News
STIGA Ulster Junior Open: Entry Extended
03 October 2011
The Stiga Ulster Junior Open, one of Ireland’s biggest junior tournaments will be staged at the Valley Leisure Centre on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th October. Players from all four corners of Ireland will compete at this major tournament and it promises to be a highly competitive and enjoyable event.
Players are guaranteed plenty of matches due to the format devised.
The home province Ulster will hope to feature heavily amongst the medals, and perhaps Ulster’s most likely contender for a gold medal will be Ashley Givan in the Junior Girls Category. Givan is dominant at this level and it will take a titanic effort from her peers to dethrone Givan from the title she won last year. Edel O’Reilly is likely to feature strongly whilst the home trio of Hannah Lynch Dawson, Emma Ludlow and Annalise Walker are capable of causing an upset or two.
Declan O’Brien will be a strong favourite for the Junior Boys title, however will have strong resistance from the ever improving Leinster pairing of Ryan Farrell and Shi Zhao Li. Ulster’s Stephen Slater will hope to feature amongst the medals after a disappointing start to the season at the Irish Classification.
The Cadet girls will be an intriguing affair with many players who are capable of winning the title. Hannah Lynch Dawson (Ulster) currently stands at number 1 in the Irish Rankings and is the current holder of this title. Hannah will have strong opposition from the McGlone sisters Elayna and Katie from Leinster and Ulster’s Rebecca Finn.
The Cadet boys will be highly contested with Ulster Jonathan Porter looking to win his first Irish Cadet title on home territory. Jonathan will have to battle with Leinster's Kevin Hutchinson and Evin McGovern and Munster’s Alan Walsh and James O’Reilly to clinch the title. Ulster’s Eric Shekleton, Zak Wilson and Ryan McConkey will all look to impress at this age category also.
Rebecca Finn (Ulster) will hope for a repeat of last seasons Ulster Junior Open where she won gold in the U12 category. Leinster’s Kate Whelan surprised everyone at the first tournament of the season and will look to feature highly in this event as will Connacht's Marie Williams who is a consistent performer. Ulster’s Leah Shekleton will hope for a good run out at this tournament.
With both Zak Wilson and Ryan McConkey now in the Cadet Boys category, a new U12 boy will be added to the history books. Alexander Gillen is a strong contender as is the greatly improved Evin McGovern from Leinster and the Connacht trio of Martin Williams, Brian Dunleavy and Eddie Ditchburn. Munster’s James Kelly is also likely to feature in the latter stages and could cause problems for the higher seeds.
There will also be an U10 category for both boys and girls. The emphasis for this category will be fun.
