Newcastle young guns star at regionals

Newcastle young guns star at regionals

22 March 2017

IT’S been a busy few months for some of the younger members of Newcastle Tennis Club.

On February 19 the Ulster Spring Regional Matchplays were held in Donaghadee. Sinead Flanigan and Anna Torrens competed in the U-14 girls singles and Ciaran Flanigan competed in the U-14 boys singles. 

Following a morning of matches, Sinead and Anna came fourth and fifth overall. Ciaran Flanigan topped his group, and went on to win overall, thereby qualifying for the provincial finals.

Emma Roseingrave travelled to Irvinestown, to compete in the U-18 girls provincial finals. She played a round-robin competition with the four finalists, playing the best U-18 girls in Ulster. Unfortunately, she didnt qualify for the national final, but had a great afternoon of tennis.

On the last Sunday of February club juniors Molly Crawford and Aine Rice headed to Royal Belfast, Craigavad, to participate in U-16 South East regionals. 

Play commenced, but weather conditions took a turn for the worse. Heavy downpours meant the girls could only complete one match each. Play was postponed until Sunday, March 5.

Meanwhile, Luke Crawford, Gabriel Corrigan and Joseph Roseingrave travelled to Bangor Tennis Club to play in the U-12 and U-16 boys South East regionals. 

However, they did not even get to hit a shot as the courts were deemed unsuitable for play due to the torrential rain. This was postponed to Sunday, March 5.

The following week the merry band of Molly, Aine and Luke headed to their destinations. Molly and Aine were able to finish their matches. Both girls played extremely well and the matches were hard fought. The result was that Molly, having won all her matches, was through to the provincials.

Luke, Gabriel and Joseph were competing at Bangor. All played well in their multiple matches against some tough competition.

The experience was enjoyable, but unfortunately the tournament experience of the other players won the day, with each of the Newcastle boys edged out from reaching the provincial finals.

Provincial finals for Molly Crawford were held on Saturday, March 11, and Sunday, March 12, at the Boat Club, Belfast. 

Molly played extremely well, saving her best match to Sunday, where she endured a two-hour battle, winning the first set, losing the second and finally losing on the tie break third. 

The two players came off exhausted and in need of a break. Unfortunately, the next match was to be played 15 minutes later. This next did not go in Molly’s favour, but she played extremely well.

Ciaran Flanigan also went forward to compete in the provincial finals in Portadown on Sunday. He fought hard, reaching the final eight, played Ulster player Jamie Lyall in the quarter-finals, finally losing 6-1, 6-4, in a play-off, achieving sixth in the overall competition. 

Well done to all the Newcastle players who participated. This was the first time some of them had played in such a competition and they represented Newcastle Tennis Club in a courteous, sporting manner. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience and are eager to play more.