New Ross Badminton Club

Laura wins Maltese Ladies Singles Title

Laura Lynch recorded her first European international tournament success when she won the under-18 ladies singles title at the 6th Malta International Juvenile Tournament held in Valetta, Malta.  The event featured players from four nations, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Cyprus and the home country Malta.  With her unbeaten record in the previous days team competition Laura was one of the pre-tournament favourites but her dad and team manager Pat was slightly worried that her endeavours on Saturday in the 240C temperature and high humidity might tell against her in Sunday’s singles event.   Her cause was helped when she received a bye in the round of the last sixteen, but on paper then faced a difficult challenge from the Maltese number one Maria Borg in the quarter-finals.  Their game in the team event the previous day had been a close and tight encounter which was only just won by the Wexford player in three sets.  Second time round however Laura was at her very best and quickly took control of the match winning 11/1, 11/2.  The Maltese number two Fiorella Farrugia was Laura’s next opponent in the semi-final and the first game went according to plan with an 11/5 victory for the Wexford player.  The Maltese star fought back in the 2nd set and helped by some unforced errors by the Irish player she took the set 11/5 to tie the match.  In the 3rd set Laura changed her tactics and playing a more attacking game she again took the initiative to win 11/2 and reach her first major singles final since 2003 when winning the Ulster under-13 title.  Ironically it was an Ulster player Laura now faced in the final in the form of Judith Brennan from the Whiteabbey club.  Laura’s team mates from the Wexford squad ensured there was quite an atmosphere for the Sunday afternoon final and the Wexford player responded with a gritty performance to take the title 11/6, 11/8. 

People Newspaper/Permanent TSB Sports Award

Laura Lynch picked up a special achievement award at the prestigious People Newspapers-Permanent TSB Sportsperson of the year Awards ceremony in the Ashtown Park Hotel on Friday the 27th January.  Laura was one of sixteen nominations from a range of sports who were commemorated for their achievements in 2005.  Laura has been playing badminton since she was nine year’s old and competing on the national circuit since she was eleven.  She is coached by her father Pat and is part of the Wexford Regional Development squad where she has benefited greatly from the influence of BUI high performance coach Liam Sinnott.  2005 was her most successful year to-date with an under-15 All-Ireland mixed doubles title secured in Lisburn in February and international success in Malta in October when she won the ladies singles title.  On the Irish Badminton circuit she won an Ulster open girls doubles title and both the doubles and mixed doubles title in the Leinster U15 Juvenile Close Championships.    Laura picked up International caps with the Irish under-15 team playing both doubles and mixed doubles.  Laura has also played with the Irish under-17 team where she has just returned with the squad from Glasgow.  Laura was capped at provincial level for Leinster at under 15, 16 and 17 level.  She made her 1st appearance with the Leinster under-17 team in the prestigious Harrods sponsored Nottingham Tournament in April 2004.  Barring injury she is likely to be making her 3rd consecutive appearance at the Tournament in April 2006.  Laura was also a member of the Wexford under-15 and 17 county teams and was captain of the team that finished in the runner-up spot behind White-Abbey (N.I.) in the Malta under-18 International Tournament in October.  On the adult scene there was a double success in May in the Leinster Senior Individual championships when she won both the grade-3 ladies singles and doubles titles and a Wexford division two and three mixed double title in February.  Laura played with the Wexford senior team that reached the All-Ireland class-3 semi-final in Galway and had an unbeaten record during the qualifiers playing singles and mixed doubles.  With her club side she was a member of the team that was beaten in the Leinster Inter-club grade 2 final and was voted the club player of the year for the 2nd time in the past three seasons.

Heavy loss in final for division 6 mixed doubles team

There was major disappointment in the 6th division mixed doubles league final when the New Ross team were soundly beaten by an impressive Galbally side.   From the opening men’s doubles game in which Ray Breen and Ciaran Doyle lost to Ger Cullen and Eddie Galavan 15/12, 15/10, New Ross were under pressure in all matches.  The New Ross ladies pairing of Sue Barrett and Ella Bigos also found it difficult to cope against the impressive partnership of Niamh Dunne and Ellen Whelan and eventually lost 15/4, 15/3.  The result now was never really in doubt and Ger Cullen and Ellen Whelan shared the opening sets 15/6, 13/15 with Ray Breen and Sue Barrett, while Eddie Galavan and Niamh Dunne won the 2nd game 15/3, 15/5 against Ella Bigos and Ciaran Doyle to give the Wexford district side a 7-1 winning margin.

