Vesko and McElligott enjoy double success in Limerick

MUNSTER CLOSED CHAMPIONSHIPS U-11 / U-15

KERRY were well represented at the Munster Closed Championships last weekend at the University of Limerick and our young Badminton players certainly made the county proud.

In the U-11s club mates Nicole Vesko and Ben McElligott from Listowel both had double success. Nicole took the Division 1 girls singles title and Ben the Division 1 boys singles title before teaming up together to that the Mixed title.

Ben came close to triple success when he teamed up with James Burke of Castleisland in the Division 1 boys doubles but they were beaten in the final. Ben had earlier beaten James in the final of the boy’s singles.

In the U-15s Ethan Tritschler, another player from the Listowel club also took singles honours in Division 2 whilst Sara Hayes also of Listowel was runner-up in the girls division 2 singles before teaming up with Ethan to capture the mixed title.

In Division 1 Ayrton Burke of Castleisland was runners up in the plate event and also part of a pairing in the boys doubles that finished runners-up.

ALL-IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIPS GRADES C & F

FOUR Kerry players travelled to Dublin last weekend for the All-Ireland Championships grade ‘C’ competition in Baldoyle. All gathered valuable experience by taking part in competition at this level and this will stand to them in years to come.

The highlight of the weekend from a Kerry perspective was Maeve Twomey (Killarney) playing with Paul Kingston (Cork) reaching the Mixed semi-final before losing out in a very close encounter 2220. 21-19.

KERRY SCHOOLS BADMINTON

THE deadline for entering the Kerry Schools Badminton tournament is December 20. The event is played in three different age categories U-14, U-16 and U-19 and both the boys and the girls competition will be played on Thursday January 10. The winners will go on to represent Kerry at the University of Limerick in the Munster Championship on January 24.

Each team consists of four players each playing singles and doubles in the order of their strength.

For further details on entering please contact Carmel Hudson on 087 9267871 or carmelhudson@ eircom.net