Murphy digs deep to take title
But both were forced to dig deep against worthy challengers, in Brian Fitzgerald (Cork) and Fiona Dennett (Offaly) respectively.
On a day of high quality table tennis, Leinster junior stars Daniel Keenan and Sam Logue thrilled the crowd with their vast array of skills, and once again Kevin Mackey proved to be in a class of his own in the veterans’ category.
Irish International Murphy (21) overcame Robbie Gavin (Galway) in a fast and furious quarter-final slugfest and then turned on the firepower to overcome another brilliant prospect, Sam Hanley, in a comfortable semi-final success.
In the final, double Irish champion Fitzgerald (30), who had seen off Omagh’s Daryl Strong in a very competitive penultimate round clash, showed no fear and matched Murphy blow for blow but could not cross the finishing line at the conclusion of the games whereas his younger opponent seemed to find an extra gear when under pressure to narrowly win through. Scratch pairing Murphy and Fitzgerald teamed up for the men’s doubles and were untouchable.
Meanwhile University of Glamorgan sports student Mogey gave Ulster their only singles victory of the day by firstly defeating the hard hitting Teresa Devaney in straight sets in the semis but then came up against a determined Fiona Dennett in the decider.
The vastly experienced Mogey, who plays for Ireland in the British League, Glamorgan in the English Counties league and will represent Northern Ireland in the Luxembourg Open looked down and out at 9-2 down in the first set.
However the Carnmoney battler is never beaten and staged a miraculous comeback to take the first.
Credit must go to Cheshire-based Dennett who quickly recovered her composure to level the match with a fine aggressive top-spin display but then Mogey changed her approach and called upon her defensive skills to outlast Dennett.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
