Irish U19 National Championships 2020

Lisburn Racquets Club hosted the U19 Irish Nationals 2020 on 7th& 8th March 2020 with Jack Armstrong winning the Boys Doubles and Matthew Cheung taking home the Singles title!

Matthew was unseeded for the event and faced the ¾ seed Daniel O’Meara in his opening match. It was Matthew who showed great composure to overcome the seeded O'Meara, 21-17, 21-17. Next up in the Quarter Final he played the up and coming U15 player Dylan Noble. Matthew control game was too much for the young player, with Matthew coming out on top 21-14, 21-10. Progressing to the Semi Final and it was an all Ulster clash against the 2nd seed Jack Armstrong who had a thrilling Quarter final against Kevin Downey, with a dramatic 22-20, 3rd set win. Again Matthew’s controlled game style proved to strong for Jack, coming through 21-15, 21-12 to make the final against the top seed Sean Patrick Laureta and give Jack a Bronze medal position.

15 Year Old Matthew came out of the blocks quickly in the first game taking it 21-15, but Laureta changed up his tactics in the second set to win 21-16 and force a decider. It was Matthew who was the steadier of the 2 players in the 3rd set and went onto take it comfortably 21-11 and the Singles title adding to the three U17 National titles he won in February.

In the Boys Doubles, Jack Armstrong and partner Sean Patrick Laureta came through as an unseeded pair to take home the Title! Having come through a tricky opening match 21-9, 24-22 against Guildea/Lawlor they were up against the Downey brothers and 2nd seeds for the event. Jack & Sean won a tight opening set 21-17, which gave them a lot of momentum going into the second set which proved pivotal as they went on to take the second set 21-9 and into the final.

In the final they played the top seeds for the event, Byrne/O’Meara who overcame the U17 National Champions, Cheung/ Pontanosa over 3 sets in the Semi Final. It was Jack & Sean who struck first taking a tight opening set 21-18, it was role reversal in the second came with the Top seeds closing out a narrow lead, 21-17 to take the final into a 3rd set. The 3rd set followed how the first 2 sets went with it being very tight up to the closing stages. It was Jack & Sean who played the crucial points well and took it 21-18 and the Title. A great win for the unseeded pair!

There was another strong performance in the Girls Singles from Laura Comer who progressed to the semi final with a win over the Top seed, Bogoslovskaya and the up and coming U15 player Siofra Flynn to set up a Semi Final against the ¾ seed Orla Flynn. Laura forced the match into a Third set after winning a tight 2nd 22-20, but it was Flynn who came out strong in the 3rd winning it 21-9.

Big Thanks to the Ulster Badminton volunteers & Officials for their work throughout the event and for Badminton Ireland for hosting a well run National event.

Check out the full results here

Streaming/Replays of the matches can be found here