There was a great entry for the Fermanagh Open Tennis Tournament which began this week. Sponsored by FloGas and the Manor House Country Hotel, play began last Saturday with a number of close fought matches.

Players from Enniskillen, Omagh, Butt Hall, Cavan, City of Derry, Galway, Sligo and Irvinestown made their way to the courts at the Bawnacre Centre in Irvinestown for this annual Open Tournament which is also supported by Fermanagh District Council. A number of first round B Men's singles matches were decided on the first day which involved Ciaran Weber from Omagh who beat Clive Funston from Enniskillen 2/6 6/4 6/4 while there was a good win for Liam McQuaid from Irvinestown who beat Freddie Lusson from Butt Hall 6/4 6/4. In the C Men's Singles, Martin Quinn from Omagh had a convincing win over Irvinestown's Steve Beaumont 6/2 6/0 and will meet the No 3 seed Adam McQuaid from Omagh in the second round.

In the C Ladies' Doubles, the number one seeds Sandra McElroy and Tanya Cathcart were up against Omagh players Georgia Stewart and Maeve Coney. They won the first set 6/3 but the Omagh duo came back strong in the second set to take it 6/4 and it was a close final set which saw the Irvinestown players come through 10/7 in a Championship tiebreak. Another Ladies Doubles was also decided when Irvinestown's Colleen McCusker and Catherine Taggart beating Maxine Leary and Moira McAdam from Enniskillen in straight sets 6/4 6/4. In the C Mixed Doubles, the Omagh pairing of Maeve Coney and Darren Graham beat the seeded pairing of Catherine Taggart and David Lowe 7/6 6/1. In the B Men's Doubles Pete Keogh and Liam McQuaid from Irvinestown played a solid match against John Ross Dundas and Josh Hannah from Enniskillen.

Monday night saw some of the A matches starting including Laura Griffin from Enniskillen beating Donna McSorley from Omagh in the Ladies Singles 6/2 4/6 6/3. The A Men's singles saw Martin Garrity from Irvinestown beat Cathal Deehan from Omagh 6/1 6/1.

The No 4 seed in the C Men's Singles was defeated by young Eoin Meade from Irvinestown 6/3 6/1. Eoin then went on to win his next match against Ben Griffin from Butt Hall 6/2 6/0. Later on in the evening the No 1 seed in the C Men's singles, Brendan King from Irvinestown was defeated in three sets by Darren Graham from Omagh 4/6 6/3 6/2. There was also a win for the No 4 seed Ryan Cuthbertson from Omagh who beat Martin Fryer, City of Derry 7/5 6/0.

Some of the last matches on court provided much excitement, in particular a Men's Doubles between Henry Venzon and Freddie Lusson from Buttt Hall who had a close fought match against Enniskillen's Donal Burns and Martin Fryer from City of Derry. It went down to a championship tie break with Henry and Freddie winning 7/6 3/6 12/10. Henry and Freddie will now play the No 1 seeds Drew Chambers and Bernard Griffin from Butt Hall.

Heavy rain on Tuesday did not interrupt play and a number of close fought matches ensued. The No. 1 seeds in the Men's A Doubles Adam Donaldson and Matthew McGann are through to the next round with a win over Eamon Canning and Davy McDonald from City of Derry 6/1 6/1. Likewise the No 3 seed in the B Men's Singles Mel Burke from Sligo beat Conor McShea, Enniskillen 6/4 6/3. There was a tense three setter between Kirsty Murray, Irvinestown along with partner Gillian Porter from Butt Hall, the pair lost the first set but equalled the match at one set all against Moira McAdam and Liz Murphy, Enniskillen and won the championship tiebreak 10/2. They will now play the No 1 seeds Maggie Britton and Oonagh Colton in the semi finals.