Men's Floodlit League Class One Finals

Congratulations to the Men’s Floodlit League Class One Team on winning the title.

The much postponed Final took place on Monday, 17^th January, 2011 against Templeogue in Mount Pleasant.

Our team comprised of Fiachra Lennon (Captain), Simon Wrafter, Liam Byrne and Shane La Porte.

Simon Wrafter lost his singles match to Justin Smyth 2/6 1/6

Shane La Porte & Liam Byrne won their doubles match against Peter Fleming & Fred Raffo 6/4 4/6 6/4

That levelled the final at one all.

Everything now came down to Fiachra’s match against Robert Shulver.

Fiachra took the first set 6/2.

Robert Shulver took the second set 6/3.

Fiachra then went a break down in the third set but broke back to level the set. Fiachra held his nerve in the inevitable tie-break to win it 7-5 and seal the victory. At the finish there were a lot of shredded nerves, relief and finally euphoria amongst the Castleknock supporters.

Special thanks also to Fergus O’Connell and Ray McGinley who subbed during the campaign.

Club Social Events

The New Social Committee 2011 want your suggestions regarding events you would like to be held in your club in the coming year.  You can email Marg or call with your suggestions and ideas contact details below.  Your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Signed    

Marj Flood

Social Secretary.

Team Colours Allowed for Men's And Ladies Team Tennis

The Executive Committee agreed last week to allow players in the Team Tennis competition to wear their team colours but only on the designated nights of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. If you are playing a re-arranged match on another night then you must wear your normal whites.

BT Young Scientist of the Year 2011

Alexander Amini, a transition year student in Castleknock College whose family joined the club during 2010 has scooped the BT Young Scientist Award for his Tennis sensor data analysis.

Thanks to his research you may one day be able to develop the ultimate tennis game!

His project has developed a way to analyse movement using a computer. Although his research was directed towards the stroke production during a tennis game, the same system could be used in other sports and to monitor movement in people recovering from injury.

Alexander developed computer programs that can analyse movement as a player plays tennis. Using 3 sensors attached to the arm, chest and leg allows the software to identify up to 13 different tennis strokes with an accuracy as high as 99%. The software builds a model of a player's style and variations can be introduced to improve the player's technique. A beginner's strokes can be measured against an experienced player's strokes to help the beginner develop a good technique from the start. Alexander will now go on to represent Ireland at the EU Contest for Young Scientists in Helsinki in September.

Pat Walsh, the current holder of Player Of The Year is said to be beating a path to his door.

Player Of The Year 2010

The nominations for Player Of The Year (POY) are selected by the Men's Tennis Committee from League, Ladder, Club Competitions and Social Tennis.

On the night of the Matt Russell Cup Finals ballot papers are issued to all those in attendance to vote for the POY.

The delayed 2010 winner was the very deserving Pat Walsh.

Well done Pat!

The Matt Russell Cup 2010 Finals Night on Friday, 7th January, 2011

Due to the inclement weather in December we were unable to finish the Matt Russell Cup until Friday, 7th January, 2011.

The results are as follows:

Winner Donal O'Farrell
2nd Place Steve O'Gorman
3rd Place Alan King

4th Place Keith MacDonald (the 2009 winner)
5th Place Philip Byrne
6th Place Lonan Durand (a permanent fixture in the Top 10)
7th Place John Patton
8th Place John Donnelly
9th Place John Mitchell
10th Place John Murphy

Most Improved Player went to Lorcan Goodman over the duration of the competition and Gentleman of the Court went to John T Maher.

Well done to Peter Byrne, Philip Byrne, Brian Carson, Alan Hogan, John Murphy and Aidan O'Connell who played in all 12 nights of the competition which started back on the 15 September, 2010 with breaks for the Senior Championships and the December weather. They epitomise the spirit of the Matt Russell Cup.

Stats round-up for the Matt Russell 2010:

6 Players played all 12 nights
68 Players played a minimum of 6 nights (the required number to receive a participation prize)
133 Players played a total of 789 times
An average of 66 played each night

The only thing left to say is that the organisers Denis Bannon, Peter Furlong and John Kilkenny would like to thank everyone that participated as the Matt Russell Cup would not be as successful as it is without you, the players.

JUNIOR UPDATE

Congratulations to Jennifer Timotinon on winning the GS12 category in The David Lloyd National Indoor Championship 2010 in December.

Jennifer who was the #1 seed beat Eimear Maher the #2 seed 6-3 6-4.

Congratulations also to Tara McElroy who came 2nd in the GS16 category in the Winter Leinster Matchplay West Wood Leopardstown Championship also in December.

Both girls have achieved fantastic results in 2010 and we wish them all the best for 2011.

Club Bar Opening Hours back to 7pm

Effective from Friday, 14th January, 2011 the new bar opening hours are as follows:

Monday 7.00pm to 11.30pm
Tuesday 7.00pm to 11.30pm
Wednesday 7.00pm to 11.30pm
Thursday 7.00pm to 11.30pm
Friday 7.00pm to 12.30pm
Saturday only open if there are Functions 7.00pm to 1.30am
Sunday 12.00pm to 6.00pm and 8.00pm to 11.00pm

The Bar will close early if there is a lack of demand.