Irish U19 Team at European Championships

Sun 27th
Final match 13-14th play off Ireland v Finland

Final position 13th

Rory Byrne V Pyry Poikolainen
9-5 9-1 9-5

Conor O'Hare V Kari Laurikainen
9-0 9-3 9-1

Ciara Moloney V Saara Voltala
Dead Rubber 9-1 9-1

This is Denise and Eddie finally signing of...................

Saturday 4.00pm;
Play offs for 13-17 Ireland 13 V Hungary 16

This was the first team we played who were ranked below us and is reflected in the score All players winning comfortably.
Rory Byrne V Daniel Cseffalvay 9-2 9-1 9-2;
Conor O'Hare V David Lukacs 9-6 9-1 9-3
Ciara Moloney V Esther Varga this was a dead rubber so the best of 3 were played instead of 5 The Hungarian girl put up a spirited fight but Ciara eventually won 2-1 9-6 5-9 10-8.

We will play Sunday at 2.00pm aginst the winner of Israel and Norway for
13th and 14th place

Sat morning 11.00pm Ireland 13 lost to Denmark 11.
This was another hard match for us...........
Rory Byrne up first against Kristian Gross Jepperson
A tired and jaded Rory lost easily to the Dane 9-0 9-0 9-0 . To be fair this was his 9th match in 7 days

Nial Caheny tried hard but lost to Kristian Frost 3-9 0-9 5-9

Ciara´s match was a dead rubber and at this stage of the tournament dead rubbers are played best of three. Ciara again put up a spirited performance losing in three 1-9 9-1 4-9

The next match against Hungary this afternoon is the crunch match we need to start winning now to maintain our ranking

Team event Pool C:
Ireland 13, Sweden 5 Spain 12 and Belgium 4

Ireland lost to Spain 2-1.
Ciara Moloney V Chantel Moros Pitarch
Ciara tried hard but was outclassed by the high ranking Spanish girl losing in three 2-9 3-9 1-9. Good effort

Rory Byrne v Diego Lopez De Moto
Rory played a clever tactical game against Diego, keeping the ball tight, taking pace off , causing the Spanish player to lose patience and go for shots. The first two games were tight enough, but Rory kept to the game plan and won in three 9-6 9-7 9-3 . This was a good result for Rory as last time out he lost three love to Diego.

Conor O'Hare V Albert Hernandez
Score 1-1 in matches and Conor going for the decider started badly falling 5-0 down in the opening game, he pulled back and took the lead 7-6 but in that time gave away 5 strokes. He eventually lost this set 9-10.
In the second game he was trailing 6-1 however this time he was unable to get back into the game losing 4-9. In the third he looked down and out 3-8 match ball down, but true to character he clawed his way back and took the game 10-8. Conor hit a purple patch in the fourth winning fairly easily 9-4. In the fifth he again fell behind 0-4, and was very tired but somehow managed to get his game together to go 6-4 ahead, however by this time there was absolutely nothing left in the tank and he tinned three balls to lose the match 9-6 in the fifth. A tremendous effort!

Ireland (13) V Belgium (4)
First up playing at 2 was Conor O'Hare (no 2) ágainst Dimitri De Bellefroid
Conor started well and capitalised on the slow starting Belgian going 5-1 up. Dimitri pulled back to 5-5- alll and took that game 5-9. Not to be deterred Conor came out in the second and taking advantage of some lose play from his opponent took the second 9-4. The Belgian coach could be heard in the corridor at half time and this obviously had the desired effect as the Belgian came out all guns blazing, taking the third set 3-9. Again Conor came back , looking relaxed and playing good squash winning 9-4
The final set was won by the big Belgian player 9-2, however this was a great performance from Conor against his much higher ranking opponent Score 5-9, 9-4, 3-9, 9-5, 2-9.

2nd Match was Rory Byrne against Rik Smet and the Belgian proving too strong ran out the winner in three quick sets 9-1, 9-2, 9-0.

