Niall gets revenge and claims Irish title at Alpha

Alpha’s world champion Niall McVeigh got his revenge on England’s Andrew Martin last weekend on his way to claiming the title at the Irish Para Championships.
Niall McVeigh can afford himself a grin after beating European Champion Andrew Martin and Kryten Coombs to clinch the Irish Para Championship title at Alpha.Niall McVeigh can afford himself a grin after beating European Champion Andrew Martin and Kryten Coombs to clinch the Irish Para Championship title at Alpha.
Niall McVeigh can afford himself a grin after beating European Champion Andrew Martin and Kryten Coombs to clinch the Irish Para Championship title at Alpha.

Englishman Martin had inflicted a rare defeat of the Irish 24 year-old to lift the European Gold in Spain earlier this year but McVeigh came out on top in Lisburn last weekend to return to the top of the dwarf short stature six class rankings.

With some 57 players in 22 disciplines underway at Lisburn Racquets Club, spectators had hardly settled into their seats when Martin was to suffer a straight sets defeat at the hands of Krysten Coombs, his English team-mate.

With Martin having defeated Ireland’s Andrew Moorcroft in just under 22 minutes 21-10 21-2, Coombs snatched the opening set from Martin’s grasp 21-19 and kept up the pressure in an exacting second to seal a deserved victory 21-13 and turn the competition upside down.

Niall McVeigh discusses tactics with coach Andy Stewart.Niall McVeigh discusses tactics with coach Andy Stewart.
Niall McVeigh discusses tactics with coach Andy Stewart.

There were no further upsets in the two groups with Niall showing a clean pair of heels to Jack Shephard (ENG) and Bobby Laing (SCO) with two straight sets victories and the semi-finals brought together McVeigh and Martin.

McVeigh actually found himself 5-0 in arrears due to a series of errors but he pulled back to level at 8-8 and led at the interval 11-8.

It was Martin who looked the more decisive from 16-16 with McVeigh playing catch-up. With the European champion poised to take the opening set at 20-19, McVeigh, who stands just 4’2” tall, countered and had a game point at 21-20 only for a backhand error to allow Martin to level.

A crosscourt shot found McVeigh floundering to make the return and gave the top seeded Martin a one set lead.

The second set began at a slower pace than the first and the Irish No1 raced into a 11-4 lead and never looked back taking the set 21-14.

The deciding set saw McVeigh dominate the early exchanges leading 7-2 only for Martin to crawl his way back and lead 11-9 at the interval. McVeigh pulled back to level and then won nine of the next dozen points to secure his place in the final against his adversary of many campaigns, Krysten Coombs who defeated Jack Shephard 21-16 21-13.

The final was a very close affair with both parties no more than a couple of points in the lead or in arrears, McVeigh reaching the interval 11-10 in the first and holding on to take the set 21-19.

In the second, Coombs was always in the driving seat but unable to streak ahead. He led 11-9 at the interval and it looked as if the match might go to a decider when Coombs led 19-17 only for McVeigh to wrong foot his opponent and take the title 21-19.

Results:

Dwarf Mens Doubles:Krysten Coombs/Jack Shepherd bt Isaak Daglish/Andrew Martin 19-21 21-16 21-13

LD Mens Singles Div 1:Grant Hunter bt James Part 21-8 21-9

LD Mens Singles Div 2: Adam Smyth (Lisburn Pan Disability) bt Robert Lowery (Bray Lakers) 21-4 21-11

LD Mens Singles Div 3:Michael Mccraw bt Ben Hayward (Lisburn Pan Disability) 20-22 21-12 21-18

LD Mens Singles Div 4:Joseph McLaughlin bt Edward Coughlan (Lisburn Pan Disability) 21-11 21-8

LD Mens Singles Div 5:David Millar (Lisburn Pan Disability) bt Andrew Morgan (Lisburn Pan Disability) 21-17 14-21 21-15

Standing SL3 Mens Singles:Daniel Bethell bt Nick Jarvie 21-9 21-15

Sanding SL4 & SU5 Mens Singles:Anthony Forster bt Bobby Griffin 21-11 21-11

Wheelchair WH1 Mens Singles:Conor Dua-Harper bt Favid Follett 21-15 21-15

LD Womens Singles Div 1:Jenny Gray bt Claire O’Neill (Lisburn Pan Disability) 15-21 21-13 21-18

LD Womens Singles Div 2:Marion O’Malley (BrayLakers) bt Sarah Louise Rea (Lisburn Pan Disability) 21-14 21-16

LD Womens Singles Div 3:Karen Ann Lyttle bt Geraldine Davey (Lisburn Pan Disability) 21-3 21-12

Standing Mens Doubles: James Binnie/A Forster bt David Bethell/Bobby Griffen 21-18 21-12

Wheelchair Mens Doubles: Connor Dua-Harper/David Follett bt Martin Rooke/Michael Smith (Lisburn Racquets) 21-10 21-5

LD Womens Doubles Div 1: Claire O’Neill/Jackie Robins (Lisburn Pan Disability) bt Jenny Gray/Karen Ann Lyttle 20-22 21-16 21-6

LD Mixed Doubles Div 2:Michael Morrow/Jenny Gray bt Aaron Fitzpatrick/Sarah Louise Rea(Lisburn Pan Disability) 21-18 21-15

LD Mixed doubles Div 3:Robert Lowery/Marion O’Malley (Bray Lakers) bt David Adie/Karen Ann Lyttle 21-12 21-7