Gaffney Memorial - Saturday Results:
Round of 32:
- Michael Gregan (Wick) dft Johnny Woods (Tyr) 21-6, 21-9
- Darragh Daly (Tyr) dft Tadhg O'Neill (Cork) 21-20, 21-11
- Gabhain McCrystal (Tyr) dft Ger Coonan (Tipp) 21-20, 21-19
- Owen McKenna (Ant) dft Paul Moran (Kild) 21-19, 21-20
- Patrick Funchion (Kilk) dft Vinny Moran (Mayo) 21-19, 16-21, 11-3
Round of 16:
- Killian Carroll (Cork) dft Niall Joyce (Mayo) 21-4, 21-0
The current Minor Champion started well, but reigning champ Carroll soon got going and showed his class, raising his game in a dominant display.
- Martin Mulkerrins (Gal) dft Colin Crehan (Clare) 12-21, 21-16, 11-8
A real humdinger to start a Saturday morning! Scores were tied at 1, 2, 3 & 4 in a tense tiebreak. Mulkerrins broke to lead 6-4 before Crehan went four unanswered to lead 8-6. But the Moycullen man hit back when under pressure to seal the win with 5 unanswered points.
- Michael Gregan (Wick) dft Joe McCann (Mayo) 21-9, 21-17
Fresh from a positive showing last night, Gregan raced out of the blocks to win game one 21-9 against home town player McCann. Game two was a different story though with score tied at 14, 15, 16 & 17. But a burst of 4 quick points sealed Gregan's spot in the QF later tonight.
- CJ Fitzpatrick (Lim) dft Peter Funchion (Kilk) 21-17, 19-21, 11-7
Another belter of a game that could have went either way. Funchion came from 19-17 down in the second to force a tiebreak, before CJ sealed his progression 11-7 in a long, tough battle.
- Charly Shanks (Arm) dft Darragh Daly (Tyr) 21-9, 21-4
Daly continued from last night and started brightest leading 4-0 but a few lengthy exchanges saw the score level at 7-7. Shanks grew into the game and was more clinical when presented with chances, particularly with his back wall kills as he progresses to the QF tonight.
- Robbie McCarthy (West) dft Gabhain McCrystal (Tyr) 21-11, 21-5
McCrystal pushed the reigning All-Ireland Champ in the opening stages, scores once at 12-10, before McCarthy's class shone through with quality serving and a lot of silky touches around the front court.
- Sean Lenning (USA) dft Patrick Funchion (Kilk) 21-16, 21-20
Funchion surprised many with his showing here, with a lot of the pre tournament focus on Lenning. Patrick was unlucky after producing a typical gutsy performance, but in the end it was Lenning would held his nerve when carried to hold a game point in the second to win by the minimum.
- Brian Carroll (Meath) dft Owen McKenna (Ant) 21-9, 21-6
McKenna was the last Friday night qualifier left in the draw at this stage, but Carroll just had too much in his locker on the day and progresses to a QF with Charly Shanks.
Quarter-Finals:
- Killian Carroll dft CJ Fitzpatrick 21-11, 21-6
Killy really is a class act and once he got going today, against a quality opponent in CJ, he was just awesome! Speed and court coverage second to none! Going to be hard to stop this weekend.
- Martin Mulkerrins dft Sean Lenning 21-19, 21-20
Huge win for Mulkerrins who came from big leads behind in both games to snatch victory. 12-5 down in the first and 10-0 down in the second!
- Charly Shanks dft Brian Carroll 21-8, 21-4
Shanks sends out a statement with his second excellent showing of the day, blitzing Irish #5 Carroll, at one stage leading 11-0 in the second. Brian never got a foothold in the game with Shanks' power and spin too good!
- Robbie McCarthy dft Michael Gregan 21-10, 21-11
Another exhibition of serving from the two time champ! Gregan pushed McCarthy but it is the Mullingar man who is through to tomorrow's SF against Mulkerrins.
Semi-Finals:
Sunday, 10am
- Killian Carroll v Charly Shanks
- Martin Mulkerrins v Robbie McCarthy