Badminton in Offaly: U16 players battle for Leinster qualification

Cistercian College Roscrea, rang with the thuds of shuttles hitting rackets as Offaly Post-Primary boys and girls fought for the right to represent the county in Leinster. Banagher College Colaiste na Sionna, Cistercian College Roscrea, Colaiste Naomh Cormac, Killina, Sacred Heart School, and St. Brendan’s Community School competed for the honour.

U16 boys

No team controlled the matches in the boys’ competition. Only 4 matches were scored 6-0, while 5 were drawn, 3-3. The Cistercian College team of Walter Zhou, Linus Au Yeung, Qingxuan (Aiden) Wang, Diego Valenzuela, and Enoch Gao met St. Brendan’s, Pierre Savy, Ryan Lagace, Lorcan Owens, Harry Larkin, Sean Hynes, and Adam Motyl in the lead-off game. Walter Zhou led off for CCR with a big win in 1^st singles, but St. Brendan’s scored wins in the second, third, and fourth singles, giving them a 3-1 lead going into the doubles. Walther teamed with Diego in first doubles and scraped out a win for CCR against Pierre and Harry, 15/13.

The winning of the match came down to second doubles. CCR were not found wanting. Linus and Aiden for CCR may have lost to Ryan and Lorcan, St. Brendan’s in the singles, but they proved formidable in doubles, defeating the two boys 15/11, to level the match 3-3. Colaiste Naomh Cormac A, Aaron Maher, Isaac Holland, Conor Doyle, and Reece Kenny met CNC B, Sean Lambe, Harry Heffernan, Luke Guinan, and Harry Bracken in the first round also. CNC A scored the first 6-0 win of the day.

The 3^rd match in Round 1 featured Killina, Troy Feery, Stephen Russell, Sam Morris and Conor Monaghan against Hugo Loonam, Sam Goherty, Daire Hogan, Ronan Kehoe, Eanna Mahon, Iarla Sheehan and Colm Boylan. If Sam Morris, Killina, could have finished his out game against Daire Hogan, 15/14 to Daire, the results would have secured a win for Killina, but the teams finished 3-3. When CNC A met Killina, the teams fought out the third 3-all draw out of the first 4 games. Troy Feery slipped past Aaron Maher 15/13 and Stephen Russell squeezed past Isaac Holland 15/14 and the two Killina’s teamed up to win 1^st doubles. The remaining 3 games were won by CNC by wide margins.

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St. Brendan’s v CNC B proved very one-sided. Luke Guinan was the only CNC player to score a win. Pierre, Ryan and Harry all won singles and the boys teamed up to win the doubles. The score finished 5-1 to St. Brendan’s. Walter, Linus, and Aidan all scored wins for CCR in singles and Walter and Linus teamed to win first doubles, earning CCR a 4-2 victory against Banagher College. Eanna and Eanna and Ronan were victorious for BCCNS.

No one knew at the time, but the match between St. Brendan’s and CNC A in Round 3 was the crunch match of the day. St. Brendan’s, Pierre, Ryan, Lorcan, and Harry scored a clean sweep against Aaron, Isaac, Conor and Reece in singles and teamed up to win the two doubles for St. Brendan’s. Aaron came close to Pierre, 13/15, but all the other games were more one-sided to St. Brendan’s.

CCR v Killina was another one-sided match. Stephen Russell was the only player to raise the flag for Killina with a 15/13 win against Linus Au Yeung. Sam Morris tried hard for Killina, but went down 15/14 to Aiden Wang. Match score, 5-1 to CCR. CNC B suffered another 6-0 defeat to Banagher College. Luke Guinan came closest for CNC B, losing 14/15 to Eanna Mahon. Colm Boylan managed to get the last shuttle to the floor in 2^nd singles when BCCNS met St. Brendan’s, for a 15/14 win Then he teamed with Iarla Sheehan, who lost heavily to Pierra Savy, for another BCCNS win. But that was all the damage they could do to St. Brendan’s. Pierre, Lorcan, Harry, and Ryan and Lorcan won the remaining games for St. Brendan’s, earning them a 4-2 victory.

