The Dawn of a new Season in Munster

Kinsale was the first destination for the Munster Rankings held over the weekend of the 17^th & 18^th September. West Cork took up a squad of 13 players with a number entering for the first time. The U15s kicked it off in the morning with Erik Olsson and Jasmine Kelly up for West Cork. They both put in a solid performances after working hard during the summer months. Erik lost out to eventual winner Ciaran O’Donoghue in the semi final and he returned to the table with a 3/0 victory over the U18 Finalist John Gould to claim 3^rd. Jasmine narrowly lost out 2/3 for a 3^rd place finish with Alannah O’Flynn and had to settle for 4^th.

 

There were once again 2 West Cork players in the U11 event with Eli Reynolds finishing 5^th overall and Seamus Riordan 9^th. This was a great result from the Bantry lads and we look forward to seeing them progress this season.

 

We had 6 players entering the U13 boy’s event with Daniel Collins and Cathal O’Driscoll both reaching top 10 places. Donal Riordan knocked out Odhran Sommers in the Plate and went on to reach the Final. Eli reached the ¼ finals while Ben Horgan made it to the last 16.

 

It was a great day out for the youngsters and we are looking forward to a few more trips this season.

 DAY 2

The Sunday saw the U18, U21 and Senior events with our 4 U18 Boys and U21 Woman in action. James Kelly once again dominated the U18s only dropping 2 sets on his way to the title and one of them was against Tom Walsh who is back in action this season with a 5^th place after defeating both Isaac Leahy and Conor O’Callaghan. Niall O’Driscoll had a poor start but recovered top win the Plate and revenged his first match defeat against Donagh Griffin. Oisin Barrett playing in his first ever rankings  was knocked out by Niall in the ¼ finals.

 

Meanwhile Mair Kelly was tearing up a strip in the U21s Mixed giving Shane O’Connor a hard time in her opening group. She eventually went onto win the plate against former West Cork and Bantry player James Heap and finish as the top girl on the day.

 

The Seniors in another mixed event with two Bands. James had a fine match against Sophia Wawrzniak coming out on top 3/2. He reached the ½ finals against Philip Shaw and went 2/0 down. He recovered to draw level 2/2 and the final set was once again a closely fought affair but he had to settle for joint 3^rd on the day. Tom Walsh had a good win in the Band 2 Semi Final 3/2 vs Darragh Boyd and went onto win the Final against Gary O’Mahoney. Niall O’Driscoll finished 5^th seeing off the challenge of Kevin Browne in another 5 setter and Oisin Barrett was 9^th on the day.

 

A good first outing and the players really enjoyed the experience. Thanks to the Munster Branch and Tony Higgins for all their organising over the weekend.