Four Irish men are left standing at the QF stages of the US Open in California after a hectic day yesterday which saw both the first and second rounds played off and half of the field eliminated.
Seven of the eight Irish men progressed into the second round, but now only the big four of Paul Brady, Killian Carroll, Robbie McCarthy & Diarmaid Nash are left standing.
Brady comfortably saw off Matthew Chu (NY) & then Colin Crehan (Clare) 21-8, 21-12, after Crehan defeated Braulio Ruiz of California earlier in the morning. Brady now faces Mando Ortiz in Friday's QF, with Ortiz being only one of to men to have defeated Brady in the last decade.In that same quarter of the draw, Ger Coonan (Tipperary) feel to an 11-4 tiebreak loss to the current US Collegiates champ Daniel Cordova.
Killian Carroll had two routine wins over Dylan Hernandez (CA) & Luis Cordova (Mexico) and now faces a mouthwatering QF with Sean Lenning (Arizona) on Friday in what will be the tie of the round. Lenning defeated Wicklow's Michael Gregan 21-10, 21-17 after the Coolboy clubman sealed his two and a half year absence with an 11-14 tiebreak win over New York's Jonathan Iglesias in the first round.
Only two weeks after winning the 60x30 All-Ireland, Robbie McCarthy (Westmeath) cruised into the QF's with dominant victories over Michael Gaulton & Stephen Cooney, and now faces Emmett Peixoto (CA). In the same half of the draw, Diarmaid Nash (Clare) ousted Carlos Chavez and then Naty Alvarado Jr 21-20, 21-3 and now facing an intriguing QF with #2 seed Luis Moreno (Arizona).
The Ladies Open also kicked off yesterday (Thursday), but only Westmeath's Aoife McCarthy had a first round game, which she won 21-7, 21-5 against Suzanne Koehler (MO). The rest of the Irish Ladies kick off their campaigns today.
Mens Open QF Fixtures - Friday:
- Brady (Cavan) v Ortiz (CA)
- Carroll (Cork) v Lenning (Arizona)
- McCarthy (Westmeath) v Peixoto (CA)
- Nash (Clare) v Moreno (Arizona)
Ladies Open QF Fixtures - Friday:
- Casey (Cork) v Kastner (Canada)
- McMahon (Limerick) v Davis (CA)
- McCarthy (Westmeath) v Gawley (Canada)
- Reilly (Antrim) v August (MO)
Pictures courtesy of WPH