The battle to avoid the wooden spoon played out between Killina and CNC B. Troy Feery led off for Killina with a 15-12 win against Sean Lambe. Stephen Russell followed with a win against Harry Heffernan, CNC B. Luke Guinan scored the first win for CNC B with a win against Sam Morris. Harry Bracken followed with a win against Conor Monaghan. Match score, 2 all going into the doubles and finished 3-all when the doubles were completed, with Killina winning the first and CNC B winning the second.

CNC A scored a clean sweep against BCCNS, winning all 6 games. First singles between Aaron Maher and Iarla Sheehan was the closest, 15/13 to Aaron. CCR met CNC B in the last round. Walter Zhou drew first blood for CCR with a huge win against Sean Lambe. Linus Au Yeung made short work of Harry Heffernan, CNC B. Luke Guinan started a CNC B comeback with a win against Aiden Wang. Harry Bracken followed for CNC B with a hard fought win against Diego Valenzuela, CCR. Sean and Luke were unlucky to lose 1^st doubles, but Walter and Diego rose to the occasion and scored the last point for a 15/14 win. Linus and Aiden finished with a big win in 2^nd doubles, earning CCR a 4-2 match victory.

When St. Brendan’s met Killina, Troy Feery, Killina, lost his first 1^st singles match of the day to Pierre Savy. Stephen Russell saved some face for Killina with a win in 2^nd singles against Ryan Lagace. Lorcan Owens and Harry Larkin won their singles for St. Brendan’s and the 4 boys won both doubles, finishing with a 5-1 victory. St. Brendan’s topped the table with 23 points from a possible 30. They will go forward to play in Leinster Division 2. Fighting for second were CNC A with 15 points and CCR with 16 points, and most fitting, the last match for the boys was between these two teams.

CNC had to win 4-2 to leave the teams level and 5-1 to finish 2^nd. CCR had to win at least 3 to stay in second. Walter Zhou led off for CCR with a big win against Aaron Maher. Linus Au Yeung followed this with another win for CCR against Isaac Holland CNC A. Conor Doyle stepped up for CNC A with the first 15 serves of the game to defeat Qingxuan (Aiden) Wang. Reece Kenny scored another win for CNC A against Diego Valenzuela. All level going into the doubles. When Walter and Diego won 1^st doubles, the curtain came down on CNC A’s hopes for Leinster. Even though Conor and Reece, CNC A won 2^nd doubles, Cistercian College Roscrea finished with 19 points and second place on the table and will go forward into Leinster Division 3. Colaiste Naomh Cormac 1 finished with 18 points in third.

U16 girls

Following Round 1 of the play, it was evident that the teams were split with the winners and the wins not. Sacred Heart School 1, Colaiste Naomh Cormac, and St. Brendan’s all won their matches 6-0. The Sacred Heart 1 team of Evelyn Varghese, Shruthi Yeradoddi, Bayley Conway Bracken, Bilha Traji defeated Sacred Heart 2, Sierra Bankole, Rodela Gregory, Aafiya Zaman, Anna Mahon and Hannah Paskei The closest game was 3^rd singles when Aafiya scored 13 against Bayley. CNC team, Aisling Mooney, Saoirse Murphy, Ava Dunne, Siún Joyce and Alana Gellar were ruthless against Killina, Alesha Guar, Cara Moran, Michaela Kilmartin, and Cate Ryan O’Brien.

The Killina girls’ never reached double digits in any of their games. The St. Brendan’s team of Aisling Farrell, Zoe Farrell, Anna Tierney, Rachel Hoare, Mollie King and Katelyn Canham just scraped the 6-0 win when Rachel managed the 15^th point in a 14-all match against Isa Duffy. Other members of the Banagher College team were Emma Bryne, Amy Kennedy, Laura Staunton, Aine Lyons, and Rebecca Slevin.

Sacred Heart 1 played Killina in their second game. They were nearly as dominate against Killina as Colaiste Naomh Cormac had been. Match score, 6-0. The wins and wins not continued into the Sacred Heart 2 and St. Brendan’s game. St. Brendan’s allowed SHS 2 only 8 points maximum in any game in their 6-0 win. CNC and BCCNS continued in the same vein with CNC again not allowing their opponents into double digit figures in their 6-0 win.

