Schedules

ILTB Irish National Squash Championships:

Kenny and Mylotte take titles

Liam Kenny and Laura Mylotte claimed the Invest Like the Best Irish Squash National titles this weekend at the Fitzwilliam Club in Dublin. Kenny the number 1 seed proved his pedigree with a 9/0 9/5 9/3 win in 40 minutes, over Irish stalwart Derek Ryan. It was Ryan's fifteenth final but a ninth win was kept out of his grasp by Kenny's controlled and accurate play.
Kenny said afterwards "It's always hard playing Derek. He always fights for everything and you can never relax against him. It feels great to retain the title and I am looking forward to defending it next year."

In the ladies event Laura Mylotte the number 2 seed upset the seedings by beating the number 1 seed Aisling Blake to claim her first national title with a hard fought 9/5 3/9 10/9 9/2 win in one hour and twenty minutes. Mylotte took the first, only to see Blake hit back to take the second an level the match. Mylotte then gained an 8-4 lead in the third but Blake fought back to 8-8 all before Mylotte eventually closed the game out 10/9. From 4-2 in the fourth Mylotte broke away to take the game 9/2 the match and the title. An estactic Mylotte said "I'm delighted to have won. I have worked so hard over the last couple
of years after returning from injury and this makes it all worthwhile."

Mens A
Liam Kenny bt Derek Ryan 9/0 9/5 9/3

Ladies A
Laura Mylotte bt Aisling Blake 9/5 3/9 10/9 9/2

Men's B
Kevin Knox bt Chris O'Kane 9/4 5/9 9/6 9/4

Men's O35
Graeme Stewart Bt Eoin Ryan 9/5 9/2 9/1

Ladies O35
1st Place Rosie Barry
2nd Place Dee Hourihane

Men's O40
Keith Bullen Bt John McKay 9/1 9/7 9/2

Ryan into fifteenth final

Derek Ryan the Manchester based Dubliner beat John Rooney of Galway 4/9 9/5 9/5 9/2 to reach his fifteenth final. Ryan the number two seed has won the title eight times and faces last year's winner and top seed Liam Kenny the current world No.44.

Aisling Blake the number one seed of Sligo faces Laura Mylotte the number 2 seed in the final. Blake bt Zoe Barr 9/1 9/2 9/3 and Mylotte secured her final berth with a 9/5 9/6 9/6 win against Eleanor Lapthorne.

Mens Semi final:

L Kenny V A Kirkland 9/3 6/9 9/1 9/0
D Ryan V J Rooney 4/9 9/5 9/5 9/2

Final L Kenny V D Ryan
3:20 pm Fitzwilliam LTC
Final L Kenny V D Ryan

Ladies A semi final
A Blake V Z Barr 9/1 9/2 9/3
L. Mylotte V E. Lapthorne9/5 9/6 9/6

Ladies Final Sunday Fitzwilliam 2.40p.m
A. Blake V L Mylotte

Finals Schedule
12pm Mens Over 40
12:40pm Mens B
1:20pm Ladies Over 35
2:00pm Mens Over 35
2:40pm Ladies A
3:20pm Mens A Final

ILTB Irish National Squash Championships sees Kenny through in style.

Liam Kenny was the first player to book his semi final place with a comprehensive 9/0 9/1 9/1 win over team mate Neal Murphy. Kenny took full advantage of the effects of Murphy's marathon last night with Brian Byrne and was unrelenting in his play. His semifinal opponent is Angus Kirkland who came through with a hard fought win over Ulsterman Stevie Richardson.

In the bottom half Irish stalwart Derek Ryan overcame David Ayerst in four while John Rooney ended Arthur Gaskins title hopes winning in three. A remarkable fifteenth final place awaits Ryan if he can get past the talented Galway man.

Mens A Quarter final.

The top three ladies Aisling Blake, Laura Mylotte and Eleanor Lapthorne scored relatively comfortable wins Katie Wilson, Jenny Dillon and Kerri Shields respectively. Zoe Barr scored a minor upset beating Ulster compatriot Tanya Owens in four. She now lines up against Aisling Blake with Eleanor Lapthorne faces Laura Mylotte.

