-
- Our three inter-pro players 2010, Donie, Conor and Tom
-
- Shi Zhao wins Irish Junior Classification
-
- Club Donic Winners
2010-11
Leszek Kucharski comes to Easter Camp in Club Donic, Easter 2011
Leinster Junior Classification, 2010
Inter-provincials, May 2011
This year, a record 5 players made it on to the Leinster Inter-Provincial teams. Shi Zhao Li (Under 17), Conor Mullally (Under 14) and Evin McGovern, Donie Mullally and Oisin O’Rourke (Under 12 boys).
The players headed down to Killarney on Friday 29th April. The boys had dinner together on Friday night and then were in bed early for the tournament the following day.
Shi Zhao Li played for the Under 17 boys Leinster team. Leinster beat Munster and Connacht but Ulster proved too strong for the Leinster lads and Ulster went on to take the title for the Under 17 boys,with Leinster second.
Conor Mullally played on the Under 14 boys team for Leinster. Leinster had a comfortable win over Munster beating them 8-1. They then went on to beat Connacht 9-0. Their final match against Ulster finished at 5-1, leaving Leinster take the title for the Under 14 boys.
Evin McGovern, Donie Mullally and Oisin O’Rourke represented the Under 12 boys alongside Alexander Gillen and Conor Gallagher. The Under 12 boys competition was by far the closest competition of the day, with almost every match being 5 sets. Against Munster, Evin McGovern won his 3 games, while Conor Gallagher beat Karl Walsh. However, these were the only 4 games that were won against Munster and this left them 5-4 down to Munster. Connacht were also very difficult, with Evin once again winning his 3 matches, while Gillen and Gallagher took one match each, leaving them with a 5-4 victory over Connacht. The final match against Ulster had to be the match of the day. Evin beat the number 1 seed, Ryan McConkey in one of the earlier matches and after the first 6 matches, the score was 3-3. Conor Gallagher and Evin McGovern stepped up to their final matches in front of a very large crowd which had gathered around the 2 tables. Evin and Conor were up against the joint number 1 seeds, Zak Wilson and Ryan McConkey. Ryan McConkey proved too strong for Conor, even though he put up a very brave fight against him. Leinster were now down 4-3 while Evin continued to battle it out against Zak. Once again, Evin pulled it out of the bag for Leinster and took the number 1 seed, leaving Leinster at 4-4, with Gillen just to beat the number 3 seed, which he did comfortably. Leinster beat Ulster 5-4 and therefore, a countback had to be made to see who was going to take the gold in the Under 12 boys. Unfortunately for the Leinster lads, Ulster took the title on countback, with Leinster taking the silver in the Under 12 boys. All in all a terrific tournament for all, but in particular for Evin McGovern. Not only did he win his 9 matches, he beat 7 boys that were ranked in the top 8 in Ireland. Well done lads!
_____________________________________________________________________
Leszek Kucharski Camp in Club Donic, Easter 2011
Club Donic invited one of the world’s greatest table tennis coaches, Leszek Kucharski, to their Easter Camp. The camp was a three day camp and we had approximately 25 players each day from Cork, Kerry, Mayo, ALSAA, St. Ronans, Eastpoint and our own Club Donic. Kucharsky coached alongside John Murphy, Conor Nolan, Tommy Fitzgerald and Jacqui Mullally.
The camp was completely different to any camps the players had been on before, with Kucharsky introducing exercises that the players had never seen before, so while the players were having fun, they were also training very hard. The feedback from players was very positive after the camp. Kucharski gave plenty of time to every player in the club from our young beginners to the most advanced players in the club. This was a very successful camp for Club Donic and a camp that we would like to repeat annually!
________________________________________________________________________________________
National Championships, 2011
The National Championships this year took place in ALSAA and this year Club Donic had a record number of entries, with 22 players participating. For many players this was their first National Championships and a great experience for them.
