Hard fought win for Kenny as Perry takes it in her stride

NUMBER one seeds Liam Kenny and Madeline Perry claimed the Irish Squash National Titles for 2004.

Kenny was made to work very hard for his second title by reigning champion Derek Ryan, who put in an excellent performance considering he has been off the professional circuit for almost two years.

Kenny went into an early 6-2 lead in the first set as he put an enormous amount of pressure on Ryan. He dictated play well, volley dropping and volley boasting at every opportunity. Ryan dug in well and managed to claw his way back to 6-4 before two winners from Kenny gave him game ball at 8-4. Kenny eventually took the set 9-5.

Ryan came out fighting in the second set and Kenny’s rhythm was clearly disrupted; Ryan took a very close set 9-7. In the third Ryan was visibly tiring as Kenny stepped up a gear and looked to be taking control.

At 5-5 Kenny played a volley drop winner before two strokes against Ryan gave Kenny game ball at 8-5, which he took to go 2-1 in front.

At 6-4 up in the fourth Kenny came out on top of two long rallies as he looked to finish the match, and a stroke against Ryan awarded the match to Kenny.

Another result of note was in the third place play off where Niall Rooney beat Stevie Richardson with a thrilling 3-2 victory.

Rooney has a bright future ahead of him in the game and will be hoping for a place on the Irish team for the European Championships next year.

Liam Kenny was “absolutely delighted” with his win. “That final game went on for two hours and Derek Ryan fought all the way to the end. I’m just relieved to have had the chance to win the title, as it’s three years since I competed here.”

Australian-born Kenny was unable to defend the Irish title he won in 2001 due to illness and a delayed flight in successive years, and Ryan, the current title holder, didn’t make it easy for him this year either.

“Without a doubt Derek made it very hard for me. Derek’s always been a good competitor and he did what he had to do, playing a very smart game today.”

There’s no rest for Kenny; an early January tournament in Virginia, USA, is next, followed by another tournament in New York.

Women’s champion Madeleine Perry is also facing a trip to the States in the new year after some well-earned rest in her Banbridge home with her Irish championship trophy.

Ranked no. 17 in the world, Perry beat Aisling Blake in straight sets and dominated from start to finish. The eventual champion was enjoying a good run of form - she didn’t concede a set all weekend - and that continued into the final.

She took the first set with ease 9-0 and a disheartened Blake began to make unforced errors as Perry further stretched her lead to 2-0.

In the third set Blake began to push Perry harder but the top seed always had that killer instinct and was clinical in finishing off her opponent, eventually taking the third set 9-1.

“I’m delighted with the win, obviously, it’s great to come back home and find I’m still number one,” the winner said.

There was no great surprise in Perry’s emphatic victory over Aisling Blake in the final, as the champion’s ranking is far higher than that of the runner-up, but Perry still rated the decider as the hardest of the weekend.

“I’m very happy with the way the tournament went, I dropped only six points over the course of the weekend, but today’s game was definitely my toughest of the weekend,” she said.