Laura is the best in the West

Last Sunday saw a thrilling days tennis played out to large galleries on finals day at the West of Ulster Championship. The Championships saw an increased entry of over 100 players converge on Enniskillen Tennis Club over the course of the week to compete for 15 titles across three grades.

And the host club are beginning to reap the hard work put in at youth level with junior talent starting to emerge as contenders as senior level.

This, indeed, was the case as Griffin showcased her talents to capture the Ladies ‘A’ Singles title. While Laura’s powerful forehand was much in evidence it was her angled backhand returns and a superb display of serving that helped her secure a first West of Ireland singles title.

Alongside Jared Monaghan in the ‘A’ Mixed Doubles final, Laura was involved in a titanic struggle, eventually losing out narrowly 6-7, 7-6, 3-6 to Omagh’s Mark Smith and Nikki Hawkes. Despite the pressure, all four players held serve through the first two sets with a single break of service enough to see the Omagh pairing squeeze through to the finishing line.

In the ‘A’ Mens Doubles it was the pairing of Enniskillen coach Matthew McGann and top junior Ronan McKeever who came from a set down to exact revenge on number one seeds Francis Venzon and John Maguire for defeat in this same competition 12 months earlier. With ferocious hitting from both pairs, the outcome was always going to be tight, but Matthew and Ronan dovetailed well to secure their first ever win over Francis and John, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Francis did, ultimately, take some silverware home with a top class display of serving to beat Matthew McGann 6-4, 6-4 in the ‘A’ Mens Singles, leaving Francis as the only player in this year’s event to retain his West of Ireland title.

The ultra-competitive ‘B’ section also saw impressive local success as Clive Funston captured the much coveted ‘B’ Mens Singles title with a closely fought three set victory over fellow clubmate Chris Cieplucha. Both men then combined to win the ‘B’ Mens doubles marking a magnificent double for Clive to add to his ‘B’ title from the West of Ireland Championships held two weeks ago in Sligo. Clive’s rise through the ranks is even more remarkable given he only took up tennis in his late thirties but a combination of lethal spin, vicious serving and a keen competitive streak have helped the former badminton player achieve many successes on the tennis court. There was further success for Enniskillen as a rejuvenated Donal Burns joined forces with Omagh’s Rachel Logan to take a tense victory 13-11 in a third set tie break against Ollie McShea and Martina Boyd. Rachel had earlier taken the ‘B’ Ladies Singles and Doubles to close out a wonderful triple success for the Omagh star.

As always, the ‘C’ section events were extremely well supported with winners drawn from Millford in Donegal down to Cavan. Fermanagh did gain their share with Irvinestown’s Stephen Phair and Catherine Taggart securing a straight sets victory in the ‘C’ Mixed Doubles and Enniskillen’s own Ruth Armstrong and Enid Redmond claiming the ‘C’ Doubles title.

During prize giving, club Chairwoman, Maxine Leary thanked Blakes of the Hollow for their ongoing and generous sponsorship and noted the strong support of clubs from across West Ulster which is fundamental to the continued success of the tournament.

Winners from the local Enniskillen club were A Ladies Singles Laura Griffin; A Mens Doubles Matthew McGann/Ronan McKeever; B Mens Singles Clive Funston; B Mens Doubles Clive Funston/Chris Cieplucha; B Mixed Donal Burns; C Ladies Doubles Ruth Armstrong/Enid Edmond Other Winners were A Men’s Singles Francis Venzon; A Ladies Doubles Elaine Chambers/Donna McSorley; A Mixed Mark Smith/Nikki Hawkes; B Ladies Singles – Rachel Logan; B Ladies Doubles Mary Cuthbertson/Rachel Logan, B Mixed Rachel Logan; C Men’s Singles Joe Grimes; C Ladies Singles Maria Jones; C Mens Doubles Joe Grimes/Mattias Winkler; C Mixed Stephen Phair/Catherine Taggart Consolation Winners: A Events Ronan McKeever, Matthew McGann/Louise McGann, B Events Donal Burns, Kathleen Maguire, Jimmy Renfrew/Andrea Irvine, Lisa Greaves/Vanessa McBrien, Joe Grimes/Bruce Williams; C Events Andy Elliott, Matt Dillon/Andy Elliott, Mary Gilgunn/Bernie McManus, Alex Knowles/Michelle Kennedy.

