It’s a hat-trick for Rebecca as Alpha girl dominates in Munster

Rebecca Woods stepped up to the line to lift three titles in the Munster Under 15 Open at the weekend.
Rebecca Woods plays a deft backhand at the net and won a triple haul of titles last weekend.Rebecca Woods plays a deft backhand at the net and won a triple haul of titles last weekend.
Rebecca Woods plays a deft backhand at the net and won a triple haul of titles last weekend.

With her sister Rachael taking time out to be ready for the major competitions over the next number of weeks, Rebecca took full advantage, completing a hat-trick.

In the Girls Singles Rebecca, seeded No3/4, showed her intentions early on knocking out Kate O’Reilly for the loss of only two points.

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The seeded Kim Feehily fared little better as the Alpha player marched on towards the semis 21-9 21-11, brushing aside number two seed Niamh Gannon 21-11 21-14.

Rebecca has played Alexandra Troy on two previous occasions with the Alpha player having come out on top in their clash in the Carlton Irish Under 15 Open back in September 2014 while Alexandra had notched a victory back in January of this year in the Irish Under 15 Championships.

With both matches going to three sets, a close encounter was on the cards though, of late, Rebecca has been recording some very fine performances and hopes were certainly high of a Lisburn title win.

Rebecca started at a rate of knots, taking the opening set at a canter 21-6 but all credit to Troy from Ennis as she took the second 21-15.

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Although the decider was a close one, Rebecca held on to make the title her own, winning 21-19 and secure the most important leg of what was to be an important treble.

Girls Doubles

Rebecca teamed up with Niamh Gannon of Terenure in the girls doubles and they progressed through to the quarter-final without any concerns beating Nina Lawlor and Julia O’Reilly.

They had to be at their best to book their place in the semi-final as Kerry Fallon and Orla Flynn caused them all sorts of problems with the top seeds getting through 21-18 21-19.

Anna Comer from Alpha had shown some impressive performances in the singles, and she was to team up with Sophia Noble in the doubles but they went down to Rebecca and Niamh 21-16 21-6.

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However, number two seeds Kim Feehily and Alexandra Troy were determined to upset the top seeds and swiftly took a one set advantage in the final, winning the opening set 21-16 and Gannon and Woods really had to raise their game to take the second 21-17.

The decider was even more intense than the previous two but the top seeds managed to edge ahead and take the title 26-24.

MIXED DOUBLES

Of late, Rebecca and Kyle Magee have reigned supreme in mixed doubles and the Munster Under 15 Open was not going to change things.

The duo were in control throughout, beating Michael Staunton and Orla Flynn 21-6 21-6, easing past Enda Clogher and Jessica Feeney 21-9 21-3 before Amal Maharaj and Aisling O.Meara failed to halt the march in the semi 21-5 21-5.

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In the final, Mark Kinnerk and Niamh Gannon, number two seeds, provided stiffer opposition but they were never going to prevent Rebecca and Kyle from securing three titles each 21-15 21-12.

BOYS SINGLES

In the Boys singles, Alpha’s Jack Livingstone faced the No5/8 seed Evan Byrne from Gorey in his opening match and came back from one set down to level by taking the second 21-15.

He will no doubt be reflecting on what might have been as he came so close to upsetting his seeded opponent before losing 21-18.

Meanwhile, Jack Armstrong progressed into the quarter-finals with wins over Jack Nolan 21-18 21-12 and John O’Sullivan 21-16 21-11 but the No5/8 seed went down in two very close sets to Eoghan O’Grady, the No3/4 seed 21-18 21-19.

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In the Boys Doubles. Jack reached the semi-final partnering Peter McDonald before losing out to eventual champions Mark Kinnerk and Kyle Magee while Jack Livingstone, along with Michael Staunton, gave Adam Barry and Eoghan O’Grady more than a few headaches, taking the opening set 21-15 of their quarter-final.

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