Mens A Quarterfinal Results
Derek Ryan V David Ayerst 9/5 9/6 8/9 9/3
Liam Kenny V Neal Murphy 9/0 9/1 9/1
John Rooney V Arthur Gaskin 9/6 9/5 9/5
A Kirkland V Stevie Richardson 9/4 9/1 4/9 9/4

9-16 place playoff
Brian Byrne V Ciaran McCoy 9/7 9/1 9/2
Rory Byrne V Brian Knox 9/6 9/2 3/9 9/2
Nigel Peyton V Conor O'Hare 9/3 9/6 9/4
Kevin Moran V Anthony Lyons 1/9 5/9 4/9

Ladies A Quater final
Aisling Blake V Katie Wilson 9/1 9/0 9/0
Laura Mylotte V Jenny Dillon 9/3 9/0 9/0
Eleanor Lapthorne V Kerri Shields 9/4 9/2 9/2
Tanya Owens V Zoe Barr 0/9 8/10 9/4 3/9

Mens Semifinal 2:30pm
L Kenny v A Kirkland
D Ryan V J. Rooney

Ladies Semifinal
A Blake V Z Barr
L Mylotte V E Lapthorne

Top seeds all though in ILTB Irish National Squash Championships

All the top Mens seeds reached the quaterfinals of the Invest Like The Best Irish Senior National Championships however some had to work harder than others. Neal Murphy overcame Bryan Byrne in a marathon 1 hour and 45 mins 9/5 in the fifth game and Stevie Richardson was made to work hard for his win over the young Carlow player, Rory Byrne.

The quarter final line up commencing at 10am: (*numbers in brackets denotes seeding).
L Kenny( 1) V N Murphy (8)
S Richardson(5) V A Kirkland(4)
J Rooney (3) V A Gaskin (6)
D Ryan(2) V D Aherst(7)

The Ladies A Quartefinal is at 10:40 am
A Blake (1) V K Wilson (8)
L Mylottte ( 2) V J Dillon (7)
E Lapthorne (3) V K shields (6)
T Owens (4 ) V Z Barr (5)

Mens A
Liam Kenny V Ciarán McCoy 9/0 9/2 9/0
Derek Ryan V Anthony Lyons 9/1 9/2 9/5
John Rooney V Conor O'Hare 9/0 9/4 9/2
Angus Kirkland V Brian Knox 9/2 9/1 9/0
Arthur Gaskin V Nigel Peyton 9/5 9/0 9/7
David Ayerst V Keith Moran 6/9 9/6 9/2 9/6
Neal Murphy V Brian Byrne 9/7 9/10 9/10 9/1 9/5
Stevie Ricardson V Rory Byrne 9/7 9/10 9/1 9/5

Ladies A
Kerri Shields V Jennifer Ross 9/0 9/2 9/1
Jennifer Dillon V Roisin Brennan 9/4 9/7 9/5
Katie Wilson V Ciara Moloney 9/4 9/5 3/9 10/8

Mens O40
John McKay V Dominick Tighe 9/4 9/3 9/7
Keith Bullen V Tomas Ronan 9/4 9/5 9/3
Jim Flynn V Michael Conlon 9/4 9/3 9/5
David Borton V Tom Cantwell 10/8 9/0 9/5
Gerry Callanan V John Kielty 9/3 3/9 9/0 9/5
Damian O'Reilly V David Flynn
Brian Hannigan V Eugene O'Sullivan

Mens B
Paul Linehan V Neil Martin 9/7 9/6 9/0
Sam Olwill V Sean Manille 9/0 9/0 9/1
Kevin Knox V Ian Hurley 9/3 9/5 9/6
Jonathan McBride V Michael Conroy 9/6 10/8 9/1
Chris O'Kane V Cian Forkan 9/1 9/2 9/3
Richard McBride V Colm Dolan
John Roberts V Eoin Higgins
John Dillon V Tony Knights

Mens O35
Ian Kielty V Alan Slater 9/5 9/7 9/3
Conor Flanagan V Ted Reinecke 9/0 9/0 9/0
Martin McDonnell V Aidan Coppinger 3/9 10/8 9/7 9/0
Barry McCarthy V Matthew O'Connor 9/2 9/3 9/0
Brian Mahon V Billy Walsh 10/9 9/1 2/9 9/7

Invest Like the Best Irish Squash National Champinships -- Qualifying Results

Good win for O'Hare

Qualifying for the Invest Like the Best Irish Squash National Champinships got underway at Fitzwilliam LTC last night. Conor O'Hare caused the upset of the evening, celebrating his 17th birthday in style, with a fine 10-8, 9-7, 9-0 win over Waterfords Kevin Knox. His reward is a place in the Mens A event where he will face John Rooney the number 3 seed from Galway.


