Darragh & Boyle Secure European Games Qualification

05 Dec 2014

Rachael Darragh and Sarah Boyle who are hoping to securing their place at the 2015 European Games took a step closer today with a victory over Finnish pairing Anna Paavola and Sonja Pekkola at the 2014 Carlton Irish International Challenge event. The women's doubles pairing took the first victory of the day for Ireland with an impressive display, beating their opponents 21-10, 21-16 and acquiring vital ranking points for the European Games which will be held at Baku, Azerbaijan in June 2015. Sadly the Irish pair failed to progress past the second round but it was still their best senior result to date.

In the men's doubles Sam and Joshua Magee failed to progress to the next stages suffering a devastatingly close loss against Laurent Contantin and Jordan Corvee of France. The Irish pair played very well in the early stage of the match, beating the French pair 21-14 in the first game. The French pair came back strongly to take the second two games, 21-13, 21-16. Sadly the Irish pair failed to progress past the second

The absence of its top players Scott Evans and Chloe Magee due to injury mean that Team Ireland will have no representation in the next rounds but the team has been buoyed by the excellent performances of its younger members who have shown great potential for the future.

Team Ireland will now look ahead to the European Mixed Team Championships in Belgium next February where they will play amongst the top 12 teams in Europe.