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Mayo players returned home from the Irish Junior Classification Event held in D.C.U. Dublin.
It was a mixed two days for Mayo and at the recent national event,
Everyone had a thrilling weekend of table tennis there was some fantastic table tennis played. Not just from Mayo players but also from players around the Country from Leinster Munster and Ulster.

On Saturday it was the turn of the Under 12s and under 17s, Mayo only had one player in the under 17s Martin-Edward Ditchburn who at the age of 12 was playing his first National under17 event. Martin played well in the first round group matches where he progressed through to the second round.

In the second round group matches he was drawn against a player from U.C.D and Irish International Kevin Hutchinson, where only one player goes through from the group.
Martin-Edward won his first match by a score of three games to one. In his second match against Kevin Hutchinson he played some outstanding table tennis but lost the match.
It was an outstanding performance from Martin-Edward at a young age playing under 17s,

In the under 12s Mayo were represented by Martin Williams, Brian Dunleavy, Eddie Ditchburn, and James Joyce, in the boys event, in the Under 12s Girls Mayo were represented by Marie Williams, Sarah Dunleavy , and Anna Tigue.
In the first round group matches the boys played exceptionally well and all progressed to the second round.were the competition was getting much tougher.
But due to a slight mishap at the control table James was placed in the plate event. whilst this was an unfortunate mistake, James played all the rounds in the plate reaching the final, where he was up against a player from Leinster. This was James's first National Ranking event and he wasn't showing any sign of nerves. He settled into the match with ease and went onto win the final three games to nil. And claim his first national trophy.

In the second round groups with only one progressing Eddie Ditchburn was against Evin McGovern one of the tournament favourites to win, Although Eddie played well he was eliminated by Evin. Meanwhile both Martin Williams and Brian Dunleavy were playing exceptionally well and both won thier second round group matches to progress to the knockout stages of the event, Both Brian and Martin reached the quarter finals, Brian played well but was knocked out in the quater finals. and had to settle for 5/8 playoffs. Meanwhile Martin had a tough quarter final but managed to win and reach the semi-final where he was paired against Alexander Gillen from England. Alex was joint favourite for the event. Martin got off to a bad start in the semi but played some outstanding tabletennis. unfortunatly he lost the semi to Alex and had to settle for fourth place in the end,

Meanwhile in the girls section Marie won her first round group matches to progress to the second round, meanwhile Sarah Dunleavy and Anna Tigue both eight years of age were playing their first ever national event. Unfortunatly both lost there first round groups and were entered into the plate event. Anna managed to get to the quarter finals of the plate. which was great for her first event and playing against older players. Meanwhile Sarah Dunleavy progressed to the final of the under 12 plate, In the final Sarah played fantastic table tennis and won the final three nil to clinch her first National Event trophy.

Marie Williams went about her matches playing confident table tennis and reached the semi finals of the under 12 girls, where she played her main rival Rebecca Finn from Ulster, the match was a tough one for Marie and after a thrilling match Marie lost out to Rebecca,
Marie played for third an fourth place and after another tough match Marie beat her opponent to finish in third place and took her first trophy of the season.

On Sunday it was the turn of the under 14s with all Mayo players involved, Daragh Egan,Martin Williams, Eddie Ditchburn, Brian Dunleavy, Matin-Edward Ditchburn, James Joyce, and Marie Williams.

all players progressed through the first round group stages except James, James entered the under 14plate event where he played well and reached the quarter final stages, unfortunatly he was eliminated but it was an exceptional performance from James at his very first National Event, and he can be proud of his achievments over the weekend.

Meanwhile the boys had difficult draws in the second round groups with Daragh Egan matched agaianst Alan Walsh from Munster, One of the favourites and an Irish international. Daragh won his first match as did Alan.

So it was between them who would progress. It was a tough match but Daragh took the first game to go one nil up Alan fought back to level the match one all. in what was a very entertaining match the match went down to the wire with both players playing exceptional table tennis, but in the end Alan was the victor, after the Match Alan praised Daragh saying He couldn't believe how much Daragh had improved, Coming from an Irish Junior International this wa a hugh compliment for Daragh . Meanwhile the rest of the boys found it tough going, and were eliminated from the event, In the Girls under 14 Marie Williams 10 years old reached the quarter finals. but was eliminated.

In the under 10 girls Sarah Dunleavy and Anna Tigue were in competition. Both rached the knockout stages but were then eliminated, but both played well in their first national event and there will be more to come from them.

Mayo are proud of all the players who represented Mayo and well done to all off them.