The Irish Juveniles again showed their class on the international stage over Christmas by winning the three top titles at the 62nd US Junior Nationals in Chicago.
Tyrone's Sean Kerr edged Cork's Tadhg O'Neill in a top quality Boys 19&U Final, winning through on an 11-5 tiebreak. In a very competitive field, both lads took out the top US & Canadian players in the QF & SF stages respectively. Both lads proceeded to team up in the 19&U Doubles together but unfortunately fell at the final hurdle to US pairing Anthony O'Sullivan & Luis Bustos 21-17, 21-18.
In the Girls section, Armagh's current Minor All-Ireland champion Megan McCann showed she will be a force to be reckoned with in the senior ranks in the not too distant future with a dominating victory, keeping all three of her American opponents to singles figures. Megan also teamed up with Tucson's Belisa Camacho to win the 19&U Doubles.
In the Boys 17&U, Cork's Michael O'Malley claimed his first Juniors title with an 11-2 tiebreak win over top Canadian Alex Carew, having taken down competitors from Ireland and USA in the previous rounds.
Boy’s 19&U:
- QF's -
Sullivan (USA) dft O’Keeffe (IRE) 21-9, 21-19
O’Neill (IRE) dft Gaulton (CAN) 21-1, 21-0
Kerr (IRE) dft Bustos (USA) 21-18, 21-6
McGrath (USA) dft Burgos (CAN) 21-12, 21-16
- SF's -
O’Neill dft Sullivan 21-15, 21-17
Kerr dft McGrath 11-21, 21-18, 11-4
- Final -
Sean Kerr dft Tadhg O’Neill 21-11, 16-21, 11-5
Boys 17&U:
- QF's -
O'Malley (IRE) dft Hallahan (IRE) 21-0, 21-1
Coman(USA) dft Peters (USA) 8-21, 21-11, 11-8
Carew (CAN) dft Roberts (USA) 21-6, 21-0
Cervantes (USA) dft Pimentel (USA) 21-12, 21-20
- SF's -
O'Malley def Coman 21-9, 21-2
Carew def Cervantes 21-11, 21-5
- Final -
Michael O'Malley def Alex Carew 19-21, 21-8, 11-2
Girl’s 19&U
- QF's -
Byrd-Jackson (USA) dft Hong (USA) 21-1, 21-0
Lovie (USA) dft Roberts (USA) 21-1, 21-2
McCann (IRE) dft Della Croce (USA) 21-0, 21-0
Camacho (USA) dft Frisbie (USA) 21-0, 21-8
- SF's -
Byrd-Jackson def Lovie 21-13, 21-2
McCann def Camacho 21-0, 21-2
- Final -
McCann def Byrd-Jackson 21-7, 21-3
