Top class performance from Mayo athlete at EYOF
There were strong performances from Team Ireland athletes across the board on the opening day of the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) in Banská Bystrica yesterday, not least from Mayo's Eoghan Jennings in tennis.
Westport's Jennings had a full day, competing in the knockout rounds of the singles as well as the mixed doubles competitions.
Fourteen-year-old Jennings was cool and composed in his match against Portugal’s Joao Dinis Silva before being defeated in the third set. It finished 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
However, he paired excellently with Rachel Deegan (Dublin) in the mixed doubles to put in a dominant performance over Kosovo, winning 6-1, 6-2.
Speaking after the match, Jennings said: “It was comfortable enough. We got off to a good start and kept it going and came out on top. Playing together, you try to collaborate as much as you can but we don’t think about it too much, we just go out and play our own games and see the end result.”
In the singles, Deegan was unlucky to meet number one seed and home favourite Renata Jamrichova from Slovakia. She suffered a 6-1, 6-1 defeat.
Elsewhere, personal bests (PBs) and qualification for finals were clocked throughout the first day of competition – a multi-sport event for athletes aged 14-18 that runs until Saturday (July 30).
Hollie Kilroe from Galway helped make it a clean sweep of qualifications for the athletics team, moving to the final with a time of 56.86.
Pleased with her result, Kilroe said: “I started off very fast, maybe a bit too fast, but I was delighted to hold it. I scraped the finals but very happy I did.”
Ratoath’s Jesse Osas blitzed his boys 100m heat, finishing second with a PB time of 10.91. This booked the 16-year-old a place in today’s final.
Another personal best run was recorded by Cork’s Nicole Dinan in the girls 800m with a time of 2:12.27, while fellow Cork athlete Okwu Backari also moved to the final in the long jump with 5.41.
In badminton, Dubliners Dylan Noble and Michelle Shochan were both competing in the group play rounds of the singles. The team is managed three-time Olympian Chloe Magee.
Fourteen-year-old Shochan had a stellar performance in her win over Great Britain’s Varsha Kumar, while Noble competed twice on the day, taking on Sweden’s Romeo Makboul in the morning and Portugal’s Santiago Batalha later on. He was beaten in both matches.
Bangor’s Grace Davison had a busy day in the pool, qualifying out of her rounds in the 100m freestyle with a time of 58.82 – a time she matched later in the day in the semi-finals, but it wasn't good enough to make the final. She also competed in the 400m individual medley, also just missing out on the final.
Today is another busy day for Irish athletes, with athletics, badminton, cycling, gymnastics and swimming all on the schedule.