Laura Griffin took centre stage at the 2015 Blakes of the Hollow West of Ulster Tennis Championships as the host club’s young star claimed the Ladies ‘A’ Singles title while she also finished runner-up in the ‘A’ Mixed Doubles alongside club mate Jared Monaghan.

Last Sunday saw a thrilling days tennis played out to large galleries on finals day at the West of Ulster Championship. The Championships saw an increased entry of over 100 players converge on Enniskillen Tennis Club over the course of the week to compete for 15 titles across three grades.

And the host club are beginning to reap the hard work put in at youth level with junior talent starting to emerge as contenders as senior level.

This, indeed, was the case as Griffin showcased her talents to capture the Ladies ‘A’ Singles title. While Laura’s powerful forehand was much in evidence it was her angled backhand returns and a superb display of serving that helped her secure a first West of Ireland singles title.

Alongside Jared Monaghan in the ‘A’ Mixed Doubles final, Laura was involved in a titanic struggle, eventually losing out narrowly 6-7, 7-6, 3-6 to Omagh’s Mark Smith and Nikki Hawkes. Despite the pressure, all four players held serve through the first two sets with a single break of service enough to see the Omagh pairing squeeze through to the finishing line.

In the ‘A’ Mens Doubles it was the pairing of Enniskillen coach Matthew McGann and top junior Ronan McKeever who came from a set down to exact revenge on number one seeds Francis Venzon and John Maguire for defeat in this same competition 12 months earlier. With ferocious hitting from both pairs, the outcome was always going to be tight, but Matthew and Ronan dovetailed well to secure their first ever win over Francis and John, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Francis did, ultimately, take some silverware home with a top class display of serving to beat Matthew McGann 6-4, 6-4 in the ‘A’ Mens Singles, leaving Francis as the only player in this year’s event to retain his West of Ireland title.

The ultra-competitive ‘B’ section also saw impressive local success as Clive Funston captured the much coveted ‘B’ Mens Singles title with a closely fought three set victory over fellow clubmate Chris Cieplucha. Both men then combined to win the ‘B’ Mens doubles marking a magnificent double for Clive to add to his ‘B’ title from the West of Ireland Championships held two weeks ago in Sligo. Clive’s rise through the ranks is even more remarkable given he only took up tennis in his late thirties but a combination of lethal spin, vicious serving and a keen competitive streak have helped the former badminton player achieve many successes on the tennis court. There was further success for Enniskillen as a rejuvenated Donal Burns joined forces with Omagh’s Rachel Logan to take a tense victory 13-11 in a third set tie break against Ollie McShea and Martina Boyd. Rachel had earlier taken the ‘B’ Ladies Singles and Doubles to close out a wonderful triple success for the Omagh star.

As always, the ‘C’ section events were extremely well supported with winners drawn from Millford in Donegal down to Cavan. Fermanagh did gain their share with Irvinestown’s Stephen Phair and Catherine Taggart securing a straight sets victory in the ‘C’ Mixed Doubles and Enniskillen’s own Ruth Armstrong and Enid Redmond claiming the ‘C’ Doubles title.

During prize giving, club Chairwoman, Maxine Leary thanked Blakes of the Hollow for their ongoing and generous sponsorship and noted the strong support of clubs from across West Ulster which is fundamental to the continued success of the tournament.

Winners from the local Enniskillen club were A Ladies Singles Laura Griffin; A Mens Doubles Matthew McGann/Ronan McKeever; B Mens Singles Clive Funston; B Mens Doubles Clive Funston/Chris Cieplucha; B Mixed Donal Burns; C Ladies Doubles Ruth Armstrong/Enid Edmond Other Winners were A Men’s Singles Francis Venzon; A Ladies Doubles Elaine Chambers/Donna McSorley; A Mixed Mark Smith/Nikki Hawkes; B Ladies Singles – Rachel Logan; B Ladies Doubles Mary Cuthbertson/Rachel Logan, B Mixed Rachel Logan; C Men’s Singles Joe Grimes; C Ladies Singles Maria Jones; C Mens Doubles Joe Grimes/Mattias Winkler; C Mixed Stephen Phair/Catherine Taggart Consolation Winners: A Events Ronan McKeever, Matthew McGann/Louise McGann, B Events Donal Burns, Kathleen Maguire, Jimmy Renfrew/Andrea Irvine, Lisa Greaves/Vanessa McBrien, Joe Grimes/Bruce Williams; C Events Andy Elliott, Matt Dillon/Andy Elliott, Mary Gilgunn/Bernie McManus, Alex Knowles/Michelle Kennedy.