Carrickmines participated in two senior CTC tournaments, four junior tournaments and a Junior Player Exchange in 2015.
Senior Events
UK and Ireland CTC Friendly Tournament 2015
This tournament, which was hosted by Carrickmines in 2014, was held in Winchester on 12th September 2015.
Participants from five CTC Clubs took part in a total of eight categories: Cumberland, Edgbaston Priory, Roehampton Club, Carrickmines, Malahide, and the hosts Winchester. The finals between the first teams of Edgbaston Priory and Winchester saw some really tight matches, leading to a narrow victory overall for the host club.
The event already has a host for next year and will be played at Edgbaston Priory on a date yet to be confirmed.
The players who travelled to represent Carrickmines all reported that they had a wonderful time, enjoyed good competitive tennis and the hospitality of the home club.
Carrickmines players: Sharon Barry, Alex Blair, Alan Doran, Angela Flanagan, Alice Kinsella, Gillian Walker, Norman Walker.
CTC Seniors Competition 2015
This event was hosted by Carrickmines on the weekend of 25th – 27th September.
Four teams participated:
- TC Geneve.
- RST La Magdalena (Santander).
- Wiener Park Club (Vienna).
- Carrickmines CLTC.
The standard of tennis was class 1 over 35 and over 45, and consisted of singles, mixed doubles and men’s doubles events. We were blessed by beautiful sunshine for the duration of the tournament. The grass courts were in excellent condition and were described as a ‘dream come true’ by some of the visiting players. Many brought their partners to the event, did some sightseeing and thoroughly enjoyed their visit.
For the fourth consecutive year, the competition was won by the Swiss team.
Carrickmines Players:
Ladies: Miriam Cahill, Martina Cloonan, Eavan Diamond, Niamh Jennings, Helen Johnstone, Denise Lyons, Ashleen McGonigle, Gina Niland, Caitriona Wilkinson.
Men: Gerry Cleary, Patrick Doran, Paul Doherty, David Falkner, Simon Falkner,
Jean-Manuel Lejeune, Conor Linehan, Patrick McCooey.
Junior Events
9th Carrickmines Cup – U12 CTC Tournament
Six Centenary Tennis Clubs competed in the 2015 tournament held in Carrickmines from the 28th to 29th August.
The 1.Cesky team from Prague won the tournament for the eight time! A remarkable achievement. Their only defeat was in 2014 at the hands of their hosts, Carrickmines.
The following clubs participated in this year’s tournament.
- Carrickmines.
- Cumberland LTC (London).
- Roehampton (London).
- Real Club de Polo (Barcelona).
- I.Cesky (Prague).
- RC Magdalena (Santander).
All Clubs played three matches each. Having lost to Carrickmines last year after seven previous wins, 1.Cesky recaptured the Cup by defeating Carrickmines in a close final.
Roehampton on their first visit to Dublin won the Shield. Congratulations to all the competitors, coaches and parents who made the weekend such a memorable occasion.
CTC U14 Barcelona Cup
The Real Club de Tenis Barcelona 1899 hosted the fourth edition of the CTC U-14 RCTB1899 Cup, with the participation of the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona, Carrickmines and the ICLTK Prague.
The winner this year was the team from Prague, with Carrickmines in second place. Well done to the Carrickmines team David Wilkinson, Andrew Gaule, Olwyn Ryan Bovey and Emma McDonagh on performing well in very difficult and hot conditions on clay courts.
CTC U16 Berlin Cup
Carrickmines were invited to play in the second Berlin Cup CTC U-16 Junior Competition from July 17- 19, 2015. The team played well defeating Barcelona and narrowly losing to the hosts who went on to win the competition. The players representing Carrickmines were Olwyn Ryan Bovey, Lucy Kirby, Finlay McFadyen and Paul Cleary.
2015 Junior Player Exchange
Carrickmines joined up with the RCT Barcelona for a fourth year, experiencing a very successful and enjoyable junior exchange. The Real Club is where Rafa Nadal trained every summer as a junior and it hosts the Spanish Open as a precursor to Roland Garros.
Nineteen junior players from both clubs participated. The players stayed with host families. A full social program and tennis activities were organised by the clubs in both venues.
The first two weeks of July were spent in Carrickmines where they trained and played matches in the club every day.
All the juniors then returned to Barcelona for the last two weeks in July on the second part of the exchange and were again looked after superbly!
Thanks to Denise and the host families for giving the junior members a great cultural and tennis experience.