Badminton in Offaly: Great play and controversy in busy week

Badminton action in Offaly Juveniles took to the courts in Mucklagh Community Centre in an atmosphere of fair play and sportsmanship, and ended in controversy.

Senior Boys and Division 2, 4, and 5 Girls competed to be declared Offaly champions for 2025-2026. Patryk Bochnak and Hunor Kiss, Country Club, were the hard luck boys on the day. They lost 21/20 to David Gibbons and Shane Thompson, and again to Maris and Arnis, Litavneiks. They could only score 18 against Stephen Newton and Rogan Stirrat. This left them with only 2 wins on the day.

At the other end of the league table, the top two teams, who had played all the day before in Dublin, were struggling. David Gibbons and Shane Thompson, Rahan, were in second place with 3 wins, and Cian Dillon and Eoin Lambe, Killoughey, were in third with 2 wins in Round 1. They only scored one win each in Round 2. The leaders from the first round, Wyatt Winston and Aidan Bennies, Phoenix, Tullamore, were unavailable for the second round.

Big winners on the day were Stephen Newton and Rogan Stirrat, Killoughey, with 5 wins in 5 games. Right behind them were Arnis and Maris Litavnieks with 4 wins. Alanso Panos, Boora, and Conor Lambe, Killoughey were in the middle with 2 wins. When the combined scores of the two rounds were added, Stephen Newton and Rogan Stirrat were declared the Champions with 5 wins and 66 points from Round 1. Close behind in 2^nd were David Gibbons and Shane Thompson with 4 wins and 85 points scored in their losses. At this point, a Rahan mentor protested, claiming David and Shane scored 4 wins the first day. The tournament director took back the trophies and medals and said she would check the Round 1 results when she got home as she had copied the results onto the scoresheets and left the paper at home. On further checking, the results stood as announced, Stephen and Rogan are Senior Boys Champions and David and Shane are Silver Medal winners. The Bronze for 3^rd went to Arnis and Maris Litavnieks. Fourth place was held by Wyatt and Aidan. Plate Winners were Cian and Eoin, with the Silver Medals going to Alonso and Conner and the Bronze for 3^rd to Patryk and Hunor.

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Division 2-3 Girls:

For the first time ever in Offaly Juvenile Badminton, a division that was played in the first round was left with only 1 pair in the second round, so Saoirse Murphy and Ava Dunne, Killoughey, played in Division 2, and they weren’t out of place there. Winners of Division 2 were Aisling Mooney and Aisling Farrell, Killoughey, with 3 wins from 4 games in Round 1 and 6 wins from 6 on the second day, giving them a total of 9 wins and 18 points. Hannah Dunne and Zoe Farrell, Killoughey, having defeated Aisling and Aisling in Round 1 and starting level with them today, couldn’t keep up the pace, but the two wins in Round 2 left them with 5 wins and 43 points, enough for the Silver medals. With 4 wins today, Saoirse and Ava added Division 2 Bronze 3^rd to their Championship Winners trophies from Division 3. Kelly Shirley, Clara, and Amna Asif, Phoenix, earned the Bronze for 4^th place.

Division 4 Girls:

Divisions 4 and 5 were the direct opposite to Division 3, with all the girls from Round 1 returning, and more pairs playing in Round 2. Lisa-Marie Newton and Kate Doyle, Killoughey, were table toppers following Round 1, and kept the pressure on in Round 2, finishing the competition with a clean sheet, 9 wins from 9 games, and were declared Champions of Division 4. Jess Mahon and Anna Corroon, Killoughey, could only manage 2 wins in Round 2, but added to their 3 wins from Round 1 propelled them into the Silver Medal spot. Emma Hanlon, Boora, and Michaela Moloney, Killoughey, carried only 1 win forward from Round 1, but were on fire in Round 2 and scored 3 wins and only losing by 2 points to Lisa-Marie and Kate.

The 4 wins and 58 points accumulated in their losses was enough to win the Bronze 3^rd place Championship medal place medal for them, just edging out Emma’s sister Lucy, for a place in the Championship. Lucy Hanlon and Emily Doyle, Boora, finished with 3 wins in Round 2 for a total of 4 wins and 53 points in the losses. They too lost a game by 2 points to Jess and Anna which kept them out of the Championship. Cara McEvoy and Faye Dunne, Killoughey, were another pair with 1 win from Round 1, but could only add two wins to their total. Their 3 wins and 48 points kept them in the Silver medal in the Plate. Isabella Willis and Lucy Bracken, Rahan, only played Round 2 and finished with the Bronze medal for 3^rd in the Plate.

