Ciara Moloney Doheny of Carlow has been in terrific form over the past few weeks on the senior squash circuit.
The season opener on the weekend of 24th and 25th of September took place in The Curragh Squash club. Ciara came away with bronze however that seemed a catalyst foe her to go on a winning streak, achieving back-to-back winning weekends.
The Munster Senior Open was Played in Waterford’s Celtic Squash Club on the 8th and 9th of October. Ciara was seeded number 2 with Sophia O’Rourke of Cork seeded number 1. Ciara’s first game was a battle with Galway’s Róisín O’Shea in which Ciara won 3-2. Ciara then faced off with Maria O’Brien from Dublin in her second game, which Ciara won comfortable 3-0. The final beckoned, with her opposition set to be a name Ciara was very familiar with, in the form of Sophia O’Rourke. Ciara had mentioned that she had not beaten Sophie for some time prior to the win but dug deep to clinch the Munster Senior Title on this occasion, beating Sophie in a right-to-the-wire match, ending 3-2 to Ciara, 11-9 in the fifth game. It doesn’t get much closer than that!
Last weekend the Irish Masters Open was played out at Fitzwilliam Tennis Club in Dublin. Ciara was competing in the Women’s Over 35’s section and was seeded number 1, in a round-robin style competition. With three games to be played, Ciara won her first two games 3-0 in both. The final game on Sunday was against a household name on the squash circuit in Siobhan Parker. A daunting task for Ciara as Siobhan would have been a player Ciara watched a lot when she was playing junior squash with Siobhan always competing at such a high level. However, this was not junior squash after all, but Ciara had only traveled to Dublin for one thing, the Irish Open Title
It was a close first game, 11-9 to Ciara but after that Ciara stepped up a gear and won the next 2 games 11-3, 11-5 to become the Women Over 35’s Irish Open Champion.
In other squash news over the past few months, there have been a few other major achievements from local players. Claire O’Neill, Sam Olwill, Willie Hosey, and Ciara all represented Ireland in 2022. Claire and Sam in the Over 35’s, Willie in the Over 60’s, and Ciara for the European Championship.
Willie Hosey is fresh off a World Title also, After competing in the World Masters Championships in Poland on late August 22. Willie was competing in the Over 60’s and had a really tough final and did come out on top after a grueling five-setter to win 3-2. We would like to wish Claire the best in her recovery after a knee injury that has ruled her out of competing this year, a tough blow as we know Claire would be up there challenging Ciara all the way for those titles, but we know she will be back stronger than ever.
A great start to the season for Carlow and its squash players. If anyone is interested in trying some squash out please do get in touch with the club, Carlow Lawn Tennis Club through FaceBook pages Carlow Squash and Carlow LTC. There they have squash for all ages and levels, with beginners’ nights, club nights, and junior coaching available.
