Ninety-two take part in tennis clubs Specsavers Senior Open
Mullingar Tennis and Badminton Club welcomed 92 players to participated in this year’s Specsavers Senior Open Tournament.
Everybody was delighted to have the opportunity to play competitions again after an almost two-year hiatus. Mullingar, Athlone, Moate, Longford, Dublin, Galway, Cavan, Kells, Stackallen and Birr clubs were all represented. Except for one wet night, the tournament was played in pleasant weather.
The finals took place on Sunday with some of the matches keenly contested and going to three sets. Winners of the Men’s ‘A’ Singles was David Manser from Longford, who defeated Ken McMillan from Cavan in a very good final by 6/2, 6/7, 6/2.
Colm Murphy, Mullingar was winner of another three-set final against Marcin Juszczyk, Longford, with a score of 3/6, 6/4, 6/4 in the Men’s ‘B’ Singles final. This was a very exciting match that could have gone either way. Conor Jones defeated Cathal Kenny (both Athlone) in the Men’s ‘C’ final.
The Men’s ‘B’ Doubles saw a win for Colm Murphy and Marcin Juszczyk over Richard Franks, Athlone and Gary Sharkey of Longford. The Men’s ‘C’ Doubles resulted in a win for Cathal Kenny and Sai Palada over Aidan Burke and Robert Stakelum of Longford.
The Ladies’ ‘B’ Singles was won by Agne Mazgelyte, Mullingar, who was only returning to tennis after a few years’ break. She had a tough battle against Christine Gleeson, Galway, winning 7/6, 4/6, 6/3.
The Ladies’ ‘C’ Singles final saw a Moate derby, with Gráinne Cornally defeating Carmel Hayes 6/4, 4/6, and 10/4 in the tiebreak. The Ladies’ ‘B’ Doubles was won by Angela Guilfoyle and Margaret Treacy, both Mullingar, against Laura Hunt, Galway and Claire Mulcahy, Athlone in an exciting three-set match. They lost the first set 3/6, but took the next two sets 6/2, 6/2.
Joanne Macken, Stackallen and Tara Cahill, Kells defeated the Moate pairing of Maryrose McIntyre and Noelle Tyrrell in the Ladies’ ‘C’ doubles.
Four Mullingar players competed in the final of the Mixed ‘B’ Doubles, Colm Murphy and Emer Murphy against Richie Forbes and Angela Guilfoyle, with Colm and Emer coming out on top with a score of 3/6, 6/3, 6/1. The last event to be decided was the Mixed ‘C’ Doubles, with Conor Jones and Carmel Hayes winning a close match against Tom and Mary Carr 7/6, 6/4.
The prizes were presented by Patricia Sheridan, Club President who thanked the club’s sponsors Specsavers, Mullingar and everyone for coming and supporting the event. Patricia said that she hoped to see everybody at next year’s event.
Our coach Scott Hubbard is busy coaching with all groups full on Monday, Thursday, Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. If any adult is interested in returning to tennis and feel they need some coaching, which he plans to hold Thursday evenings, please contact Scott at 083 0156718.
There has been very good attendance at our regular Monday night tournaments. If anyone is interested in participating, please phone 086 468 2481 by 4pm on a Monday so that you can be included in the draw.