Tri Nations Cup
Saturday 24th March saw the first ever Home Nations futnet championship take place in London, hosted by the Welsh futnet association and competed by England, Wales and Ireland. The tournament was two bounce, and doubles and triples disciplines were played.
Paul Whelan, Futnet Wales:
“It was a closely fought contest, with the Ireland teams particularly strong at smashing and blocking, and the Wales teams being notable for their excellent defence. The last game of the doubles, between Ireland A and Wales A, was to decide the winner as both teams had won all their previous games. In the end, Wales’ lack of a good finishing shot cost them as Ireland’s superior smash won out. Ireland A also won the triples tournament without losing a match, leaving Ireland as the first ever Home Nations champions.
Wales B team was comprised of players new to the sport and they showed a great deal of promise, beating England in the doubles and losing by just 1 point to Ireland B.
Overall the tournament was a great success and hopefully was the first of many more to be held in the UK.”
Jamie Mulrooney, president of Irish Futnet Association:
“Great weekend for FootballTennis Ireland as we won the first ever Tri-Nations cup on Saturday. We enjoyed the trip, London is a great city and we look forward to going back.The tournament took place in Ealing, and the Ireland squad consisted of two teams:
Ireland A- R.Sheegar(set), Hynes(backfield) and Mulrooney (smash)
Ireland B- Conway(set), G. Sheegar(backfield) and Ó Mordha (smash)
Caretaker coach,M.C.,scorekeeper and water technician-Chris Timlin!!
Both teams played well but it was Ireland A that ended up winning in the triples with some difficult matches, especially against Ireland B and Wales A. In the end the Ireland A squad proved too strong and didn’t drop a single set throughout the tournament. The Welsh A and B teams had defences that were difficult to break down and they have improved a lot since the last time we played in December. Ireland B battled hard in both disciplines and came close to drawing with Ireland A in triples, but in the end, luck went Ireland A’s way. There were some great performances from Hynes, Sheegar and Mulrooney. In the doubles it was a similar story with R. Sheegar and Mulrooney enjoying success. The pair linked up well and were happy with their performances.
Over the past few months the whole Irish squad have become stronger and more consistent. We have promoted the sport and are continuing to grow but most of all we want to get better and better at the sport itself. We would also like to give special thanks to Juraj Holkovic for making this happen. His dedication and coaching has urged us towards winning this competition and enjoying the game like never before. Hopefully Holkovic will be available to play in this years World Championship in December, if he does Ireland could turn a few heads and will gain more respect at the World stage. But for now we are now the Tri-Nations Cup holders and we’re already looking forward to trying to retain the trophy next year.”