Top Player Profiles
Amanda Mogey
March has been relatively a busy month with lots of competitions as well as lots of training and preparation for these competitions.
March began with an Irish National Training Camp. I feel this is always a good chance for the squad to get together, put in some hard training and train with different types of players who you may not get the chance to in local clubs. It is also a chance to work with the National Coach. The focus in this training camp for the Women was consistency and modifying technique. With the Irish Senior Nationals (the most important Irish tournament in the year) the next weekend, this was an excellent chance to put in some solid training in preparation for this tournament.
Coming into the Nationals held in ALSSA, Dublin, I was in good form. I had won the Fermanagh Open two weeks prior to this event and was unbeaten against any of the Irish girls excluding Na Liu in all events this season. Also in training I felt good and had worked hard on serve/receive and footwork. I had won the National Ladies title two years running, however this year with the appearance of Na Liu this was going to be an extremely tough task to win the title for a third year running.
I had secured a good seeding for the event (number 2) so that if I were to win my first round group I couldn’t meet Na until the final, and I felt confident that I could beat anyone else on the day. However there were a few girls e.g. Claire Nelson, Ashley Givan, Fiona Dennett and a few of the juniors that I was still wary of and that only my best would do in order to defeat them.
I safely progressed through to the semi final without too much trouble. In this match I knew I had to step up a gear as I was facing Ulster and Irish teammate and good friend Claire Nelson with whom I’ve had many great battles in the past. Playing Claire is never an easy game, however I played well and dominated off my serve. I felt I was the more aggressive of the two coming in with strong forehand topspins and dominating in the backhand to backhand exchanges. I won the match 3-0 and therefore secured my place in the final against Na Liu.
Before the final I was extremely nervous, play was now reduced to one table for both the Men’s and Ladies Finals. The Ladies final was on first, and there was now a large crowd watching as well as the RTE cameras recording the match. Playing against Na Liu is so tough, she is extremely fast and consistent with an excellent serve and third ball. I lost this match 3-0 and was slightly disappointed with the tactics I had used, however I was still pleased to reach the final for a forth year running and confirm my position as the next best female player in Ireland behind Na Liu in the rankings.
The next major event in this month was the Senior Interprovincial Championships held in Virginia, Co. Cavan. The weekend before I had a very intensive training camp in Ulster as well as my regular training throughout the week which consists of normal practise as well as multiball training and physical training. Coming into this event many people thought that Leinster would take a clean sweep of the titles, however we as a team knew that we could spring a surprise on the day.. We had a good balanced team comprising of youth and experience and excellent team spirit which goes a long way in an event like this! I was pleased to win all my matches in this event even if I wasn’t playing that great. Our best match was definitely against Leinster who had a very strong team. Myself and Ashley Givan were undefeated in this match, and Daryl Strong and Ashley Robinson gave great performances to beat Gavin Maguire – current Irish Men’s National Champion. Our team remained undefeated throughout the weekend to claim the gold medal and the Presentation/Dinner on the Saturday night was a great way to unwind from the past months hard training and to socialise with players from all 4 provinces.
Overall March has been a very successful month for me with one gold medal and one silver medal as well as a tough training regime in preparation for next months big event – the Luxembourg Open!