Under 12s and Under 17s took place on Saturday. We only had one participant in the Under 17 competition and that was Conor Mullally who was beaten in the quarter finals by Ryan Farrell and went on to take a respectable 6th place in the competition. We had 7 boys participating in the Under 12 competition. 5 of our players got through to the second round, while Ciaran and Shane were put into the plate competition. However, Ciaran went on to the semi-final of the plate and was just narrowly beaten by an Ulster player. Hard luck Ciaran! The second round proved quite difficult for most of the lads and most of them finished in the second round. Evin McGovern, however, went on to win his second round and then came up against the number 1 seed, Ryan McConkey. Evin played out of his skin and put McConkey out of the tournament. Evin faced the English based player Alexander Gillan. He put up a terrific fight in the semi-final and while it was a very tight match, Gillan just pipped him at the post. A terrific tournament for Evin though.
The next day we had 13 players in the Under 14 boys tournament and Aisling, Alex and Kevin in the Under 10 competition. In the Under 10 girls, Aisling played a round robin of 8. Many of the girls were strong players, but Aisling managed to hold her own against them. It was a great experience for her. Alex managed to get through to the second round of the Under 10 boys, but the second round proved too strong for him unfortunately as the standard was extremely high. Kevin played in the Under 10 boys plate competition and had some terrific matches and ended up in the final against a boy from Ulster. While Kevin played his best, Ulster proved just a little too strong and Kevin finished in second place in the plate competition.
The Under 17 boys was a very tough competition with no easy matches for anybody. However, Conor, Tom and Dara managed to get into the second round. Unfortunately, Tom and Dara were beaten in the second round. Conor won his second round and came up against Jonathon Porter in the quarters. This was a very tough match and Porter took him all the way to the 5th set, but Conor just managed to take the last set, leading him in to the semi-finals against Kevin Hutchinson. This was also a nail-biting match and while Conor lost the first set, he took the next three sets comfortably enough and got himself into his first National Championship final against Ryan Farrell. Once again, the final was a terrific match with Conor taking the lead all the way. However, Ryan proved that he never gives up and took the match leaving Conor in second place. In the mean time, the other Conor, Conor Merriman, had a terrific plate competition and finished in the final of the plate. However, like the other Conor, he was pipped at the post in the final and finished in second position. All in all, it was a great tournament for Club Donic.
_______________________________________________________________________
Connacht Open
The Connacht Open took place in Mayo this year. This is the first time in many years that the Connact Open has been held. Tom Davis, Stephen Farrell and Conor Mullally travelled down on Friday evening ready to play for Saturday morning. This was a very tough tournament, with only the best players travelling. Unfortunately, the opening round proved too difficult for Stephen and he was knocked out into the plate competition. Tom and Conor both won their opening group. They then went into the second round of 4 players, where two got out of their group. Both players managed to get out of their groups, putting them both into the last 16. Both players managed to up their game in the last 16 and cruised into the quarter finals. Tom put up a great fight against Jonathon Porter in the quarter finals, but unfortunately lost 3-1. Conor, in the mean time had a very close quarter finals against Colm Murphy from Conor and just managed to scrape through 3-2. After this Tom had to play three players for a play-off for 5-8 position. Tom won two matches and lost 1. However, so did two of the other players and this led to a countback on sets for 5th, 6th and 7th position. Tom was very unlucky here and managed to come out in 7th position, which is his best position to date so well done Tom. Conor met Jonathon Porter in the semis and beat him comfortably in straight sets leading him into his first cadet final. However, Ryan was pipped at the post by Ryan Farrell, who beat him 3-1. In the mean time, Stephen Farrell managed to win the plate competition, so altogether a great tournament for our cadet boys.
