European Masters Individual Championship 2013, was held in Prague, Czech Republic from the 29.8.-1.9.2013. There were several Irish players competing. There was 16 events with men and women O35 through to O70 and a men’s O75 event also.
There were 687 players playing in the 16 events a truly magnificent field. Our Irish players faired very well with 8 finishing in the top 10 and 4 in the top 5. Barbara Sanderson won the Over 70’s (pictured above) with Alex Richardson coming 3rd in the over 75 event.(pictured below)
There were 15 Irish players playing – Alex Richardson, Barbara Sanderson, Brian Mahon, Ciaran McCoy, Damien O’Reilly, Dave Lalor, Dara O’Flynn, Frank Fahey, Gerry Callanan, Gerry Fahey, Jim Flynn, John Hurley, Michael Cowhie, Myron Evans and Tom Cantwell.
Here is how they faired.
Alex Richardson – O75/Finish 3rd
Had a great match vs John Woodliffe(Eng) in his first match but lost in a 5 seter in 45min. John won the event and Alex was the only player to push him to a tight match.
Barbara Sanderson – O70/1st
Barbara beat an English and a French player in 3 to win the event easily.
Brian Mahon – O50/83rd
Brian had 2 tough opening matches losing to 2 Germans he then had a great win vs a Hungarian and just lost a tight 5 setter and 4 setter vs a German and Spandard.
Ciaran McCoy O40/6th
Ciaran had 3 good victories in the opening matches but lost to Manuel Fistonic from Croatia in the quarters. He had a walkover and had to give a walkover to finish 6th overall a superb result in a field of 128 players.
Dara O’Flynn O40/10th
dara had 3 good wins vs a German, Spaniard and an English player before losing to Jesus Souto from Spain who went on to finis 2nd. Dara then just lost out to jay francis from Holland to finish a superb 10th out of 128 players.
Damien O’Reilly O50/38th
Damien lost a tough opening match to Italian Drusiani Vittorio but then went on to 3 good wins in the play offs vs 2 Germans and a Finn before losing his final match in a great 5 seter 11-5,16-14,8-11,7-11,11-6.
Dave Lalor O50/72nd
Dave afteran opening loss had 2 good wins vs a Pole and a Czech and unfortunatly had to give a walkover in his final match.
Frank Fahey O70/5th
Frank lost a very tough opening match to Michael Gough of England but then beat a Swede and beat myron Evans in the final play off in a tough 4 seter to finish 5th.
Gerry Callanan O45/31st
He had a good opening win vs a German hadan epic match vs a Finn but just lost 25-23,11-6,17-15. In the end Gerry had to withdraw but finished a credible 31st out of 128 players.
Gerry Fahy O55/16th
Gerry had 2 great wins in his first matches vs a Finn and a German. Unfortunatly he had to withdraw in the last 16 match through injury.
Jim Flynn O45/28th
Jim had a great match vs a Finn in his first match having got a walkover. He just lost it in 4. he lost a another Finn in the play offs.
John Hurley O40/7th
A superb result for John finishing 7th out of 128 players. he had 3 superb wins to start but lost a tight match to Dovi Haruzi from Israel in the quarters. Unfortunatly he had to give a walkover to his Swiss opponent in the play off for 5th place.
Michael Cowhie O45/11th
Michael had 2 great wins in his first 2 matches vs a Finn and German. He then lost a very tight match to no. 1 seed Peter Gunter of England who went to win the event. Michael then won his next 2 matches vs a Hungarian and Finn to finish 11th, a superb result.
Myron Evans O70/6th
Myron lost his first match in a tight 5 seter to Bertil Walli of Finland. he then beat a German in 4 before losing to Frank Fahey in a very close 4 seter to finish 6th.
Tom Cantwell O65/5th
Tom had a great tournament finishing 5th out of 32. Hwe won his first match vs a Finn, lost the next in a tight match to a Spaniard but then won his next 2 matches. In the play off for 5th he won it comprehensively 11-8,11-5,11-4 vs Swiss Claudio Hassler.
Overall a great performance form the irish players!!
For results and the full draw clich HERE
Official Website for the tournament click HERE