Connaught Junior Closed B Championship

They came from far (Newport, Oranmore, Galway, Newtowngore, Claregalway), and near (Sligo, Ballaghadereen, Strokestown and Boyle) to compete in the Connaught Junior Closed B Championship in Boyle on Saturday 16th January. Overall there were just over 50 players taking part so it was destined to be a great day of competitive Connaught badminton.

Each competitor received a "welcome pack" on registration which included some fruit and a t-shirt, thank you to Sean and Derek for their sponsorship of the t-shirts. We also had medical assistance on standby all day which Derek had organised and which we are very grateful for.

The play started in the morning at 10am with both Mens and Ladies Singles. With a greater entry in the Mens competition it was played as a Round Robin whereas the smaller Ladies competition was played as a straight through knock-out. The turnaround on the courts was very efficient and swift which meant the Doubles competition could proceed ahead of the scheduled 1pm start. Both the Mens and Ladies Doubles were played as Round Robin, there were four groups in the Mens competition due to the large entry and two groups in the Ladies competition.

Again, thanks to the careful management of the committee and particularly Mandy and Padraic, the court turnaround was handled speedily & efficiently and the games were played through on schedule. The Mixed Doubles then started a little ahead of schedule at about 3.30pm however as there was such a huge entry in Mixed it wasn't at the Semi-Final stage until 7.30pm.

The Finals of each competition were played at 9pm, in Mens Singles Boyle's own Sean Carroll had a very tight match against Brian Caliendo of Sligo and after three exciting sets Brian emerged the winner. Jana Seredyczoya of Claregalway and Aine Lenehan of Newport played another very close and exciting Ladies Singles Final in three sets and here Aine took the plaudits.

The Mens Doubles Final was between Brian Caliendo and Paul Dolan of Sligo Tennis Club and Gearoid & Fergal Hughes of Newport, and proved to be another closely fought encounter through three tight sets with the Sligo duo eventual winners.

The Ladies Doubles Final was played between Jana Seredyczoya and Aine Lenehan (who had joined up in Doubles for the day!) and Marie McTiernan and Francie Mahon from Sligo, Jana & Aine made a formidable pairing and played a great game against the Sligo ladies to emerge victorious after three very close sets.

The Mixed Doubles Final featured Boyle duo Mandy Toolan and Sean Carroll who came up against John Dolan and Francie Mahon of Sligo. Sean and Mandy who had played terrific badminton all day never let it get away from them and won the match in two sets.

A huge thank you must go to all of our members who came in to help out yesterday, Saturday and on Friday night, Ruth, Aisling, Louise, Emily, Joanne, Catriona, Elaine, Sean Diffley, Trevor and Cormac, if I've left anyone out I apologise but without your help the day couldn't have gone as smoothly as it did. A huge thank you to Carmel Carroll who provided us with the wonderful homemade soup and sandwiches which were greatly appreciated by all. To be honest, there were more players raving about the soup than the badminton! Kennedy's Londis also sponsored some of the food yesterday so thank you very much to them.

I think everyone will agree that the Complex was looking at its very best yesterday and this was due to the huge effort put in by our Committee members, Anthony, Derek, Padraic, Elaine, Sean, Mandy & Ruth, ably assisted by Cormac and Trevor, who were there very late on Friday night/Saturday morning looking after all of the preparations.

Several competitors yesterday commented on the smooth running of the competition and the efficiency with which it was managed and this must be credited to two people in particular, Mandy Toolan who kept a tight rein on the draw, the schedule and the scoring and to Padraic O Dowd who stayed on the floor all day and kept the courts moving.

All in all I think Boyle Badminton Club rose to the challenge of hosting this major provincial competition and with such positive feedback received from players who travelled to Boyle from all over Connaught we hope we will now be considered as a venue on equal footing to Galway and Sligo for such events in the future.

Well Done Everyone!



Thank you to Sean O Dowd of Realboyle.com for coming up to see us on Saturday and allowing us use of the photographs he took.