With two 6-0 wins apiece, the match between St. Brendan’s v Sacred Heart 1 was on paper, a competitive match. Sacred Heart and St. Brendan’s have been the dominate girls’ teams in Offaly for the last 3 years. This year was different. Aisling outscored Evelyn by a big margin in 1^st singles. Zoe just scraped past Shruthi 15-14 in 2^nd singles. Anna, Rachel and Aisling and Zoe all had big wins before Shruthi and Bayley defeated Anna and Mollie 15/7. St. Brendan’s were on the long end of a 5-1 score. Banagher College hit their stride against Killina and scored a 6-0 win. CNC continued their dominance against Sacred Heart 2 with another 6-0 win. Sacred Heart 1 and Banagher College played the first competitive game of the girls’ competition. Evelyn, SHS 1, defeated Amy, BCCNS, by a huge score. Shruthi, SHS 1, didn’t give Rebecca, BCCNS, a look in, winning 2^nd doubles in 15 serves. Winners changed in 3^rd and 4^th singles. Isa, BCCNS defeated Bayley, SHS 1, 15-12, and Emma, BCCNS, outscored Bilha, SHS 1, 15-10. Evelyn and Bilha, SHS 1, won 1^st doubles, and Isa and Emma, BCCNS, won 2^nd doubles. The match ended in a draw, 3-all.

When St. Brendan’s met Colaiste Naomh Cormac, 1^st and 2^nd on the table was up for grabs. CNC had three 6-0 wins. St. Brendan’s were one behind with two 6-0 wins and one 5-1 win. St. Brendan’s levelled the score in first singles when Aisling Farrell, St. Brendan’s defeated Aisling Mooney, CNC, 15-14.

That was the only bright spot for St. Brendan’s. Saoirse, Ava, Alana, Aisling M and Saoirse and Ava and Siún, CNC, all outscored Zoe, Anna, Rachel, Aisling F and Zoe, and Anna and Rachel, St. Brendan’s. CNC were on the long end of a 5-1 score.

This match determined that Colaiste Naomh Cormac would go forward into Leinster Division 2, and St. Brendan’s would play Leinster Division 3. But, the competition wasn’t over yet. The two bottom teams played off next. A close match could have been expected, but that never materialized. Sacred Heart 2 led off winning the first 3 singles when Sierra defeated Alesha, Rodeia defeated Cara, and Aafiya defeated Michaela. Cate stepped up for Killina and defeated Anna, SHS 2. SHS 2 regrouped and Sierra and Madina won 1^st singles and Rodeia and Aafiya won 2^nd doubles. The final score finished 5-1 in favour of Sacred Heart 2.

Colaiste Naomh Cormac met Sacred Heart 1 in their final match. CNC never allowed SHS 1 more than 6 points in any game in their 6-0 victory. Sacred Heart 2 v Banagher College provided a more competitive end of the competition. Isa, BCCNS defeated Sierra, SHS 2 15/10. Rodeia SHS 2 outscored Aine, BCCNS to level the match. Laura, BCCNS, held Aafiya, SHS 1 to 11 points for a win. When Emma, BCCNS, outscored Anna, SHS 2, Banagher College went 3-1 up. Sierra and Llin added another win for SHS 2 against Isa and Mollie. Laura and Emma, BCCNS, finished with a flourish against Rodeia and Aafiya, SHS 2 to win the match for Banagher College, 4-2. Killina had to leave before the last match so they conceded a walkover to St. Brendan’s. Colaiste Naomh Cormac finished on 29 points to 24 points for St. Brendan’s, the difference in the match when the two teams match.

Leinster calling

Colaiste Naomh Corrmac and Killina U19 Boys and Sacred Heart School and St. Brendan’s CS U19 Girls will play their Leinster competition on 22 January. The U 16 winners, St. Brendan’s and Cistercian College Roscrea Boys and Colaiste Naomh Cormac and St. Brendan’s CS Girls will be in Dublin on 26 February. In between these two competitions, the Offaly U13 team will be playing this Saturday, 24 January and the U17 team will be playing 14 February.