Fermoy Junior Racquetball Club
On Saturday, 5th March a group of Fermoy junior racquetball players arrived in their local courts in Fermoy and further afield in Mitchelstown to compete in the All-Ireland Junior Even Championship. With over 40 players entered from the age of U10 up to U16, it certainly was an exciting event. Players travelled from Castlebar, Araglin, Mitchelstown, Galmoy and Kilkenny to see if there was any chance of securing a highly coveted All-Ireland medal.
Fermoy Junior Racquetball Club had 9 players competing on the day. Sophie Gothard competed in her first ever national racquetball competition in the girls U14 singles event. While Sophie did not secure a medal, the smile on her face and the experience gained was a joy to behold. James Mullery and Travis Herlihy also competed in their first national competition and both went on take the plate winner title in the boys U14 (James) and U12 (Travis) singles event. Two Fermoy boys competed in the final of the boys U14 singles event. Jack Butterworth got his just reward after practicing week in and week out by defeating the extremely talented Conor O’Callaghan in the final match of the evening. Perhaps one of the most promising results of the weekend was that of Fermoy local Sean Noonan, again competing in his first national competition in the boys U10 singles event. Sean took home the gold medal after defeating Evan Ahern (Araglin) in the final and is bursting to compete in more competitions in the future.
Not surprisingly, Darragh O’Callaghan competed in the final of the boys U12 singles event against Bailey Browne (Araglin). After such a promising start, unfortunately Darragh had to pull out of the final with an injury and as such had to forfeit the match. Taking home a silver medal was some compensation but Darragh has his eyes firmly set on the gold medal in his next competition. Abbie O’Meara in the girls singles U16 competition continues to get closer to a title win by taking home the bronze medal in a highly competitive age group. As agreed by many, the match of the weekend was between Ciara Noonan (Fermoy) and Megan Coleman (Mitchelstown) in the girls U14 singles final. Ciara lost the first game to Megan only to level things up after the second game and pinch the gold medal in the tie breaker to retain her All-Ireland champion status which she has won over the last number of years. Again, the future is bright for both these girls.
Well done to all the players involved, such an exciting sport to play and watch. We head to the home of the Cats on 2nd April to compete in the Irish Junior Open, watch this space!