Valuable ranking points gained at the Swedish open where Ireland had two quarter finals. In a tournament that brought the best of Europe in the hunt of Olympic qualification Ireland had two quarter finalists.
Irish number one Scott Evans in the men’s singles and Irish number one doubles player Sam Magee in the Men’s doubles with his partner Mikkel Eljborn. Unfortunately for the Irish representatives the semis proved to be one step to far, however on the quest for Olympic qualification the points earned may prove invaluable.
Mens Singles: First up for Scott Evans Irelands number one men’s Singles player was Israel’s number one Men’s singles player Milsha Zilberman. Scott took control of the match against the World no 75 from Israel winning with a comprehensive 2 set victory 21-15 21-19. Next up for Scott was Sylvain Ternon of france. Scott continued his good form and once again saw out the game with two straight sets taking 29 minutes to wrap up a 21-13 21-12 victory. In the quarter final Scott faced his advisory of last week Raul Must of Estonia.
Scott played well taking the opening set 21-17, the Estonian number one fought back and took the second set 21-13. In the final set with some really amazing long rallies due to the slow conditions Must kept ahead and took the final set 21-16.
Women Singles: First tournament of the New Year for Chloe Magee. Chloe faced a difficult opponent in Karin Schnaase of Germany. Chloe started well in this match leading the first set at 11. From this interval Schnaase found her form and came back to take the opening set 21-17. Chloe started the second set badly and despite a brief come back she was unable to stop Schnaase who went on to take the second set and match with a 21-12 scoreline.
Mixed Doubles: In the mixed Doubles Chloe partnered up with her brother Sam stepped on court to renew battle against Kim Astrup Sorensen & Line Kjaersfeldt of Denmark. These pairs have met on a number of occasions this season and each time it has been a close encounter. This match up followed the script with an exciting 3 set 51 minute match. Unfortunately on this occasion it would go in favour of the Danish partnership with a thrilling 21-19 final set scoreline.
