By Colm Griffin
Munster Inter County Juvenile Championships
Pride of place this week goes to the Kerry Juvenile teams who travelled to the University of Limerick last Sunday (Jan 27th) to take part in the Munster Championships and performed with great distinction.
The Kerry Un 13 Team were Runners Up on the day and came home with Silver medals.
The team is as follows…..
L/R, Jack Lyne, Kate Nolan. Gearoid O’Sullivan, Chloe McHugh, Evan Lemass, Grace McGovern, Ruadhan Donovan,Maria Tritschler, Keegan Moloney, Maggie Hickey.
Back Row, L/R,… Tom McElligott Manager, Jill Redmond, Coach. Photo: Tom Bradley
Each event was played out on a round robin basis and first up U-11 team managed on the day by Donnacha Moloney (Moyvane) and Rory Tuite (Listowel) came face to face with a strong Waterford side. After a tough encounter Kerry prevailed 6-4 win. They then faced Tipperary who had won their first game against Clare 9-1. The Kerry youngsters however proved too strong winning impressively 8-2 before completing their programme of matches with a resounding 10-0 defeat of Clare to clinch the Munster title.
The U-13 team managed on the day by Jill Redmond (Listowel) also got off to a great start beating Clare 6-4. Unfortunately, they then came up against a very strong Waterford team would eventually go on to win the title and lost 8-2. The Kerry players however showed great spirit and rallied in final game beating Tipperary 7-3 and finishing runners-up.
Michael Donovan of Annascaul took the reins of the U-15 team on the day and they got of to a good start finishing 5-5 against Tipperary but were 12 aces ahead on countback. Unfortunately, both Clare and Waterford had extremely strong teams at this age group this year and Kerry went down to Clare 9-1 and Waterford 8-2 in their final game.
The Kerry U-17 team were managed by Paddy Redmond (Listowel) and Tony O Donoghue (Moyvane) and also got off to a great start beating Waterford 6-4. When they beat Tipperary 8-2 in the second game they knew they had a great chance of winning the Munster title. Not only did they manage to do it they did so in spectacular fashion with a emphatic 9-1 victory over Clare.
The Kerry Un 17 Team were winners on the day and came home with Gold medals and will represent Munster in the All-Ireland later in the year.
The Team is as follows,…
L/R, Front Row,… Oisin Moloney, Grace Guiney, Ella Galvin, Deina Vesko, Madison Carter, Adele O’Brien, Jack McElligott.
L/R, Back Row… Paddy Redmond, Coach, Cathal Donovan, Michael McGrath, Munster Badminton President, Seamus Bradley, Christopher O’Donoghue, Tom McElligott, Manager. Photo by Tom Bradley
According to Tom McElligott Coaching Secretary of the Kerry Badminton Association “the players in all age groups deserve great credit for the commitment they have shown in training, but the success would not have been possible without the support of the managers, the parents and clubs around the county.”
Both the Kerry U-11 and the U-17 teams will now go on to represent the county and the province at the All Ireland Inter County Championships on April 28th.
Kerry Singles County Championships
Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre played host to another great night of badminton as 6 titles were decided at the Cpc.ie sponsored Division 1, 3 and 5 singles championship last Friday night (Jan 24th).
The first title of the evening went to the local club in Killarney with Sonia Smith defeating Eva Browne of Moyvane in a seesaw three set battle 21-18, 8-21, 21-11.
The biggest field of the night was the division 5 section for Men. The final two on the night were Paraic Murray of Causeway and Oisin Moloney of Listowel. To get to the final Murray had to emerge from two gruelling three set matches with fellow club man Joe Carroll in the quarter final (he won third set 28-26) and then Mike Donovan of Annascaul in the semi-final. Moloney meanwhile was coming through the other side of the draw in a more straightforward fashion. It was clear that Moloney was the much fresher man in the final winning 21-8, 21-7.
The Ladies Division 3 final was an all Killarney contest between Sam Hayes and Jeab Workman. Hayes easily won the first set 21-12 but Workman showed great spirit to come back and take the second set 21-16. The third set was a fight to the end but Hayes eventually came out on top 21-17.
The Men’s Division 3 final also proved to be a tight affair in what was to be an all schoolboy affair. Cathal Donovan of Annascaul came up against Division 4 player Jack McElligott of Listowel who took some big scalps on this way to the final. When McElligott powered his way to first set success 21-10 in the final it looked like a shock could be on the cards but Donovan kept his composure admirably taking the second set 21-14 before going on to win the title with a 21-10 win in the final set.
The Ladies Division One final was an eagerly awaited contest between defending champion Edel Kenny of Kingdom – Castleisland and the 2017 Champion Niamh O Flaherty of Moyvane. O’Flaherty came through a tough semi-final battle with Sinead Galvin of Killarney in three sets but could not match Kenny in the final going down 21/13, 21/9. This was Division one singles title number 7 for Kenny.
The Men’s Division One title was also to go to the Kingdom – Castleisland club. Tom Bourke seeking his 11th singles title the first of which he won back in 2006 came up against Fergal Hannon of Listowel who was playing his first Division 1 final. Whilst Hannon put up a good battle the result was never really in doubt as the more experienced Bourke eventually won his first singles title since 2016 21-17, 21-16.
This photograph shows, Tom Burke on his way to winning the Division 1 Singles title. Photo: Tom Bradley
Munster Schools Championships
Six Kerry schools teams from Listowel, Killarney and Milltown travelled to University of Limerick on Thursday Jan 24th to represent the county. Competing in Division 2 it proved to be a great day for the Listowel schools in particular. Both the St Michael’s College boys U-14 and U-16 teams finished runners-up but the U-16 girls from the Presentation School in the town went one better by winning the title and will now go on to represent Munster at the All-Ireland Schools Final on March 20th. Congratulations also to the Presentation Listowel U-19 girls team who also finished runners-up in their division.
Kerry Badminton Association Annual Table Quiz
O’Donnells Bar Tralee is the venue for the Kerry Badminton Table Quiz on Friday night (February 1st) at 8pm. Event will have teams of 4 people on the night and the cost of entry is 40 euro per team.
Upcoming Events
Friday Feb 1st Kerry Badminton Association Annual Table Quiz – O’Donnells Bar, Tralee
Saturday Feb 2nd Kerry Juveniles Girls Singles Championships – Killarney
Sunday Feb 3rd Munster Senior 2 / Graduate Championships – Waterford
Friday Feb 8th Kerry Singles Championships – Killarney
Saturday Feb 9th Kerry Juveniles Boys Singles Championships – Killarney
Sunday Feb 10th Inter County Grades C/E/G Championships – University of Limerick