European silver medallist Michael Conlon is poised to be the first champion crowned at the Irish Masters Open on Sunday when the third and final day of action begins at Fitzwilliam.
The MO70 runner-up in Wroclaw in August has lived up to his No.1 seeding in Dublin by winning all three of his group matches to reach the decider.
That progress wasn’t seamless, though, as he needed a 12-10 game five tiebreaker to get the better of fellow Irishman David Coughlan [5/8] in one of the best matches of the entire weekend.
That close tussle, which was sandwiched by a 3-1 win over another Irish player, Gerry Delaney [5/8], and a 3-0 success against Spain’s Jose Vicente Ferragud [3/4], has set Conlon up for his 9am Sunday final against Dominique Dautremont.
The 3/4 seed from France upset Peter Stephens, Ireland’s recent German Masters title winner, 3-1 on Saturday to book his ticket to face Conlon in the decider.
WO60/65/70 No.1 Maureen Duke from Ireland will look to complete a clean sweep by picking up her fifth group win of the weekend when she faces Veronique Leray, the No.2 from France, at 9:30am.
Also on court at that time will be the all-Irish WO55 final pairing of Sarah Berkeley and Danielle Donohue. Both players enjoyed big wins this weekend, with 5/8 seed Berkeley beating No.1 Josephine Grogan 3-0 and 3/4 seed Donohue winning 3-0 against No.2 Suzanne Doyle.
In contrast, the MO65 event has panned out to seeding as Alain Gardette of France, the No.1, will tackle Dave Lalor, the No.2 from Ireland, in the 10am final.
A half-hour later, another French player, Maud Bailly, will go into the WO45/50 final as the No.1 seed against Ireland’s Aisling McArdle, the 3/4 seed, who upset the odds on Saturday with a 3-1 win over the No.2, Sandra Walsh.
The 11am all-Irish MO60 final will feature No.1 Willie Hosey versus No.2 Vincent Bradley, with another all-local decider following at 11:30am when MO55 5/8 seed Tom Crowe plays No.2 Brian Lalor.
Crowe enjoyed a massive Saturday afternoon win, coming from 0-2 behind to win 3-2 (including two 12-10 tiebreakers) against Ignacio Rodriquez, the No.1 from Spain.
Also beginning at 11am is the MO75 round-robin fixture where Ireland’s Paddy Butler [3/4] knows a success against Allan Whittow [3/4] of England will see him top the podium following his 3-0 win on Saturday over No.1 Michael McGrath.
The weekend’s only final with no Irish participant is the 12pm MO50 clash featuring No.1 Matthieu Benoit of France and No.2 Jonathan Gallacher of Austria. They both defeated 3/4 seeded Irish opposition in the semi-finals, Benoit beating David Ayerst 3-1 and Gallacher winning 3-2 versus Rob Staunton with the fifth game ending 11-8.
Two all-Irish finals will then follow on the schedule, with No.1 Neil Macarron and No.2 Nigel Peyton in the MO45 decider at 12:30pm and No.1 Aoileann Ni Chomhrai against 5/8 seed Tanya Scullion in the WO35/40 finale. Scullion’s progress included a big 3-0 win over No.2 seed Helen Byrne.
Starting at 1:30pm, the MO40 No.1 seed David Noone, the Squash Ireland junior performance coach, is up against Alex Preston, the 3/4 seed from England, who had a 3-0 win over No.2 Ronan Campbell.
At the same time, unseeded Irish player Sam Olwill has the chance to clinch MO35 glory. Having won all four group games so far, he takes on David Grabenweger, the No.1 from Austria, who lost his opening game on Friday against 3/4 seed Mark Gilliland of Northern Ireland.
