It was my first ever visit to the Dundalk Tennis and Badminton Club held in The Ramparts and I could not have been more impressed. The setting  is a tennis haven as there are nine courts all in constant use and the surface is fast with slice working a treat. The clubhouse provided wonderful beverages, sandwiches, cakes, buns, sausages and even burgers on finals day. The lady behind the counter was always smiling and helpful. I visited a few times furing the week of the Louth Open and everyone I encountered made the Newry players extremely welcoming. There was tremendous success for our players.

Malachy McAteer Junior and Malachy Senior won a Men's Doubles title coming from a set down to beat the highly ranked Stephen and Paul Broadhurst. The standard was extremely high with Mal Senior a wall at the net withstanding a barrage and Malachy Junior using his powerful forehand to plug holes in the opponents defence. 

 

Shane McAteer won the Men's Singles class he contested unbelievably losing just 4 games in 4 matches! So proving he can win when things arent going his way as well as when they run smoothly. He has yet to lose an Open  tournament match this year. Well done to Malachy Junior for saving 6 match points in his first round before winning through to a runner up spot.

 

James O'Hare went one place better this year as he won a Men's Doubles class with Shane McAteer. James had to serve at his best as poor Shane had a shoulder rotator cuff injury which meant he had to do a basic underarm serve.. This was the first time they had played together and they stormed through the tournament even with the ailments. 

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Reference also to Marty Keenan who produced some great tennis through the week and brought the No1 seed Philip McGuinness to 7-5 in the third. Brian O'hare won his first round singles before withdrawing with a neck problem. Thanks also to Gary and Alex for competing too.

 

All in all a very impressive performance from our players.