TABLE TENNIS: Ryan Jenkins and Charlotte Carey made it a Welsh double when they won the men’s and women’s singles at the Stiga Munster Table Tennis Open in Killarney.
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| Peter Graham |
Former pro Jenkins beat Scottish No 1 Gavin Rumgay 3/1 in the men’s singles after eliminating Gavin Maguire in the semi-finals. In the quarter-finals, Maguire had beaten Irish No 1 John Murphy, while Peter Graham put out Paul McCreery and Rumgay beat Sam Logue. Rumgay then beat Peter Graham in the semi-final.
In a closely fought women’s decider Carey, the top seed, beat English No 4 Karina LeFevre 3/2 after eliminating Sabina Devereux in the semi-finals. Carey also won the mixed doubles partnered by Maguire, who was having a good weekend in the doubles – he also paired up with Jenkins to win the men’s title.
A total of 232 players, including a number of players from England, Scotland and Wales, took part in the tournament.
SNOOKER: Brendan O’Donoghue proved best of the Irish when he reached the quarter-finals of the IBSF World Amateur Snooker Championships in India. O’Donoghue lost 3-6 to teenage star Hossein Vafaei from Iran. Vafaei, aged 17, went on to become the youngest ever winner of the title when he beat Lee Walker from Wales in the final. The young Iranian has an Irish connection – he is a member of the Carlow-based PJ Nolan Snooker Academy.
Current Irish No 1 Rodney Goggins lost in the last 48 to Vinnie Calabrese from Australia. Mark Tuite got as far as the last 32, losing to home favourite Pankaj Advani.
Locally, the third senior ranking tournament of the season is underway at the Victoria Snooker Club, Limerick. Rodney Goggins and Brendan O’Donoghue are the two winners so far this season.
SAILING: Dun Laoghaire Laser Radial sailor Annalise Murphy will follow in her mother’s wash when she competes for Ireland at next year’s Olympic Games. Murphy’s mother, Cathy McAleavey, finished 14th in the two-hander 470 class at the 1988 Games in Seoul.
Murphy, aged 20, had a sparkling career as a junior before moving into the senior ranks last season. She confirmed her enormous promise when she won a Europa Cup Laser event and later, took the world U-21 title in Japan.
Earlier this week, Murphy qualified in second place for the “gold” fleet, making it impossible for her to finish lower than 29th at the regatta. She could still take a medal in tomorrow’s final race.
HOCKEY: With the London 21012 men’s hockey qualifier taking place in UCD next March, Irish coach Paul Revington had selected 24 players for his “core” group and a further 22 on a broader panel. The squad will begin the New Year with two warm-weather training camps.
Among those picked are Dublin-based players Peter Blakeney (Three Rock Rovers), Joe Brennan (Glenanne), Iain Walker (YMCA) and David Fitzgerald and Gareth Watkins (both Monkstown).
In March, the Irish men will take on teams from Korea, Malaysia, Ireland, Russia, Chile and Ukraine. Tickets are now on sale at www.hockey.ie.
BADMINTON: Olympic qualifying points are at stake in Lisburn this weekend, with the finals of the Yonex Irish Badminton Open taking place tomorrow (Sun). As a warm-up to the tournament, an Irish national took on a Rest of the World selection, with the match going to the very last game This entertaining match went to the very last game before the home sealed a 3-2 victory with wins in the men and women’s singles and the mixed doubles. Making up the team were Scott Burnside, Niall Tierney, Tony Stephenson, Owen Marron, Sinead Chambers, Jennie King, Pauline Glennon and Fiona Glennon.
Playing for the “world” team were Dorian James and Willem Vijoen (S Africa), Chris Coles (England), Dinuka Karunaratne (Sri Lanka), Karyn Velez (USA), Sarah Thomas (Wales), Julia Wong (Malaysia) and Aimee Moran (Wales).
* Yonex Irish Open matches are available on a live stream from www.badmintonireland.com.
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