A father and son have recevied call ups to represent Ulster at tennis within weeks of each other.

Irvinestown veteran John Maguire has been selected to represent Ulster at the Inter-provincial Championships to be held in Greystones in the first week of September.

This will be John’s seventh year in a row to represent Ulster and the call came in the same week his son Kyran was representing Ulster at the U14 Inter-Provincial Championships at Castlebar.

The unlikely double is certainly a rarity in sport and John revealed that Kyran has put in plenty of work to achieve his Ulster call.

“I think Kyran has covered over 5,000 miles in competing to get the call up at U14 level,” explains John.

He adds: “He won at Enniskillen, Lurgan and beat the Ireland number nine in the Boat Club to earn points for his qualification for the Ulster team.” Kyran was joined in the Ulster U14 team in Castlebar last week by Enniskillen LTC member Eimear Smyth and they helped Ulster to the runners-up spot behind Leinster.

John said: “Both Kyran and Eimear played really well and helped Ulster finish second behind Leinster which is no mean feat. The Leinster squad trains in Spain, so they played excellently and did themselves proud.” John is looking forward to representing Ulster for the seventh year in a row and has enjoyed another fruitful summer, winning two Ulster Doubles titles and an Over 50s Singles title.

“It is always a good weekend of competitive tennis and I am looking forward to it.” It has to be said, on this occasion, all he has to do is follow the standards set by his young son Kyran and he will have nothing to fear.