Exciting fare in Killaloe-­Ballina Tennis Championships

The Killaloe-Ballina Tennis Club Championship was held over the last three weeks of September.  A good crowd of spectators turned out to cheer on the finalists, in spite of clashing with the All-Ireland hurling final and the Ryder Cup final-day singles matches in Chicago.

 

There were some very exciting matches to watch in Killaloe, with several of the 14 finals going to a third-set decider and some even to a tie-break decider.   One of the top junior players, Conor Lonergan, reached the men’s A final and came up against Mike Galvin.  Conor raced through the first set to win it by six games to one but Mike stepped up his game and came through by winning the next two sets.

Conor featured again in the mixed A doubles final, partnering Agata Baczkowski but they were defeated by the strong pairing of Madeleine Kelly and Seamus Power, both well-experienced players. 

The men’s A doubles final was a very tight three-set match but Mike Galvin and his partner Seamus McNamara finally won out against David Goode and Kevin Morgan.

The ladies’ A singles title was won by Veronica O’Regan, who defeated another very promising junior player, Róisín Healy, in a closely fought battle.  In the ladies’ A doubles, Madeleine Kelly teamed up with Agata Baczkowski  and they proved too strong for Eleanor Walsh and Betty O’Brien. 

In the B section, last year’s runner-up, Brian Commins, did just enough to come through in the third set against Arek Baczkowski in the singles competition.  The ladies’ B singles was won by Sinéad Keaney after Emer McGovern-Smith had to withdraw due to injury.  Sinéad teamed up with Antoinette Lynch in the ladies’ B doubles and defeated Mary Healy and Ciara Ryan.   The men’s B doubles title went to Steve Smith and John Lyons, with Mick Collins and Paul Hogan a close second. 

In the mixed B doubles, Mary Grace and Seamus McNamara saw off Katrina Bradley and Theron Robson in three closely fought sets.

The largest entry was in the ladies’ C section, due to the number of new players in the club. 
Helen Mahoney took the singles title, defeating Caroline Rice in a very tight match, with Helen winning the ladies’ C doubles with Marese Coakley. Maeve McEvoy took the mixed doubles title with her partner, Paul Hogan. Paul was also victorious in the men’s C singles final.

With over 100 participants, the championship took a lot of organising and huge credit is due to club captain Pat Aherne and his team, Carmel Bradshaw, Damien Purtill and Alan Williamson.   There was a very enjoyable prize-giving night in Reddan’s Pub in Killaloe following the event.