News
Third year in a row for Ulster at Senior Inter-Provincial Championships
21 March 2011
Alan Strong reports...
Ulster retained the Senior Inter-provincial table tennis shield with an emphatic final 6-2 victory over arch-rivals Leinster in UCD, Dublin, but the home squad grabbed gold in both Veterans and Under 21 sections.
Ashley Robinson (Clogher), along with Amanda Mogey (Carnmoney) and Ashley Givan (Dungannon) were the Ulster Senior stars, remaining undefeated throughout the 3 series event, but Robinson was the undoubted star as he reversed the National Championship final to take out John Murphy 3-2, setting Ulster on the winning way.
Both Ashleys, Robinson and Givan, are still junior players, but Ulster captain Andrew Dennison, got the best out of his Squad, to defeat Munster 9-1 and Connaught 10-0, with Peter Graham and Daryl Strong providing experience and vital back-up.
Pawel Sulkowski and Susan Murphy were also undefeated for Ulster in the Veteran section, and the Red-Hands almost ousted champions Leinster when Glenburn's Willy Cherry has 3 match points before losing to legend Tommy Caffrey, allowing Leinster to win 5-4 and deny another Ulster success. Sulkowski had some consolation in winning the Tommy Caffrey Award for 'best player'.
Claire Nelson (Belfast) made a welcome return to representative table tennis after a spell of injury and was undefeated in the Ulster Under 21 side which edged out Munster 6-4, but gave way to Leinster in the vital encounter.
BUTTERFLY SENIOR INTER-PROVINCIAL TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011 Results (at UCD, Dublin):
Final places:
Senior: 1. Ulster ; 2. Leinster ; 3. Munster ; 4. Connaught
U21: 1. Leinster; 2. Ulster; 3. Munster; 4. Connaught
Veterans: 1. Leinster ; 2. Ulster ; 3. Connaught ; 4. Munster
Match Results:
Senior: Ulster 9 Munster 1; Ulster 10 Connaught 0; Ulster 6 Leinster 2; Leinster 9 Connaught 1; Leinster 8 Munster 2; Munster 9 Connaught 1.
Veteran: Leinster 5 Ulster 4; Leinster 9 Munster 0; Leinster 6 Connaught 0; Ulster 9 Munster 0; Ulster 7 Connaught 2 ; Munster 3 Connaught 6.
Under 21: Leinster 5 Ulster 4; Leinster 9 Munster 0; Leinster 6 Connaught 0; Ulster 9 Munster 0; Ulster 7 Connaught 2; Connaught 6 Munster 3.