Division 5:

Seven pairs contested Division 5 as opposed to only 4 pairs in Round 1. At the end of Round 1, the players were charged with “go home, train hard, and improve for Round 2, and add to your score.” Several pairs heeded the call. Róisín Maher and Blánaid Collins, Killoughey, scored a perfect 6 from Round 1 (the girls played two sets against each other), but lost to Ella Neville and Katelyn Guinan, Killoughey, and Gráinne Maher and Ella, Killoughey, in Round 2. This was enough to make them table toppers and Championship winners with 10 wins. Ella Neville and Katelyn Guinan, Killoughey, heeded the call to improve. They moved from 3 wins in Round 1 to a clean sweep of 6 wins in Round 2. The 9 wins and 25 points in their losses was enough for the Silver Championship medals.

Shauna Loonam and Leanna Spollen, Killoughey, were two more that heeded the call to improve. Although trailing Emily Cooney, Killoughey, and Millie-Marie, Clara, by 1 point, they scored 3 wins to only 2 for Millie-Marie and Emily, and scraped past them by 4 points, 4 wins and 56 points to 4 wins and 52 points, for the Championship Bronze 3^rd. Millie-Marie and Emily had to settle for the Championship Bronze 4^th. Gráinne Maher, Killoughey, was a newcomer to the competition. When her partner was ill and couldn’t play, she grabbed Ella to play with her. They scored 4 wins and only a 10/11 loss to Millie-Marie and Emily kept them out of the championship. With 4 wins and 15 points, they were declared Plate Winners.

With 1 win and 34 points, Emily Egan, Country Club, and Grace O’Malley, Boora were Plate Silver medalists. Alice Deering and Clodagh, Rahan, playing in their first competition, finished in the Bronze medal position with 1 win and 27 points.

U19 Offaly Team:

Eight teams from seven counties contested the U19 Leinster finals played in Baldoyle Badminton Centre. Offaly were drawn in a Pool with Westmeath, Kildare 1, and Dublin. The Offaly team of Aisling Mooney, Aisling Farrell, Hannah Dunne, Kelly Shirley, Amna Asif, David Gibbons, Shane Thompson, Cian Dillon, Eoin Lambe, and Stephen Newton led off against Westmeath. Offaly singles players, David Gibbons and Aisling Mooney were on fire for Offaly, David winning 21/18 and Aisling scoring a 21/7 win. David and Shane Thompson could only manage 12 points against the Westmeath 1^st Boys Doubles. This left the match score 2-1 with Offaly in the lead. Aisling Mooney and Aisling Farrell added to this with a 21/9 victory. Then disaster struck. Cian Dillon and Eoin Leonard lost 2^nd Men’s 21/17, and Kelly Shirley and Amna Asif lost 2^nd Girls’ 21/10. The match outcome depended on the Mixed pair of Cian Dillon and Aisling Farrell, and they weren’t found wanting. After a hard, closely fought contest, with first one pair and then the other ahead, Cian and Aisling finished the game with 2 points to spare, 21/19, giving Offaly a narrow 4-3 match win.

Next up was Kildare. Aisling Farrell, singles, and Kelly and Hannah Dunne, 2^nd Ladies were the best for Offaly. Aisling score a very respectful 19 points and Kelly and Hannah managed 18 points, The remainder of the games were 10 points or less for Offaly. Kildare finished the match 7-0 winners.

Dublin were Offaly’s last Pool opponents. Dublin has been a thorn in Offaly’s side for many years, consistently outscoring them and winning matches. Heroes for Offaly in the match were Cian and Stephen with a 21/20 win in 1^st Men’s Doubles. Aisling and Aisling managed a very respectable 17 points in 1^st Ladies. After that, Stephen’s 12 in Singles was the high point. The remaining games were 10 or less. Dublin were declared 6-1 match winners. Dublin went on to top the table and play in Division 1 final against Carlow. With 1 match win, Offaly played the Division 3 final against Louth. Division 2 was Meath v Kildare A and Division 4 was Westmeath v Kildare B.

Offaly v Louth

Until the last 2 years, Offaly had Louth’s number, so this year they were hoping for a change. However, that was not to be. Cian Dillon was strong man for Offaly, but his serve kept letting him down. Cian and Stephen Newton Managed 13 points in 1^st Men’s, but that wasn’t enough in a 21 point game. Cian and Aisling Farrell did better in Mixed, but 15 still wasn’t enough for a win. David and Aisling Mooney both lost singles matches. Aisling and Aisling had only a low single digit score in 1^st Ladies. David and Shane could only score a few more points in 2^nd Men’s. Kelly and Hannah fought hard, played a cracking match, but still ended up on the short end of the score. Final match score 7-0. Offaly suffered another loss to Louth and had to settle for the Division 3 Silver Medals.

Coming Badminton

On Thursday, 15 January, the U16 Post-Primary schools will compete in Cistercian College, Roscrea. On the 22^nd of January, Colaiste Naomh Cormac, Killina, Sacred Heart School, and St. Brendan’s CS U19 teams will travel to Dublin for Leinster finals. The month finishes with the U13 Offaly team traveling to Baldoyle for the Leinster finals on 24 January and the Second Round of the Boys Doubles on January 25^th in Mucklagh Community Centre.