A good badminton start to the year

Tara O'Neill & David Jackson.

Kilcullen Badminton Club members took a short but well-needed break over the Christmas and New Year period, writes Tara O'Neill. The Grade 4 Men’s team were last of the teams to finish up before the Christmas holidays, suffering a 3-1 defeat to Titans on the 19th of December. The New Year saw two more teams take part in cup games, Division 8 Mixed and Division 5 Men’s. The two teams were unfortunate not to have won their games and their focus will now be on their respective Dublin Leagues. Division 4 Mixed had a 4-0 win against PSLC while Division 6 Mixed beat South Dublin 3-1.

Division 9 Mixed had a convincing 4-0 Win against Portlaoise. Division 6 Men’s had a tough 4-0 loss to Smith Nirvana with three games going to three sets. Division 3 Ladies came away from their away game to Ailesbury with a 4-0 loss that did not reflect the tightness of some of the games.

Some members took to the courts just a few days after their Christmas dinner, entering the Leinster Badminton Yonex Christmas Bonanza on the 28th and 29th of December. Kilcullen were well represented on the results sheet with David Jackson and Tara O’Neill coming runners up in the Division 2 Mixed, Ross Cole and Mari Gallagher came runners up in the Division 8 Mixed, Ross and his partner James Boyd came runners up in the Division 7 Men’s while Mari and her partner Orla Brophy came runners up in the Divisions 8,9 & 10.

Well done also to the following members who have reached the final stages of the Southwest Championships so far:
Grade 5 Mixed -Teresa McGlynn and Ross Cole
Grade 4 Ladies - Bernie Smyth and her partner Dolores Sheerin
Grade 3 Mixed - Tara O’Neill and John McGrane
Grade 3 Ladies - Sarah Walshe and her partner Jennifer Reid
Grade 2 Mixed - Gillian Kennedy Smith and Gareth Hogan

Ross Cole & Mari Gallagher.

The finals night will take place on Saturday 20 January in Whitehall Road. Best of luck to those who have yet to play their discipline in the remainder of the Championships. Hopefully we will have a few more finalists from Kilcullen to add to the list!