extra training put in by their managers and selectors in recent weeks has increased the enthusiasm and commitment amongst all the squads  and that in time should reap  rich dividends.

Next on the badminton championship scene will be the commencement of the doubles campaign in Killarney on Sunday next where the divisions 1,3 and 5 ladies and mens doubles will take place, commencement time at 1 pm. As this is a long programme all players and court helpers are requested to attend on time.

This coming Friday night the Kerry Badminton Association will hold their annual table quiz. Patrons are requested to note that the venue has been changed to the Meadowlands Hotel, Tralee with the start time of 8 pm. Kerry Badminton President, Mr Johnny Brosnan wishes to advise all members that the County annual raffle will take place on the coming Sunday in Killarney so all cards to be returned to him in good time.

Juvenile results.

The juvenile singles badminton County Championships were held in the Killarney Sports arena on Saturday last for both boys and girls for the 4 relevant age groups. Up to 150 players competed and no doubt the future looks bright for Kerry Badminton.

Great credit is due to the main organisers, Mrs Carmel Hudson and Mr Billy Lacey for the time and effort they give to the promotion to the sport of badminton within the confines of Kerry. Last Saturdays programme alone took over 6 hours to complete.

Overall results as follows

U11 Girls Stephanie Reid Annascaul defeated Kate Nolan Listowel 15/2, 15/9

U13 Girls Ava MacKay Listowel defeated Jessica O’Loughlin Castleisland 21/11, 17/21, 21/13

U15 Girls Deina Vesko Listowel defeated Ciara Knightly Annascaul 21/10, 21/12

U17 Girls Ciara Hudson Moyvane defeated Valerie Guiney Listowel 21/11, 2nd set walk over Valerie pulled out down 18/10 at the time with wrist injury.

U11 Boys Ruadhan Donovan Annascaul defeated Ben McElligott Listowel 15/5, 15/11

U13 Boys Eddie Healy Listowel defeated Evan McCarthy Annascaul 21/13, 21/8

U15 Boys Christopher O’Donoghue Moyvane defeated Seamus Bradley Castleisland 21/11, 21/4

U17 Boys Niall O Brien Killarney got a walk over from Dara Lawlor Killarney who pulled out injured with ankle, down 10/4 in 1st set