Niamh Brennan played Odie Wavreille Looking nervous , she tried hard but again lost in three quick sets 1-9, 2-9, 0-9

The kids were back on the courts at 2pm against the number 5 nation - Sweden
Niall playing at 2 had no answer to the racket skills of Sebation Victor who won convincingly 0-9, 1-9, 0-9

Rory at 1 tried hard against the big Swedish player Gustav Detter- starting well in a tight first game but eventually losing 9-5
in the second game Gustav took the ball very early and dictated play running Rory around the court Rory lost 3-9. The third game was much the same as the second with the Swedish boy continuing to take the ball early and control play - Rory losing 1-9
Score 5-9, 3-9, 1-9.
Ciara had a great game against the highly ranked Anna Detter. After losing the first two sets easily to love and 3, she came back to take the third 9-0 and really pushed the Swede all of the way in the fourth only to lose 7-9. Great effort Score 0-9,1-9 9-0 7-9

Next match Friday at 6.00pm - Spain

Tuesday Play-offs:
Conor O'Hare V Joakim Larsson - Sweden play 0ff 37-38
Conor had a comfortable win 9-7 9-3 9-4

Niall Caheny V Lukas Jelinek - Czech Play off 35-36
After two close games and leading 6-2 in the first, Niall lost the game plan in the 3rd crashing out 6-9, 7-9 1-9

Rory Byrne V Peter Creed - Wales Play off 24-25
Rory looked jaded and tired losing quickly in three 1-9 5-9 1-9

Niamh Caheny V Gigany Sierveld - Netherlands
Started really well hitting good length taking a tight first game 9-7, could not maintain that level of play and went down in four 1-9 4-9 6-9

Ciara Moloney V Sandra Holmes play off 27 -28
Ciara has played good squash all through the tournament and won easily 9-1 9-6 9-0

Monday 5th round:
Niall Caheny v Joakim Larsson of Sweden
After a bad start, Niall recovered well and worked hard to win the next 3 games 1-9 9-5 9-6 9-7. Good effort

Ciara Moloney V Julie Neilson - Denmark
Ciara tried very hard and gave it her best shot coming close to pinching the second set, however she looked a bit tired and lost in three. Good effort 3-9 7-9 2-9

Conor O'Hare v Lukas Jelinek -czech Republic 9-5 8-10 8-10 6-9
Conor started well winning the first game, however the czech came out all guns blazing in the second. Conor hit too many x courts leaving the ball out in the middle of the court, easy shots for Lukas to pick off. Conor pulled back to 8-8 but löst 8-10. The third game followed in a similar vein - too many x courts and too many unforced errors. Again Conor clawed his way back to 8-8 only to lose 8-10. Conor was 6-3 up in the Fourth but struggling with a pulled groin muscle lost this set 9-6
Good effort but too many mistakes
(Treated by the physio after)

Rory Byrne beat player from Wales (did not see this match)
Rory won 9-3 10-9 9-10 9-6

Niamh Brennan playing in the round Robin went down to Saara Valtola of Finland 0-9 7-9 6-9
After an awful start, she settled down to play some good squash taking control of the T and moving her opponent around. Her opponent however after some great retrieving won the second game . The third game was similar with Niamh moving Saara around the court but just not able to win the rally.
Good effort

4th round results Sunday
Rory Byrne v Pontus Olsen - Sweden
Rory had an easy win against the swedish boy 9-1,-9-2, 9-3

Ciara Moloney played Lovisa Forstadius from Sweden.
Played extremely well -good length and taking the ball early, played the right game and won 9-4, 9-6 9-3

Conor O'Hare V Diego Lopez De Mota Spain
A hard match and a long first game with conor just losing out 9-10 having come back from 3-8 down . He lost focus in the second game which quickly went away from him and again in the third he found himself 3-8 down. He seemed to relax then, hitting with more penetration, which enabled him to drop into the nick and he pulled back to 8-8, unfortunately the effort was too much and he lost the third set 10-9. This was a great effort though and a big improvement on the last time Conor played Diego

Niall Caheny V Dimitri de Bellefroid 9-6 0-9 0-9 3-9
Nial started well against the Belgian , but it all went wrong after that. He will be the first to admit that he did not play well!!