New Ross cause surprise in Div 1 shield final

The club's division 1 squad eventually got the better of their bogey team Taghmon when they won the division 1 shield title for the first time in eight years.  Taghmon were minus the services of the injured Edward Cousins which helped their cause, but New Ross were still the underdogs going into the final against the defending champions.  The challengers got off to good start and took the opening men’s doubles with Ralph Stone and Pat Lynch winning a trilling three sets encounter against Philip Walsh and Stewart O’Toole.  Taghmon hit back with Siobhan and Deirdre Kehoe defeating Brideen Lynch and Ellen O’Neill 15/6, 15/6 but the team responded well by taking both singles.  Orla Deegan defeated Elaine Dunne 13/10, 11/9 and Alan Carton overcame Philip Wadding 15/3, 15/5.  Taghmon got back to within a single point when Philip Walsh and Deirdre Kehoe overcame Ralph Stone and Ellen O'Neill 15/7, 15/9, but Pat and Brideen Lynch kept the momentum going when they won another tight game against Siobhan Kehoe and Stewart O’Toole 15/5, 5/15, 17/16.  New Ross then recorded a rare team victory when Orla Deegan and Alan Carton won the opening set of their 3rd mixed doubles game 15/5 against Philip Wadding and Elaine Dunne to leave the final score at 9-6 in their favour. 

National Mixed Doubles Title for Laura

Sixteen year old New Ross star Laura Lynch added an under-17 All-Ireland mixed doubles title to her badminton C.V. when she and partner David Tutty secured their 2^nd All-Ireland title at the National Badminton Centre in Lisburn on Sunday last.  Victors of an under-15 championship at the same venue last year the Leinster pairing moved up an age group at the start of the season, but despite the step up in class they have been performing well in the major tournaments.  They were in fine form again throughout the weekend which culminated with a dramatic victory in Sunday’s afternoon final against the home favourites Sinead Chambers and Tony Murphy.  A measure of the achievement of the Leinster pairing can be gauged from the fact that not alone was their victory the only event which was not won by an Ulster player, but they were the only non-Ulster combination to even make the finals.   Laura and David began their quest on Saturday afternoon with a tough opening game against the Northern Ireland pairing of Andrew McGee and Judith Brennan.  The game was a classic mixed doubles match between two talented mixed doubles pairs, which resulted in a victory in three sets 15/9, 5/15, 15/7 for the New Ross/Dublin partnership.  It was a little more comfortable in the quarter-finals where they defeated a fellow Leinster paring of Crona Rooney and Owen Marron 15/9, 15/7.  The semi-finals on Sunday morning started badly for the Southern pairing when yet another Ulster combination of Gavin McCauley and Catherine McGladdery took the opening set 15/11, with Laura and David finding it difficult to cope against the deceptive McCauley in particular.  In the remaining games however they adopted a more attacking approach which gave the Ulster pair less time to place the shuttle and they won the remaining two sets 15/11, 15/5 to progress to the final.  Sunday’s afternoon final drew a good home crowd and with many of the Leinster players and supporters also staying to watch, it meant a good atmosphere for the event.  In the final Laura and David faced a fancied Northern partnership comprising of recent under-19 international player Sinead Chambers and regular partner Tony Murphy.  In their previous encounters the Ulster pairing had the upper hand and had been in fine form on their way to the decider.  The opening set would do justice to any senior tournament as all four players put on an exhibition for the appreciative crowd.  Good placement of the shuttle and excellent court coverage from the Dublin star blended nicely with fine net play from Laura and gave the Leinster pairing a narrow 15/13 opening set victory. If the 1^st set was exciting the 2^nd was real edge of the seat stuff with the Leinster pair leading 14/12, only for the Ulster combination to recover and force the set to a tie break.  Chambers and Murphy went 16/14 in front, but Laura and David got the game back to 16/16.  Each side now had several opportunities to get the elusive final point before a flick serve from Murphy caught Tutty by surprise and it was one game each.  The start of the 3^rd set was crucial and it was the Leinster players who were quickly into their stride as they raced into a 5-0 lead.  From there they kept the pressure on the two Ulster stars to win the set and the match a little easier than expected compared to the opening sets on a 15/5 score line. 

