Neal OFlynn claimed the Irish Under 12 crown in spectacular fashion when he chopped his way to the title in the IWA a couple of weeks ago. He had a bit of a scare in the semi final when Mark ODea pushed him all the way but in the final Neal played some excellent table tennis to beat Sam Logue 3-1. Our other under 12 competitor Luke OShea reached the last sixteen in both Irish rankings so far.
In the Second Irish tournament Neal won more comfortably beating the same two players in the semi and the final but this time without dropping a set.
Both Cadet tournaments have proved equalling exciting with Neal reaching the semi finals before losing out to Paul McCreery in a closely fought matches( 3-1 in Dublin but 3-0 in Belfast).
Reports on our Junior players are on the next page
Neal continued his winning way with good wins at the Blackpool Select in England where he reached the semi final before losing 3 -1 to Liam Pitchford who eventually won the tournament. Then at the East Midlands Select Neal had a slightly disappointing result losing in the last 16 to Ping Ho. He bounces back in style by beating both Graeme Barella and Daniel Lowe who are ranking number 3 and 4 in England in the Under 12s when he faced them later in the Cadet event
All this must be seen in the context that Neal only started using long pimples and a defensive style a month ago.He has been practicing hard but still has a lot to learn about his new style