Irish u19 European Circuit Event

A trio of Mexicans will add extra spice to the Carlton Irish U19 Badminton Open starting in Baldoyle, Dublin, on Friday September 6.

Mexico's Luis Ramon Garrido, top seed in the boy's draw, has a bye into the second round where he will face either Matthew Steele or Curtis Presho, both Irish players.

The Mexican comes with quite a reputation - last December, he trashed American player Raymond Hsia to win the boys' U17 title at the EISBDF Winter Junior International. In July, he reached the semi-finals of the Pan Am Junior U19 Championships in Mexico.

At the other end of the draw, No 2 seed Wolfgang Gnedt of Austria will play either Jack O'Brien or Nhat Nguyen, both Irish, in the second round. Gnedt made the final of the Croatian Open last April and in July, progressed to the second round of the Canada Open - a senior tournament. Seeded to make the semi-finals are Irish pair Mark Brady and Jonathan Harron.

In the girls' singles, it looks like Ireland v Mexico in both semi-finals. No 1 seed Alannah Stephenson is unlikely to be troubled until she reaches the semi-finals where Haramara Gaitan from Mexico is her likely opponent. On the other side of the draw, Rachael Darragh is seeded to face Sabrina Solis, another Mexican.

The three Mexicans, are intrepid travellers and, last May, competed at the Australian Junior Open in Ballarat, where Gaitan and Garrido won the mixed doubles. In the singles, Gaitan made the girl's final and Garrido the boys' semi-finals.

Most recently, Gaitan went out to the top seed in the quarter-finals of the girls' singles at the Pan Am Junior U19 Championships in Mexico. In doubles, she made the mixed semi- finals with Garrido and the girls' semi-finals with Solis.
Gaitan and Solis are seeded for a semi-final showdown with Sara Boyle and Rachael Darragh from Ireland in the girls' doubles in Baldoyle. Top seeds are the formidable Irish pairing of Keady Smith and Alannah Stephenson.

Both boys and mixed doubles are all-Irish. Jonathan Harron and Ryan Stewart are seeded at No 1 for the boys with Mark Brady and Nicholas Murphy at No 2.
Ryan Stewart and Keady Smith are top seeds for the mixed doubles and expected to face Mark Brady and Fionnuala McCourt in the final.