New Ross players disappoint in County Championship Finals

Not the best of years at the Players County Championship which were held in March, with the only player on the winning rostrum in the top grade was Orla Deegan who won a title in the division one ladies doubles. Orla and Elaine Dunne (Taghmon) captured their 1st doubles title in the grade with a 15/7, 15/9 victory over another club pairing of Laura Lynch and Ellen O’Neill.  Not such god news from the ladies singles final where Siobhan Kehoe (Taghmon) retained her title with an 11/4, 11/6 victory over Orla. The men's doubles pairing of Alan Carton and Ralph Stone started their final in bright fashion against the defending champions Edward Cousins and Philip Walsh, but the game soon petered out as a contest when the Taghmon pair took over control to run out easy 15/6, 15/3 winners.  In the 2nd division there was a very exciting ladies doubles final victory for Brideen and Laura Lynch over district rivals Siobhan Ennis and Sandra Dunne (Shelburne).  An exciting three setter was won by Brideen and Laura 16/17, 15/9, 15/12. Not such good news in the mixed doubles final where the impressive Taghmon pairing of Stewart O’Toole and Gillian Murphy had a very emphatic 15/11, 15/2 victory over Vincent Mackay and Laura Lynch.  No luck either for title favourite John Nolan in the division three men’s singles with the underdog Craig Healy (Clonard) overcoming the number one seed 15/7, 6/15, 15/7.  In the ladies doubles final the Shelburne pairing of Sandra Dunne and Ailish O’Hanlon defeated Celine Hayes (New Ross) and Tara Kehoe (St, Martin’s) 15/7, 15/8.  John Nolan and Celine Hayes also lost out in the division three mixed double final, going down 15/13, 17/15 to Philip Wadding and Laura Butler.  Not much between the pairings in the ladies division six doubles final, but it was enough to give Eimer Dunne and Marie Kelly (Taghmon) a 17/14, 15/13 victory over  Ella Bigos and Aoife Bennett. 

Double Success in Ladies League

The division six ladies doubles team faced St. Martin’s in their final game of the league campaign knowing that maximum points were required in order to overtake long time leaders Galbally and secure the title.  It was a tall order against a decent St. Martin’s team, but home advantage was a help to the New Ross ladies who played impressively on the night and secured the required points in an 8-0 victory.  It was the 4^th title of the year for the club and congratulations to the squad who finished with an impressive forty three points out of a possible forty eight to secure the title and one point to spare over 2^nd place Galbally. Team: Sue Barrett, Aoife Bennett, Ella Bigos and Liz Murphy (Capt).

The club won its 2^nd ladies league title during the week with the division two team clinching the league title after an impressive 7-2 away victory over district rivals Shelburne.  New Ross started in impressive fashion with Ellen O’Neill and Laura Lynch overpowering Siobhan Bowe and Sandra Dunne 15/5, 15/4.  New Ross were four up after the 2^nd ladies when Rosemary Burke and Brideen Lynch defeated Ailish O’Hanlon and Celine Hayes 15/5, 17/15.  Shelburne then got on the score-sheet in the reverse doubles when Siobhan Bowe and Celine Hayes had a fine 12/15, 15/7, 17/14 victory over Ellen O’Neill and Rosemary Burke.  New Ross had the final say as Brideen and Laura Lynch defeated Sandra Dunne and Ailish O’Hanlon 15/5, 15/10.

Terence McSweeney dominates Club Finals

The players championship and awards brought the curtain down on a most successful season for the club on Thursday the 27th April.  The county secretary Caroline Dunne was the guest of honour on the night and the hall was packed for the eight finals in four grades and as usual all games were keenly contested.  The main event of the night the senior singles finals included surprise packets Terence McSweeney and Laura Lynch with Laura hoping to emulate the feat of Karen Henessey in 2002 and become only the 2^nd lady ever to win the title.  Laura just failed in her quest with the Waterford based player in his 1^st season in the club securing the coveted title 15/7, 4/15, 15/10.  Terence also picked up a 2nd singles title when he overcame Paul Healy 15/6, 10/15, 15/11 in the intermediate final and won his 3^rd event of the night when he and Laura Lynch defeated Rosemary Burke and Andrew Wayland 15/7, 15/10 in the intermediate doubles final.  Colm Byrne and Brideen Lynch won their 2^nd senior club doubles title when they proved far too good for the father and daughter combination of Pat and Laura Lynch.  The 2004 champions winning comfortably on a 15/4, 15/11 score line.  Other winners on the night were Aoife Bennett and Ciaran Doyle who overcame Bernie Cashin and Liz Murphy 15/2, 15/8 in the junior doubles.  Eoghan Cashin retained his junior singles title with a 15/12, 15/13 victory over Ciaran Doyle.  The novice singles was won by Bernie Cashin who just pipped Robert Quinn 11/10, 1/11, 11/9 in the decider.  The novice doubles was also a close affair with Joseph Meggs and Josh Purcell defeating Nadia Deacon and Richard Cullinane 15/10 15/14

Player of the Year title for John Nolan

The 2006 New Ross Player of the Year Award went to John Nolan.  John joined the club in 2005 and has quickly moved up the divisions.  Starting in division five John has now moved up to his current grading of three.  He won four title in the County Charity Tournament in December and was runner-up in the division three men's singles and mixed doubles finals in the Wexford Players Championship in March.  In April he qualified for the Leinster division three men's singles semi-final before being forced to retire injured having won the opening set.  He played with numerous club teams during the season from division four to division one and helped the club's division three men's doubles team to an historic first ever title in the Waterford men's league.  John also finished 2nd in the club's singles ladder and served as the club's vice chairman during the season.

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