Irvinestown Lawn Tennis Club hosted a wonderful finals day of the 2024 Fermanagh Open Tennis Championships on Sunday, June 30 following a week-long tournament of superb tennis.
110 players from clubs across the country competing at Grades 1,4, and 6 in men's and Ladies' singles, Doubles and Mixed doubles events.
Matches started at 10 am and a busy day of competition continued until late evening in perfect weather.
Ladies doubles Grade 4 matches got underway when Ailbhe Atkinson (Hilden TC) partnered Vanessa McBrien (Enniskillen) to a 6/3, 6/2 win over Irvinestown’s Lisa Greaves and Andrea Irvine.
Dungannon Tennis Clubmen, Peter Boyle and Anthony Neeson had a successful first visit to the tournament with a 7/6 6/4 win over Peter Wong (Omagh) and Alan Kennedy (Ballymena) while Laura Conway (Irvinestown) was in great playing form when she beat Aobhinn O'Neill (Cavan) 6/3 6/1 to secure the Grade 6 singles title.
The mid-afternoon Grade 1 contest was a highlight of the day and spectators thoroughly enjoyed watching Greg Boxer (Irvinestown) show his skill and power in a hard-hitting singles against Michael Hatrick (City of Derry) winning 6/1/ 6/1 to retain the Grade 1 title and cup.
He went on to partner Francis Venzon to a convincing 6/0 6/1 doubles Grade 1 win over Andy Moore and Bruce Williams (Cavan).
Andy had earlier earned his Men's singles Grade 4 win in a long, tight match against Cavan’s John O’Neill (5/7 7/5 11/9).
The Mixed Doubles Grade 1 was a Round Robin event which resulted in a 6/2 6/3 win for Donna McSorley (Irvinestown) and partner Karl Donaldson (ATT) over Nikki Hawkes (Omagh) and Stephen King (Cavehill).
Limavady players Adam Thompson and Stephen Wallace took the Men's Grade 4 win after a closely fought 6/4/ 6/3 battle against Enniskillen’s Donal Burns and Michael Kelly (ATT).
Vanessa McBrien secured another victory of the day when she beat Sue Doherty (Cavan) 6/4 6/4 in the Ladies Grade 4 singles.
Dungannon Tennis Club players had their second success in the tournament when Grainne Small and Anna St. George secured the Ladies Grade 6 final with a 6/2 6/2 win over Fiona Balfour (Enniskillen) and Laura Conway ( Irvinestown).
A very long and tough match against Tomas Navickas (Mullingar) saw Cian O’Connor (Cavan) win the Grade 6 singles title with a score of 0/6 6/4 12/10.
The last match to finish witnessed Irvinestown partners Karen Johnston and David Lowe secure the Mixed Doubles 6 title with a 6/4 6/2 win over Aoibhinn O’Neill and Cian O’Connor (Cavan).
Councillor John McClaughry, Chairman of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council (FODC) and Greg O’Rawe, President of the Ulster Branch Tennis Ireland (UBTI) had both been in attendance and enjoyed watching the matches all afternoon.
At the Finals presentation, Councillor McClaughry expressed admiration for the quality of play and congratulated all the participants.
He also commended Tournament Director John Maguire and the committee members of Irvinestown Lawn Tennis Club on staging such a prestigious tournament and he paid tribute to George Beacom and Bawnacre staff for their work and support throughout the week.
Greg O’Rawe UBTI echoed Councillor McClaughry's kind words and paid tribute to the Tournament Director and his team for the quality and high standard of organising this annual event.
On behalf of the players, Greg Boxer expressed his sincere thanks to and appreciation for the work and effort of John Maguire and the tournament committee members in staging such a high-quality and enjoyable event.
John Maguire, Tournament Director, thanked Councillor McClaughry and Greg O’Rawe for their attendance and ongoing support.
He particularly thanked all the competitors who had travelled to take part in the tournament acknowledging the quality of play and sportsmanship throughout the week.
He expressed sincere thanks to sponsors, Flogas and Mahon’s Hotel noting that without their support, the club could not host such an event.
Joe Mahon of Mahon’s Hotel has been an ongoing sponsor and he attended to present some of the prizes.
John thanked George Beacom and the Bawnacre staff who have always been supportive of the club and all the events. John noted the work and support of his tournament committee and thanked them for ensuring that play and matches during the past week ran smoothly and he looked forward to seeing everyone back in 2025.
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