Sligo City on form
FOR the second year running, Sligo City Badminton Club hosted the Connacht Closed Grade B in Summerhill College. With some of the top players in Connacht at Grade E- H in the mix, there were some titanic battles.
Graham Mac Mullen hammered through opposition to take the double, winning both the Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles. It began with the Men’s Singles and Ian Frizzell, Sligo City, was back to defend his treble title from last year. In the second round under 15 player Enda Clogher, Ballygar Galway, nearly unseated the title holder taking the first set 22- 24. Frizzell dug deep and battled it out overcoming the youngster in the next two sets 21- 18, 21- 14 and got through the semi- finals comfortably. In the finals he faced Sangeeth Gopalakrishnan, Ballina. Gopalakrishnan had defeated Number 2 seed Sean Staunton, Ballinaheglish Roscommon, and Vidhu Balakrishnan, Ballina, to make it into the finals. Frizzell again got off to a bad start dropping the first set 18- 21 but fought tooth and nail to win the sets 21- 14, 21- 15 and successfully defended his singles title.
In the Ladies, singles number 2 seed Bernie Lavin, Boyle, had to work hard against new Sligo City player Áine Norton who took the first set 20- 22. Norton was unable to keep up the intensity needed as Lavin’s steel shown through as she determinedly won the next two sets. In the Finals, Lavin played against under 15 player Jessica Feeney also from Boyle. Lavin fought hard but Feeney’s training and practice at Singles paid off and she won the title in two straight sets.
The Men’s Doubles threw up some upsets when title defenders and number 2 seeds Ian Frizzell and Michael Healy, Sligo City, lost out to an aggressive onslaught from Vidhu Balakrishnan and Sangeeth Gopalakrishnan, Ballina.
The play was hard and flat from the two Ballina men put the Sligo City men on the defensive and they went out in two sets. Former champions Graham Mac Mullen and Paul Lynch, Sligo City, were back to reclaim their 2015 title. Azhagiri Anbazhagan and James McLoughlin, Ballygar took advantage of having already played a game. Keeping the pressure on and not giving any time for Sligo City to settle in they capitalised on the jitters and poor reaction times winning the first set 19- 21. In the second set, MacMullen and Lynch were trailing behind but as the set went on they were starting to come into their own. Refusing to give an inch, they battled their way to taking the set 24- 22.
With renewed confidence they took the third set 21- 13. In the semi finals they came up against Vidhu and Sangeeth who had taken out the number two seeds earlier. The first set got off very evenly with the scores extremely close. Sangeeth who had already played four rounds of Men’s Singles started to show the effects when his leg gave trouble halfway through the first set. The first set ended with MacMullen and Lynch keeping enough pressure on to get away at the end and seal the set at 23- 21. With Vidhu having to play shots to protect his partner they were in major trouble. Sligo City mercilessly took advantage of this and hammered their way into the finals taking the second set 21- 12.
The final saw Sligo City take on Ballinaheglish duo Sean Staunton and David Delaney. The decider began with MacMullen and Lynch getting off to a very rocky start and were 14- 7 down with a mountain to climb. Sligo City’s most aggressive pairing were not going down without a fight. Upping their game and attacking relentlessly, they slowly turned the game around. With a confidence boosting display the Sligo City men won the set 21- 19. Going into the second set with confidence high MacMullen and Lynch knew this match was for the taking. The start of the second set was even at 4- 4 when the pressure began to show with the Ballinaheglish pair both making mistakes and hitting the shuttle too long and out. MacMullen and Lynch were like juggernauts as they powered their way unstoppable to a 21- 11 victory.
In the Ladies doubles Sligo City pairing of Deirdre Fox and Áine Norton put paid to the aspirations of number two seeds Helene Hanley and Veronica Quinn winning 21 - 9, 21- 12. They played Bernie Lavin, Boyle, and Corrina Delaney, Ballinaheglish, in the finals. With their confidence high Bernie and Corinna stamped their authority on the second set taking it 21- 14. In the Mixed doubles, Graham Mac Mullen and Cliona McGowan had their eyes firmly on the prize. And the winners are... Men’s Singles – Ian Frizzell ( Sligo City) Ladies’Singles– JessicaFeeney( Boyle) Men’s Doubles – Graham Mac Mullen, Paul Lynch ( Sligo City) Ladies’ Doubles – Bernie Lavin Corrina Delaney( Ballinaheglish) Mixed Doubles – Graham Mac Mullen, Cliona McGowan( Sligo City) Sligo City Badminton Club thanked Paul Dolan and Paul Lynch for organising the event, between matching up players, scheduling the matches and setting up the badminton. “Thanks to everyone who also helped out over the day, Summerhill College for the use of their facilities and to all the players who made it such a great day,” the club said.