It has been a hectic few weeks since we came back from Spain. Training has been non stop since we came back and we were at the Essex Open last week. Then there was that injury! Mark has had a sore shoulder which interupted his training and meant he was not fully fit for the tournament.
So three was it! Neal finished 3 in the under 12s and Mark finished 3 in the under 14s. Both are number one in Leinster in their respective age groups. Both did well to make the semi finals. Mark played well within himself to get to the semi carrying an injury. He beat Niall McDonnell in the quarters.
Niall was one of five Eastpoint players in the quarters and he got there by knocking out Conor Morgan who was 9-5 up in the fifth before going down 15-13 in the fifth set. This was a superb preformance from Conor and highlights the fact that he is capable of a quarter final appearance himself.
Shane Foster also got to the quarters by beating another Eastpoint player. He was victorious in an epic battle with Gavin Maguire in the Last 16. this was the match of the day with both players playing high quality table tennis.Gavin was 2 sets to one up before Shane staged an heroic comeback to snatch victory 11-8 in the fifth. He then lost to Patrick Guy in the quarters.And it was Patrick who also knocked out Mark in the semi. mark was 2-1 up before Patrick took control of the final two sets to win 11-7 in the fifth.
Overall it was a good tournament with all the players looking like they had improved over the summer. Still there is a lot of hard work to be done in the months ahead to maintain the high standards we have set for ourselves