Ulster Open took place in Belfast this year. The Under 17 and Under 12 boys took place on the Saturday. Only Conor played in the Under 17 boys and unfortunately, he was beaten in the last 16. Donie and Evin played in the Under 12 boys. Unfortunately, Evin was beaten by one of the lads from Mayo in the opening round. However, this didn’t deter him and he went on to play well in the second round. However, things didn’t go quite his way in the second round and he ended up in the consolation tournament. However, he put all his effort in here and managed to take gold in the consolation competition. Donie had a tremendous first round in the tournament. Unfortunately, he had to pull out of the second round due to an injury. Don’t worry lads, your time will come!
Shane, Oisin, Donie, Evin and Alex travelled down on the Sunday for the Under 12 boys tournament. Once again, the standard in this tournament was very high. Donie, Evin, Oisin and Alex managed to get out of their first groups in second position. However, this left them with very tough groups in the second round and unfortunately, Donie, Evin and Zak Wilson all met in the second round. Donie had great matches against both Evin and Zak but unfortunately was beaten, while Evin progressed into the third round. However, he then had to face up to Ryan McConkey, and while Evin put up a terrific fight, McConkey proved to be just too strong for Evin. Great weekend had by all, however.
Ulster Open, 2010
The Under 14 boys took place on the Sunday and we had 3 competitors. Tom, Conor and Shi Zhao. The three boys played out of their skin in the opening rounds and before we knew where we were, all 3 boys were in the quarter-finals. Unfortunately, Tom was up against Conor in the quarters. After Tom winning the first set 11-3, Conor came back to beat him 3-1. Conor was then up against Shi Zhao in the semi-finals. Shi Zhao managed to take it comfortably in 3 sets. This left Shi Zhao in the final against Ryan Farrell. This time, there was no messing and Shi Zhao took the gold off Ryan. In the mean time, Conor beat Kevin Hutchinson in 3 and 4 place play-off, leaving him in 3rd place. A tremendous performance for our under 14 boys, with Shi Zhao (1st place), Conor (3rd place) and Tom (8th place).
Club Donic Players prove themselves at the Leinster Junior Classification, 16-17 October 2010
Our Under 12 boys had a super tournament. However, it really was Evin’s day, especially when he beat Conor Gallagher in the final taking first place in Club Donic. Donie came in 3rd, after losing to Evin in a very close semis, while Shane and Oisin came in 5th and 6th places respectively.
Shi Zhao Li comfortably won the Under 17 boys tournament with little or no competition from the other players.
In the Under 10 girls, our two girls, Aisling and Grainne proved that they had no nerves at their first tournament and while the competition was very stiff, they played to their full potential and showed the other girls that they were no walkover.
Our Under 10 boys was another successful tournament for Club Donic, with Kevin Wang comfortably winning the tournament. Alex had a tremendous tournament also and only narrowly lost out on third place after a countback. However, Alex is up on the up and up.
The Under 14 boys had a lot of surprised in store. Evin McGovern once again had a terrific tournament, beating Tom Davis in one of the opening rounds. This win put Evin into the quarter finals along with Conor and Shi Zhao Li. Unfortunately, Evin was up against Shi Zhao, who proved too strong for Evin. Conor beat Barry O’Toole in another quarter final, where he met Ciaran Kelly in the semi-final. Unfortunately, Ciaran was the stronger player on the day and beat Conor with a comfortable 3-0 win. Meanwhile, Shi Zhao beat Kevin comfortably in the other semi-final where he met Ciaran Kelly in the final and once again won the final comfortably 3-0. This left 1st, Shi Zhao, 2nd, Ciaran Kelly, 3rdKevin Hutchinson, 4th Conor Mullally.
Most of our players played in the banded event and there was a strong contingency from St. Johns also. However, once again, Club Donic proved too strong for the other clubs and James Carr managed to take the gold in the Under 14 boys banded event.
A very successful tournament for Club Donic and a great start to the season!
Irish Junior Classification 2010
This was the first season of the tournament and Club Donic had a great turnout, with many players playing in their first tournament.
