Dolan secures first win for Irish on day two

Ciaran Chambers and Caroline Black were the first in action in Day two of the European Junior Championships. The Irish pairing faced the French pairing of Jocelyn Deschamp and Stacey Guerin. In the morning match the Irish were playing in a packed stadium with an amazing atmosphere, and with the adrenalin pumping they got off to a good start. The French soon settled down and started to control the match winning from the net and midcourt as the Irish tried too hard to make winners. The French closed out the opening set and again started the second set well taking a commanding lead. The Irish pairing changed their tactics and controlled the first three shots with Chambers mixing his serve up well. The Irish edged back into the game but at 19-18 the French pair stayed solid to close out the match 21-10 21-18.

Next up was Jonathan Dolan in the Men's singles against Mark Philipp Byerly from Germany. Dolan is seeded 5/8 for this event but the German who is one of the favourites for the doubles title could not be underestimated. Byerly started well attacking a lot on Dolans Body and following up at the net. Dolan began to get into the game as he took control of the net and found his attacking game. Once the Irish number one under 19 found his rhythm he controlled the game and was able to dictate the pace of the match as he closed out the tie 21-16 21-14 to progress to the next round where he will meet Justin teeuwen of Holland.

Hoping to follow on from Dolans success next up was Alannah Stephenson in the womens singles. Stephenson faced 9/16 seed Maja Paylinic of Croatia. Stephenson settled in well and stormed the first set winning 21-14. In the second set Stephenson continued to stick to her tactic and controlled the match leading 18-14 in what looked like going to be a major upset. Alannah tightened up towards the end of the game and the Croatian fought back to steal the second set 21-18, taking the third 21-14.