With Wimbledon in full flight we have our own taste of tennis at international level, right here in Cork this week. Throughout the week the up and coming tennis stars of the future take part in the International Tennis Federation’s Under 18 tournament being held in the Carrigaline Tennis Club until Friday 5th July.
Competitors, coaches parents and mentors from over 20 countries converged on Carrigaline last Monday in the week-long competitions which culminate on Finals Day on Friday. The event has been a great economic boost to the Carriagaline area with many B+ B’s and hotels booked out for the week.
Thus tournament director Cian Blake has been busy keeping the event running smoothly. ‘We are delighted to host this international event here in the Carrigaline Club for the first time and we’ve seen nothing but top quality tennis from these young players throughout the week. Given that, we can expect a very high standard on Friday’s finals day.’ Cian explained.
The competitions started last Monday with over 100 competitors setting out to reach the finals day competitions, in singles and doubles events. ‘There is a super international atmosphere down at the club right now’, explained Michael Murray, Carrigaline tennis club chairman’ You can hear languages down there from all over the world and as a club, we are delighted to host the event. I have to give credit to our committee who have been directly involved in the organisation of the tournament and the sponsors who helped us make this happen.
I have no doubt that a future Wimbledon star could be in our presence this week. It points well for the future of tennis in Munster that we were granted this event and it’s a testimony to the quality of the Munster coaching team at under age level headed up by Cian Blake our club pro. It is felt that Ireland can produce professional tennis players to compete with the best in the world.
This will require each of the provinces to raise the bar yet again. So the next step on this journey are regional academies. Cork is an ideal choice for the Munster academy so why not Carrigaline? So why not come down to us and see the current crop of Irish underage tennis stars completing with the best in the world this week?’
The International Tennis Federation Under 18 tennis event continues all week at the Carrigaline Tennis Club, culminating, with finals day on Friday July 5th. For further information and press interviews please contact.
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