All roads led to the Lakeland Forum recently for the Fermanagh Junior Open. This year's tournament, which was sponsored kindly by Northern bank Ltd and Tommy Fitzgerald (Stiga Ireland) again broke all previous records with an incredible entry of 127 juniors taking part from all over Ireland.
It was great to see the abundance of talent on display from the junior members of the Fermanagh League. Players from Cavan, Monaghan, Tyrone and Fermanagh showed and proved that they can compete with the very best in Ireland and this was witnessed by the Director of Coaching for Table Tennis in Ulster, Jing Yi Goa, the Chairman of the Ulster Table Tennis Association Gilbert Graham and Ken Strong, Chairman of the Irish Table Tennis Association, who were present for the entire competition.
The first categories to commence battle were in the U-10 division. In the girls' section, Belfast girls Emma Ludlow and Cherith McBride made it through to the final and it was Emma who came through as victor and in doing so secured her first Irish title.
In the boys' section, local boy Brian Thornton from the Florencecourt club put in some brilliant performances to gain a semi-final place. However, Clogher's up and coming young star Mark Gordon upstaged Brian in a tense semi-final showdown to reach the final against club mate Michael Jones and it was Michael who won the U-10 title after a thrilling final.
The next division to get under way was the U-14s and in the girls section Judith Atwell and Ruth Trimble from the Clogher club fought some arduous battles to make it through to the semis. Although Ruth played great table tennis at this stage, she was out gunned narrowly by Cavan ace Roisin O'Reilly. However, Judith overturned hot favourite Sarah Timlin from Ballina to reach the final and after that victory there was no stopping the Clogher girl as she cruised to glory against Roisin in the final. It was the Clogher Club again that sealed gold in the U-14 boys when Ashley Robinson overcame Johnny O'Brien from Island Magee in another gripping final. Stephen Slater, from the Letterbreen Club, reached the semi-final of this event but lost out to the in-form O'Brien.
The U-17 girls' final was a repeat of the U-14 semi-final with Judith Atwell and Sarah Timlin going head to head again. However, on this occasion, Judith was robbed of the double when the Ballina girl took the title in the deciding fifth set.
In the U-17 boys' Ashley Robinson took one of the final spots after securing victory over Andrew Nevin from Kesh in the semis and Philip Jamison from Larne secured his final place when he disposed of Darren McMahon from Newbliss and it was the Larne boy who took the honours after outgunning Ashley in a hard hitting final showdown.
In the U-12 divisions all eyes were on local players to deliver the goods. In the girls' section, Clogher's Kerry Jones and Ashley Givan from the Letterbreen Club didn't let the side down.
Kerry made it through to the semi-final and just missed out on a final spot losing to Dublin's Kerry Phoenix. Ashley went one better when she beat Belfast's Annalise Walker in the other semi, but she had to settle for silver on this occasion when the Dublin girl snatched the title after a tense fifth set.
In the U-12 boys' section, Stephen Slater, from Lisbellaw, battled his way through to the final and for the second time on the day faced Island Magee's Johnny O'Brien. This proved to be another five-set thriller with Stephen just edging out his opponent 13-11 in the deciding set to lift the U-12 boys' title.
The Fermanagh Table Tennis Association wishes to thank the sponsors of the event, especially Rebecca Chartres and Tara McKeever from the Northern Bank, Enniskillen, for presenting the prizes. Also to tournament referee, Jeremy Lappin and everyone who helped to make this event a success. A special thanks goes to Isobel Lappin, who took the entries and controlled the administration on the day.