Keith Moran bt John Dillon 3-0
Nigel Peyton bt Richard McBride 3-0
Brian Knox bt Gordon Harpur 3 - 0
Conor O'Hare bt Kevin Knox 3-0
Rory Byrne bt Chris O'Kane 3- 0
Ciaran McCoy bt Paul Linehan 3-1

Kenny favourite for ILTB National title

Liam Kenny is the hot favourite for the Invest Like the Best Irish Squash Championships being held at the Fitzwilliam LTC this weekend. Kenny, the world no. 44, is returning from International duty in Islamabad to defend the title he won last year over Dublin’s Derek Ryan. Kenny’s likely path to the final will see him take on one of his newly capped teammates, Neal Murphy or Brian Byrne, in the quarterfinals. The semi final offers Kenny the prospect of one of two old campaigners in Stevie Richardson the 2002 Champion or former English professional Angus Kirkland who becomes eligible for the event this year, for the first time, having resided here for the last three years.

Ryan is again seeded to be Kenny’s final opponent. The 36 year old Ryan has appeared in14 finals, winning eight of them, the last of which was back in 2003. His path to the final should prove more taxing than Kenny’s, not least as he has been spending more time in the physio room than the squash court -- giving treatment not receiving it! -- as he is completing his final year of studying to become fully qualified. His quarterfinal should see him face the experienced David Ayerst of Belfast with Galway’s John Rooney waiting in the semi-final. However, Rooney has had a difficult year with illness and injury and will be severely tested in his projected quarterfinal with the fast improving Arthur Gaskin, the Nottingham based Carlow player.

The ladies event is guaranteed a new winner with the withdrawal yesterday of World no.11 Madeline Perry of Banbridge through injury. The main beneficiaries of Perry’s misfortune are Aisling Blake of Sligo, Galway's Laura Mylotte, Eleanor Lapthorne of Cork and Tanya Owens from Belfast. Blake ranked 52 in the world was runner-up to Perry last year and will be determined to go one step further this year.

Perry Bows out of Nationals
Madeline Perry, the Irish No.1 announced her withdrawal from the Invest Like the Best Irish Squash National Championships being held at Fitzwilliam LTC from 16-18 December. The seven-time champion and current world No.11 has a niggling injury that requires some rehabilitation over the coming weeks.
Perry said “ I am really disappointed to be missing the Nationals as I always enjoy playing at home and I was looking forward to defending my title, however the injury requires that I keep of the court for the next couple of weeks.”
Perry has risen from 16 to 11in the past twelve months and will hope to continue her recent good form, where she reached the final of the Monte Carlo Classic and last eight of the World Open, into the New Year.
Aisling Blake of Sligo, last year’s runner up and currently ranked 52 in the world, moves to the number 1 seed position.

Invest like the Best to sponsor Irish Squash National Championships
Invest Like the Best, the Irish-based stock market training company founded earlier in 2005, is pleased to announce a new sponsorship partnership with Irish Squash for this year’s National Championships. ‘Invest Like the Best’ aims to teach people easy-to-follow steps to investing successfully in the stock markets. The event is being held in the Fitzwilliam Club from 16-18 December.
Ireland’s best men and women will be competing for the coveted title. The men’s field is headed by world top 50 player and holder Liam Kenny and 8-time former winner Derek Ryan. On the women’s side, Madeline Perry of Ulster, the world no.11, will be looking to extend her record of 7 titles.

Mr. Rory Gillen of Invest Like the Best says “We welcome the opportunity to sponsor the premier tournament of the year in the Irish Squash calendar and look forward to a top class event”.

Angus Kirkland of Irish Squash stated, “We are delighted to announce that Invest Like the Best is backing this event and the sport of squash. We are looking forward not only to an outstanding competition but also to developing this relationship.