Niamh Brennan had only 1 round robin match earlier in the day which she won.

3rd Round Matches
Conor O'Hare had a hard, long match against Ahmed Abil Aziz of Sweden eventually winning, 9-6, 4-9, 9-4, 5-9, 10-8. The first 2 games were marred by unforced errors on both sides, indeed these were a feature of the game with both players hitting the tin.
With the game evenly balanced at 2-2 , the 5th set continued in this vein with Conor hitting numerous shots in the tin and falling 1-6 behind, however, he never gave up and fought back to 5-6, then lost the serve and went 5-8 behind. At match ball Conor went for a volley nick - it was a great shot , however the ball burst. After warming up the new ball, this seemed to destroy the Swedish boys concentration and Conor went on to win the final set. All credit to him for hanging in there.

Niall V Lauri Kisling -Estonia
Niall was far too good for his opponent outclassing him three easy sets 9-1, 9-5, 9-2

Rory had a long a difficult match against Thibault Prandi of France losing 3/2 7-9, 10-9, 4/9 9-5, 4-9
After losing a tight first game , he came back from 2-6 down to take the second, working hard and retrieving well. This seemed to take a lot out of him and he lost the third easily but rallied in the fourth.Unfortunately there was nothing left in the tank and despite a brave effort he lost the fifth.

Ciara Moloney V Mahrren Myhre of Norway 5-9, 9-5, 4-9, 1-9
Ciara started really well against the hard hitting, stocky Norwegian but lost the first set to 5. She found better length in the second game keeping the ball tight and forcing her opponent to make mistakes winning 9-5. The Norwegian stepped up the power in the third and fourth games and Ciara could not deal with that extra pace

Playing in a round robin (as she lost her first round match), Niamh Brennan eventually beat the Estonian girl Diana Leguss 9-5, 3-9, 9-6, 9-10, 9-7 fighting back from 2-6 down in the fifth. She was making a lot of errors but to her credit did not give up.

2nd Round matches
Ciara Moloney V Celia Allamarget. (France) Ciara lost 3-0
Ciara put up a spirited fight against the classy french number 3 seed, but went out in three straight 9-1,9-3, 9-1

1st Round matches:
Conor O'Hare V Graham Melvin (Scotland) Conor lost 0-9, 7-9, 2-9
After a slow start in the first game and basically making too many unforced errors, Conor got into the second game, hitting better length and width, however he ran out of steam against the older more experienced Scot, falling into the trap of going for outright winners, A good effort against an older and more experienced opponent

Nial Caheny V Kevin Brechbuhl of Switzerland: Niall lost 5-9, 3-9, 0-9
Niall started will holding the Swiss boy to 5-5 and moving around the court, however the effort was too much and he lot the first game to 5. Niall could not maintain his concentration or game plan losing in 3 to a stronger opponent

Ciara Moloney V Cigany Sierveld Ciara won 9-2, 2-9, 9-6, 9-5
A good start for Ciara considering all the pressure in the first game, which she won comfortably. However, the Dutch girl came back strongly in the second. Ciara refocused hitting better length and keeping her opponent pinned in the back quarters, running out the winner in 4. A good start and win for Ciara

Niamh Brennan V Lucy Favioli -Czech Republic Niamh lost 0-9, 1-0, 2-9
The tall, hard-hitting Czech girl was far too strong for Ciara and despite a valliant effort she lost in three.

Rory Byrne had a bye in the first round and lost to the number 1 seed Chris Simpson 4-9, 0-9, 1-9 in the next round. He put up a good show in the first two games with great retrieving, but the effort was too much.