Fermanagh players get Open off to good start on court

Players are travelling from as far afield as Sligo, Longford, Cavan, Belfast and Butt Hall in Co Donegal as well as the regular support from clubs in Enniskillen and Omagh. As usual play will take place in Irvinestown and also at Enniskillen LTC which will help to ease the busy schedule.

Tournament Director John Maguire is at the helm once again.

The first night of play took place under rain-filled clouds. However this was no barrier for many of the singles players.

There were emphatic wins in the B Men’s Singles for Matthew Duffy from Enniskillen who defeated Deane Connaghan from Butt Hall 6/1 6/0. Chris Cieplucha from Enniskillen also won his match with the same 6/1 6/0 score against David Lowe from Irvinestown.

The C Men’s Singles also resulted in convincing wins for Ken Yang from Enniskillen who beat Irvinestown’s Brendan King 6/0 6/3. Another Enniskillen winner was Rory Houston who defeated Denis Daly from Sligo 6/1 6/1. Carrying the flag for the home team was Liam Murphy who won through against Tony Ringland from Enniskillen 6/2 6/1.

There was a good win for the Irvinestown pairing of Steven Phair and Louise Conway against Enniskillen’s Brendan Duffy and Liz McGuinness. Success for Enniskillen came with the experienced Ollie McShea and Vanessa McBrien who beat the team from Butt Hall, Deane Connaghan and Maria Stewart 6/1 6/1.

The only seeded players scheduled to play on Monday evening were husband and wife C Mixed doubles partners Kenny and Anne Louise Hicks (2) from Omagh who triumphed in their match against Enniskillen’s Tony Ringland and Anne Mooney 6/2 6/1. In the C Ladies’ doubles Kirsty Murray proved to be on good form after a successful Butt Hall tournament and together with fellow Irvinestown player Wendy Eaton beat Ita Bonner and Pauline McAleer from Omagh in a Round Robin event. It was a well fought match with a lot of games played and ended 7/5 7/5 in favour of Wendy and Kirsty.

Play continued on Tuesday evening in much improved weather conditions. One of the first matches saw the No. 1 seed in the C Men’s singles defeated by Ken Yang, Ekn. Ken along with his partner Barry Hughes also saw off the talented seeds Alan Cadden from Irvinestown and Mark Connelly from Omagh, fresh from their win in the Donegal Open in Butt Hall. In the other half of this draw, play will continue for David Lowe and Brendan King as they proceed to the next round in the C Men’s Doubles with a convincing win.

Donna McSorley from Irvinestown is continuing her top form as she returns from the World O35 Tennis Championships in South Africa and was successful in both her singles and doubles matches taking both in three sets. The final match on court on Tuesday was a great B mixed match with Donal Burns, Ekn and Frances Taggart, Irv taking on a new pairing in Stephen Cuthbertson, Omagh, and Joanne Daly, Irv. Stephen and Joanne took the first set 6/2 but Donal and Frances fought back in the second to then take the match to a Championship tiebreak which was very close and they came through this 10/8.

As usual all players were well looked after by management and staff of the Bawnacre, so thanks to George Beacom for organising refreshments during the evening.

Play continues all week with finals day on Sunday.

Full results for Monday and Tuesday nights A Men’s Singles Karl Donaldson, Ekn beat Mateusz Lach, Longford 6/0 6/0 A Ladies’ Singles Laura Griffin, Ekn beat Nikki Hawkes, Omagh 6/3 6/3 Donna McSorley, Irv beat Aoifin Shorten, Sligo 6/4 1/6 6/2 A Ladies’ Doubles Louise Conway, Donna McSorley, Irv beat Aoifin Shorten, Sligo, Frances Taggart, Irv 6/3 1/6 6/1 A Mixed Doubles Jared Monaghan, Laura Griffin, Ekn beat John Maguire, Irv, Orla Malone, Cavan 6/0 6/2 B Ladies’ Singles Cora Jane Meade, Irv beat Sharon Curran, Donegal 6/4 6/1 Maeve Coney, Omagh beat Louise Conway, Irv 6/3 7/6 B Men’s Singles Matthew Duffy, Ekn beat Deane Connaghan, Butt Hall 6/1 6/0 Chris Cieplucha, Ekn beat David Lowe, Irv 6/1 6/0 B Ladies’ Doubles Andrea Irvine, Irv, Vanessa McBrien, Ekn beat Maeve Coney, Omagh, Lisa Greaves, Irv 6/2 7/5 B Mixed Doubles Ollie McShea, Vanessa McBrien, Ekn beat Deane Connaghan, Maria Stewart, Butt Hall 6/1 6/1 Steven Phair, Louise Conway, Irv beat Brendan Duffy, Liz McGuinness, Ekn 6/0 6/4 Donal Burns, Ekn, Frances Taggart, Irv beat Stephen Cuthbertson, Omagh, Joanne Daly, Irv 2/6 6/3 10/8 C Men’s Singles Ken Yang, Ekn beat Brendan King, Irv 6/0 6/3 Rory Houston, Ekn beat Denis Daly, Sligo 6/1 6/1 Liam Murphy, Irv beat Tony Ringland, Ekn 6/2 6/1 Nick Hambly beat Kenny Hicks, Omagh 6/3 6/3 Ken Yang, Ekn beat Mark Connolly,(1), Omagh 6/2 6/1 Joe Grimes, Cavan beat Peter Wong 6/4 6/3 C Ladies’ Doubles Wendy Eaton, Kirsty Murray, Irv beat Ita Bonner, Pauline McAleer 7/5 7/5 C Men’s Doubles Brendan Duffy, Rory Houston, Ekn beat John King, Jim McCann 6/4 6/1 Brendan King, David Lowe, Irv beat Nick Meeke, Andris Stebers, Ekn 6/0 6/0 Ken Yang, Barry Hughes, Ekn beat Alan Cadden, Mark Connolly, Omagh 7/6 4/6 10/6 C Mixed Doubles Kenny Hicks, Anne Louise Hicks (2), Omagh beat Tony Ringland, Anne Mooney, Ekn 6/2 6/1