Parks tennis success
WHAT A month of tennis we enjoyed in July.
The weather was brilliant for the month and there were great numbers at all the twelve parks venues throughout Co. Wexford. The standard of play in the doubles and singles finals was very good and noticeably better than last year.
This year there were solid numbers turning up for the matchplay afternoons at St. Martin’s in Piercestown, so next year it is hoped to extend them to other venues like Glynn-Barntown, Ferns, Bunclody and New Ross.
All the children want to play matches, so the only space is in the afternoons at each venue.
Another change for next year is that the first hour programme for Under-9s will be extended from 60 minutes to 90 minutes, and the second group for Under-10s-16s will be extended to two hours.
The results for all the doubles and singles are below and the venue with the most wins was the only venue with one court, Cleariestown.
The Liam Kennedy Cup was presented to the two coaches from Cleariestown, Mark O’Donovan and Sophie Boxwell.
This year was the first that all matches were played at the Boat and Tennis Club as the club received lotto funding last year to build courts five and six.
There were two notable matches in the singles finals, firstly the girls’ Under-12 contest between Chloe Curtin of St. Martin’s and Millie Sutton of New Ross which featured great rallies and good, deep shots.
The boys’ Under-16 final was a very tight match between Jack Donovan of Cleariestown and Brad Koolhof from Bridgetown.
Again, great strokes were produced by both which was a super demonstration of the potential of parks players.
After over 40 minutes, Brad won 5-4. Well done both players on giving the balcony a great spectacle.
The Assistant Mayor, Councillor George Lawlor, presented all the prizes to the children and gave great encouragement to everyone to keep trying. Wexford will have a Boris Becker soon.
Under-10 boys’ doubles: Seán Vaughan and Ollie Treacy (Bree) beat Con Fraser and Charlie Keogh.
Under-10 girls’ doubles: Lily Duff and Maeve White (W.H.B.T.C.) beat Laila O’Leary and Ellen O’Brien (W.H.B.T.C.).
Under-12 boys’ doubles: Alex O’Connor and Andrew O’Brien (W.H.B.T.C.) beat Mark Rothwell and Adam Warren (Bunclody).
Under-12 girls’ doubles: Charlotte and Abigail Buckley (Bree) versus Leah Maddock and Mia Quirke (Bree).
Under-14 boys’ doubles: Mark Hennessy and Leo Barry (Piercestown) beat Paddy O’Leary and Jacob Murphy (W.H.B.T.C.).
Under-14 girls’ doubles: Katie Sinnott and Robin Carry (W.H.B.T.C.) beat Laura Myers and Sami-Lil Salter (Bunclody).
Under-16 boys’ doubles: Rory and Jack O’Brien (Cleariestown) versus Thomas Fitzgerald and Pierce Ryan (Bunclody).
Under-10 boys’ singles: Martin Sinnott (New Ross) beat Seán Murray (New Ross).
Under-10 girls’ singles: Lily Lawton (Kilmore) beat Rebecca Feehan (Cleariestown).
Under-12 girls’ singles: Chloe Curtin (Piercestown) beat Millie Sutton (New Ross).
Under-12 boys’ singles: Darragh O’Brien (Cleariestown) beat Thomas Dunne (Ferns).
Under-14 boys’ singles: Conor Mackey (Glynn-Barntown) beat Mark McGrath (New Ross).
Under-14 girls’ singles: Katie Sinnott (W.H.B.T.C.) beat Jolie Keeling (Glynn-Barntown).
Under-16 boys’ singles: Brad Koolhof (Bridgetown) beat Jack Donovan (Cleariestown).