More wins at badminton nationals for Alpha players

Alpha Badminton Club can be more than satisfied with the performances of their top young players in the Forza U19 and U15 Irish Nationals staged in Dublin last weekend.
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Matthew Cheung was taking a break from his studies and lifted the U19 Boys Singles title with consummate ease, despite being seeded No3/4 due to his absence from the game and recorded a 21-7 21-9 win over the top seed Pranav Erukatill 21-7 21 in the final.

He will also be delighted with his performance against his major rival in this age group Dylan Noble winning 21-15 21-5 in just 29 minutes.

There was disappointment for Noble and Cheung in the doubles as they lost 21-14 21-12 to the top seeds and eventual champions Scott Guildea and Vincent Pontanosa though Chris Chee and his partner Callum Laird gave the fancied partnership of Erukatill and Praneel Vallapureddy more than a few problems before going down 22-20 21-13.

Alpha's Matthew Cheung in actionAlpha's Matthew Cheung in action
Alpha's Matthew Cheung in action

Chris Chee was to reach the quarter-final with wins over Jack Noble and Aman Kothiyal - both in straight sets - and the young Alpha player can be more than satisfied that he took the top seed - and beaten finalist - Pranav to 24-22 21-15 in the quarter-final.

Ballyclare’s Rory Comer also came through a tough second round clash with Praneel Reddy Vallapureddy in three sets and was to end the hopes of No3/4 seed Robbie Frost in the quarter-final only to lose out 21-17 21-14 to the top seeded Pranav Erukattil.

In the Girls Singles competition top seed Sophia Noble withdrew and this was to allow Alpha’s Laura Bell to progress through to the semi-final with a 21-16 21-11 victory over Kildare’s Aishlinn Murtagh.

She then faced Alpha clubmate Roisin McKenna for a place in the final, after Roisin had ended the hopes of Ballyclare’s Laura Comer 21-15 21-16, with Roisin booking her place in the final 21-15 19-21 21-17 in a 39 minute marathon.

In the other half of the draw Paige Woods was to end the hopes of Ciara Kennedy 21-8 23-21 but was to go down to Neasa Flynn 23-21 21-13.

Alpha’s Jeffrey Rong and Amber Buchanan both narrowly missed out on lifting gold in the U15 Irish Nationals in Dublin last weekend.

Top seed Andrew Hassett and Jeffrey have met on numerous occasions. Hassett eased through however to level 21-7 and was in control in the deciding set to lift the title 21-15.

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There was an intriguing quarter-final in the boys doubles with Alpha’s Aiden Biju Joy partnering Lorcan McGrane against Alpha’s Jamie Blakeman and Dunboyne’s Cillian Dowling with the Joy/McGrane partnership booking their place in the semis 22-20 24-22 before their quest for the title came to an end at the semi-final stage 18-21 22-20 21-17.

Amber Buchanan’s quest for the girls doubles title with Kimberley Pearson came to an end at the semi-final stage as the top seeds lost 21-17 in the deciding set at the hands of Amira Pender and Hannah Shochan 21-17 in the deciding set but the title was to go to the No2 seeds Nicole Joy and Zarah Pender, who had brought to an end the challenge of Amy Moore and Alpha’s Ella Cheung 21-12 21-6 in the semi-final.