The Under 12 boys had some very stiff competition with the top players from all the provinces travelling to this event. However, two of our players, Evin and Donie, managed to get into the last 16. Hard luck, better luck next time boys!
In the Under 17 boys Conor Mullally and Shi Zhao Li were also up again very stiff competition. However, Conor was only narrowly beaten by Neill Irwin in the last 16, having been beaten 11-9 in the fifth set. Shi Zhao cruised into the semi-finals and was beaten unfortunately by Sam Logue in the semis. Hard luck boys!
On the Sunday, many of our boys played in the Under 14 boys event. Once again, the competition was very stiff with all the top players travelling from the four provinces. While most of our boys played to their full potential, unfortunately many of them didn’t manage to qualify to the second round. Conor and Shi Zhao qualified to the semi-finals. Conor unfortunately was beaten by Shi Zhao in the semis, leaving him in 4th place, while Shi Zhao was up against Ryan Farrell in the final. Ryan pulled out all the stops and managed to beat Shi Zhao for the first time.
As always, well done to all our players who participated in this event
******************************************************************************************************
2009-10
Inter-provincial Championships, 21st February 2010
Three Club Donic players represented Leinster this year at the Inter-provincial Championships. Tom Davis and Donie Mullally played on the Under 12 Inter-provincial Championships, along with Barry O’Toole and Conor Gallagher from Ballyroan. Conor Mullally played on the Under 14 team, along with Ryan Farrell, Ciaran Kelly and Kevin Hutchinson.
The Under 12 team, unfortunately, could not compete with the strong Munster and Ulster teams. However, after a 4-4 draw against Connacht, Donie Mullally took the winning match against Eddie Ditichburn, resulting in third place for the Leinster Under 12 boys team.
The Under 14 boys team had three very comfortable wins over Munster, Connact and Ulster, which resulted in Leinster taking gold.
Overall Leinster won the Under 17 girls and the Under 14 boys and were narrowly defeated in the Under 12 girls, meaning that Ulster once again took first place overall.
National Championships 2010
The National Championships took place in the DCU in April 2010. Tom Davis had the best tournament of his season, beating Martin Ditchburn in his first round. Later in the tournament, he went on to beat Barry O’Toole in the last 16, resulting in him being in the last 8 in Ireland for the first time. However, Tom wasn’t happy enough to finish there and he went on to beat Mark Gordon in the Quarter Finals, leading him into the semi-finals. He came up against tought competition then with Eric Shekleton. Tom took the first set comfortably but unfortunately couldn’t match up to Eric in the second set and Eric went on to take the next three sets. Conor Mullally also had a super tournament, landing himself in the last 8 also. As quoted in the Evening Herald, “Match of the weekend came in the cadet boys quarter-finals, when Club Donic’s Conor Mullally raced to a two-set lead against top seed Ryan Farrell, with some astonishing rallies and great back-court play. However, Farrell fought back to take the next three sets”. Conor finished up with a ranking of 6th place in Ireland, however, which is no mean achievement.
Leinster Junior Close, 21st February 2010
Club Donic had their most successful tournament on 21st February 2010 this year. Pictured below our 9 of our winners. In the Under 12 girls, Lara managed to take fourth place and Aisling took fifth place in the Under 10 girls (a great achievement for her first tournament). Our under 10 boys had a terrific tournament with Donie taking first place, Evin taking third and Shane taking fifth place.
Niall also had a great tournament, taking second place in the plate competition of the Under 12 boys. Tom took second place once again in the Under 12 boys with a great win over Barry O’Toole from Ballyroan in the semi-final. Eoin McDermott took second place in the plate competition of the Under 14 boys, while Conor Mullally beat Ciaran Kelly in the semi-final of the Under 14 boys and led himself to a Club Donic final, meeting Shi Zhao Li. Shi Zhao beat Conor in the final in straight sets.
All round, this has been the best tournament that Club Donic has had to date and we look forward to many more successes like these again.
