Saturday, 23rd November 2013
Tralee Table Tennis Club

The STIGA-sponsored Challenger series is aimed at the developing player, and we were delighted to host our third Challenger Event in Tralee.

In these events, boys and girls of all age groups compete against players of similar ability to win prizes sponsored by STIGA as well as ranking points. The emphasis is on fun and participation, but some of the matches are highly competitive! 


Our thanks to Tommy Fitzgerald, STIGA distributor in Ireland, for the lovely STIGA prizes and match balls. 

After one of the busiest weeks in Munster Table Tennis, it was great to see 45 players entering the STIGA Challenger event. 

We started the day with a short "Groups" stage - this allowed us to watch the players we didn't know and assign them appropriately into divisions for the serious business! In a bit of an experiment, we decided to make up each group with a "senior" player, and intermediate player, a "junior" player and a beginner. The beginner got a four point head-start against the others! The more experienced players were asked to show the beginners how to serve properly, and how to keep score. For the most part, it worked well.

After that, they were separated into appropriate divisions, 1A & 1B, etc. Scroll down for reports on each Division.

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Division 4
For many of the players in the lowest division, this was their first time entering a table tennis tournament. Most of the players were the newest members of the Tralee Club, but there were half a dozen from Knocknagoshel as well as representatives from Cork and Killarney.
Jack McElligott topped Division 4A, and so played his brother Cathal, runner in 4B, for a place in the final. Andrew Hurley from Leeside won Division 4A, but James Friel was too good for him, and when James met up with Jack again in the final, this time James was the winner! His first table tennis trophy!

Not surprisingly the youngest players were in this group, with Aaron Olsson and Eoin McSweeney both just over eight years old. There was an umpiring award for Michael Guerin.

Division 3
There was talent a-plenty in Division Three, and many of these players will be going on to play in ranking tournaments, indeed some already appear on the junior ranking lists! Despite the best efforts of the home players, the final was contested between the ever-smiling Ciarán O'Donoghue (Ballincollig) and Erik Olsson (West Cork). Neither player was defeated in the round robin stage of their respective division, in fact only the other semi-finalists were good enough to take a set off either of them! 
Erik's experience was too much for Ciarán in the end, with a 2-1 scoreline. Great to see another West Cork player coming up on the Under-10 scene! In the third place play-off, Damien Bourke beat Alex Flynn.

Samuel Pituch and Cian Barden picked up small prizes for their help in Umpiring.

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Division 2
The boys from Killarney were there to spoil the home party in this division. Matthew Pop is no stranger to the podium, recently winning the Under-10 title in Goleen. He was up against much older players here, some towering over him in stature but not in skill!. He beat Gitas Marcisauskas in the final. José Miras, who had lost to Gitas in the semi-final, pulled himself together to beat Nykyta Puotkalis (Killarney) in the third place play-off. Not Nykyta's first prize here in Tralee, last year he was on the podium in Division Two as well! (Thanks to Roman & Nykyta's dad, Ed, who helped to run the event, taking charge of Division 4).
For his help in umpiring, even when many others had gone home, Fiachra Ryan-Browne got a small prize!

Division 1
There were lots of very tight matches in the top flight, and it finished nearly an hour after every other division! Competition was fierce: in Division 1A only a countback eliminated Bogdan Pop (Killarney) from the semi-finals! Niall O'Driscoll (West Cork) gave several of the older players a major scare in Division 1B, and indeed beat both Kevin Johnson-Horgan and Reece Sugrue in the Round Robin! 
In Division 1B, Roman Puotkalis won the very last match against old rival Alan Hobbart to top the division, and many expected that with both playing so well, they might meet again in the final.
But it was not to be. In the first semi-final, playing his best ever table tennis, Darragh Boyd beat Roman 2-1, a fantastic result against a very experienced and notoriously tough opponent. The other qualifier from Division 1A, Michael Creagh, was playing well... but not quite well enough to beat his old friend and rival Alan Hobbart. So the third place play-off was between Michael and Roman, a very tight match saw the home player nudge it. 
The final, between Alan and Darragh, was a fantastic match. Who would have expected Darragh to take it to a final set! But Alan's experience, patience, and natural talent saw him through, the first Tralee Winner of the Division One title after three years of Challenger Events!

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Full Results
(Players all Tralee unless stated otherwise)
KIL = Killarney * BAL = Ballincollig * WES = West Cork * LEE = Leeside * KNO = Knocknagoshel

Division 1
1. Alan Hobbart
2. Darragh Boyd
3. Michael Creagh
4. Roman Puotkalis (KIL)
5=. Bogdan Pop (KIL)
5=. Niall O'Driscoll (WES)
7=. Adam Buckley
7=. Kevin Browne
9=. Joe Slattery
9=. Reece Sugrue
11=. Stephen Browne
11=. Kevin Johnson-Horgan

Division 2
1. Matthew Pop (KIL)
2. José Miras (Spain!)
3. Gitas Marcisauskas
4. Nykyta Puotkalis (KIL)
5=. Fiachra Ryan-Browne 
5=. Ronan Magee
7=. Daire Kennelly
7=. Nemanya Ramisanjevic
9=. Liam Magee
9=. Darragh Sheridan
9=. Josh Hayes

Division 3
1. Erik Olsson (WES)
2. Ciaran O'Donoghue (BAL)
3. Damien Bourke
4. Alex Flynn
5=. CIan Barden
5=. Samuel Pituch
7=. Jordan O'Shea
7=. Andrew Breen
9=. Sam Hawe
9=. Michael Dowling
9=. Graham Moriarty-Flynn

Division 4
1. James Friel
2. Jack McElligott (KNO)
3. Andrew Hurley (LEE)
4. Cathal McElligott (KNO)
5=. Eoin McSweeney (KNO)
5=. Michael Guerin
7=. Aaron Olsson (WES)
7=. Erina Cotter (KNO)
9=. Bronagh Browne (KNO)
9=. Daniel Daly (KIL)
9=. Katelyn Curtin (KNO)