CARLOW Lawn Tennis Club will be the centre of the Irish squash world over the next two weekends as it plays host to the first ever Carlow Senior Squash Open.
This is a hugely exciting time for the squash club as some of the best players in the country will be battling it out for the title and the Irish ranking points that are on offer in the tournament.
“It is the first event of the season and because of that lots of players target it,” said James McDermott who is one of the organisers of the competition.
The competition is split over two weekends with the competitions in the lower eight divisions held this weekend, 3-5 September, with 80 players taking part.
The premier division competition is the following weekend, 10-12 September.
Local players are among the stars of the sport and both Arthur Gaskin and Rory Byrne will be competing in the elite division.
Arthur Gaskin is the current Irish number 2 and is still involved in the club.
“He trains in the club when he’s in Carlow and also takes juniors for lessons so he knows every inch of the courts.”
Rory Byrne was the first Irish winner of the Irish Junior Open for about ten years and according to James. “He’s in excellent form coming into the event.”
The presence of ten-time national champion and 2000 world doubles champion Willie Hosey, who will hopefully be returning from Canada to take part, would add an extra dimension to this huge event for the club.
In the ladies’ event eight of the country’s top 12 players have already confirmed that they will play and there is over €2250 in prize money for the whole tournament.
This national event is extremely beneficial for the club as James explained.
“It means that we are on a national level and people will recognise us as a serious outfit. It will let people know of the facilities that we have in Carlow and will attract people to squash when they can see the best players in Ireland in action.
“By bringing the cream of Irish players to Carlow it will be motivation for the junior players to keep playing.
“Its great exposure for the game in Carlow and hopefully it will entice more people to play the sport.”
The first round of the men’s seniors begins on Friday, 10 September, at 5pm and the competition continues on Saturday morning. The ladies’ seniors’ gets underway on Saturday morning at 10am.