Wins for Mayo players at Connacht squash tournament
Players display the trophies they won at the Connacht junior closed tournament which was held in Galway.
Connacht Squash held its annual junior closed tournament in Galway on the last weekend of January where a superb day of squash unfolded for the young players of the province. A total of 45 boys and girls entered from the Killala, Claremorris, Galway Lawn and Loughrea clubs, in the U11, U13, U15 and U17 categories.
A cracking day’s action as usual saw plenty of skill and endeavour on display, with plenty of long shots, lobs, boasts and most importantly, fair play and great skill.
Galway, Connacht and Irish coach Dave Noone was the main organiser of this tournament. Well known to all in the squash community, Dave continues to bring Connacht squash forward with his commitment to coaching the youngsters in the province.
All of the youngsters involved had four games each and it’s hoped that they will continue to play squash for the rest of the year with their respective clubs.
There was Mayo success at the competition with Doireann Lynch from Claremorris winning the U15 girls and Michael Gough from Killala finishing second in the U17 boys.
Separately, Connacht Squash is also hosting a senior men's league at the moment. Westport, Sligo, Galway Lawn and Loughrea are all taking part. Week one saw Westport take the lead in the ‘A’ competition with a win over Galway Lawn while Sligo and Loughrea played out a draw on two wins each.
Two more weekends await the A and B players in Sligo Tennis club and Galway Lawn in February and April respectively.
Connacht Squash consists of Galway Lawn, Loughrea, Claremorris, Ballinrobe, Westport, Sligo, Killala and Ballina. There are many other unaffiliated squash courts in the province and the hope is that many of these could in time be renovated to a decent standard to spread the game throughout Connacht.
Connacht Close – results:
U11 boys: 1, Hunter Griffin Galway Lawn; 2, Liam O'Connell. Galway Lawn.
U11 girls: 1, Eve Kelly, Loughrea Squash; 2, Cara Raftery, Loughrea Squash.
U13 boys: 1, Liam Cuppitt, Galway Lawn; 2, Fionn Raftery Loughrea Squash.
U15 boys: 1, Jack Clery, Galway Lawn; 2, David Connell, Galway Lawn.
U15 girls: 1, Doireann Lynch, Claremorris Squash; 2, Lucy Lynch, Galway Lawn.
U17 boys: 1, Lorcan O'Toole, Galway Lawn; 2, Michael Gough, Killala Squash.
