"Opening the door" - Jason Earlis Connacht U-17 singles 60 x 30 champion
Connacht titles for Ealis, Fox & Harte writes Michael McGee.
Juvenile players are continuing
their huge potential and this was evident in the Connacht Juvenile
Championships which took place in the newly opened 60 X 30 court in Belcarra on
Saturday. Sligo was represented in the Boys U17 singles & doubles &
Girls U16 singles. Sligo made it a U-17
double with Jason Earlis singles & Stanley Harte & Pat Fox all securing
titles for the Yeats County.
Earlis from the Castleconnor club
who has already cemented a great season for the Sligo teenager when he was part
of the Castleconnor side that won an historic first Connacht Interclub 60 x 30
title in July. Earlis had a terrific battle with Galway’s Ronan O’Beolain in
the semi-final but came through a
testing challenge by 21-12, 21-12. In the final he defeated Mayo’s Pat Cummins
comprehensively by 21-5, 21-4. Earlis will meet the Leinster champion in two
weeks time in the All-Ireland semi-finals.
Representing Sligo in the doubles
was an all Collooney combination of Stanley Harte Jnr & Patrick Fox who defeated Mayo’s Nathan Massey & Alan Kenny in a hard fought match. The
Sligo players went into an 16-8 lead but
let it slip with a Mayo comeback. Harte & Fox’s shot selection let them
down at times and in a tense finale to the first game Sligo held their nerve
and took the opening game by 21-17. In the second a more relaxed Harte &
Fox played exceptional handball and took complete control with superior
finishing winning out by 21-7. Harte & Fox will now face Leinster champions
in Kilkenny’s Darragh O’Shea & Mark Dowling in the All-Ireland semi-finals.
Sligo’s prospects of a treble at the Connacht finals ended when Aoife Quinn was
defeated by Roscommon’s Fiona Tully in straight games in the Girls U-16 singles
final.
Sligo only representatives in the
All-Ireland handball 60 x 30 championships semi-finals Francis McCann &
Martin Golden lost out to Meath’s Christy McGovern & John “ Boy” Molloy
from Meath by 12-21, 13-21 in the Golden Masters A doubles. McCann recovered sufficiently from an injury
the previous week to play the game and gave a terrific display. Despite
McCann’s gutsy performance the Meath duo’s overall strength unhinged Sligo and
paved the way for the win for the Royal county men.
Connacht Juvenile A 60 x 30
championships finals:
Boys U17 singles: Jason Earlis (Sligo) dft Pat Cummins (Mayo) 21-5, 21-4
Boys U-17 doubles: Stanley Harte
& Patrick Fox (Sligo) dft Nathan Massey & Alan Kenny (Mayo) 21-17,
21-7
Girls U-16 singles: Aoife Quinn (Sligo) lost to Fiona Tully
(Roscommon) 6-21, 5-21
All-Ireland 60 x 30 championships semi-finals
Golden Masters A doubles: Francis Mc Cann & Martin Golden (Sligo)
lost to Christy McGovern & John Boy Molloy (Meath) 12-21, 13-21
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