It has been a long time coming, but finally the Irish Tennis Intervarsity had arrived. Day one and in typical student fashion, the competitors arrived late – over an hour late! Play began with appropriately with Queen’s University Men taking on Trinity College Men in a tie that Queen’s have not won in over ten years. Not many knew what to expect from Queen’s having put forward some poor performances in recent years at the tournament, so Trinity were quite shocked to find themselves 4 – 1 down after the first five singles. Trinity were given two walkovers – one for the singles and one for the doubles making the tie 4-3. Queen’s men were not to be undone by their efforts however taking the final 2 doubles matches to win the tie 6-3 and gaining the lucrative victory over Trinity., much to the jubilation of the local spectators.

The next notable match on court was the ladies colours match of University College Dublin v Trinity College Dublin. This juicy tie has always been a competitively fought tie over the last few years, but usually in later rounds. So not only was local rivalry at stake but potentially the loser risking not qualifying for the next stage. It started all evens with Trinity taking the first two singles and UCD taking the next. The last two singles were both close affairs but UCD ended up taking them both to give them a commanding 4-2 lead going into the doubles. There was to be no comeback from Trinity as UCD took the first doubles match rendering the rest of the tie dead, also giving them an excellent platform to go on and qualify for the semi-finals.

 In one of the bigger shocks of the day NUI Galway took a surprise victory over University College Cork, who consistently made the finals at the intervarsities. Both teams were unable to field a full team of 6 today, but even with smaller numbers Galway made the intentions clear for the rest of the tournament by beating Cork 4–1 before the doubles were even required. All other ties went as expected, and Queen’s Men 2^nd team gave a good account of themselves losing to University College Cork 5-1.

 Later that evening we returned to the boat club for buffet and a quiz that the organising committee had put together. The quiz was based on 5 questions per round, with a bonus question at the end that if correctly answered doubled a team’s points for the round. The question was introduced by the MC by calling out “And the double your money question is” to which the crowd participated in responding together “What’s that you say?!” and the MC would repeat “It’s the double your money round” (One would need to invoke the image of Roy Walker from the popular TV show “Catchphrase” to appreciate atmosphere). Finally we danced the night away with a local DJ, a fitting end to a wonderful beginning to the tournament.

 At the start of Day two, it was serious faces time again, as some crunch matches were played potentially deciding the shape of each group. First on court were current champions Dublin City University men and also Dublin City University Ladies. As expected they brushed aside the opponents with relative ease, striking an air of inevitability into the rest of the player’s hearts. Next it was Queen’s turn to entertain, again both men and ladies. If the men could beat Dublin City University 2^nd’s they would qualify for the semi-finals, and that’s exactly what they did, in imperious form whitewashing their opponents 6-0.

 It was a different story for the ladies as they joined locker heads with yesterdays winners University College Dublin. Queen’s raced to a 3-0 lead with their superstar line-up that included the likes of Lynsey McCullough, Fiona Gallagher and Kate McNulty, but Queen’s paid for the lack of depth in the team as UCD took the last three singles, leaving the tie tentatively poised going into the doubles. Both sides took a doubles each, leaving the second doubles pairings to settle the tie. The atmosphere was intense, and there was an air of hope for Queen’s as they took the first set. UCD then came through a tight second set and Queen’s nerve was broken as UCD raced through the final set and took the tie. High drama on day two, but all was not lost for Queen’s ladies as a qualifying runners-up spot was up for grabs when they were face off with Trinity the next day. Later that evening the players were entertained by gaining priority entry into the very popular night club, the Botanic Inn, very close to the university.

 

The business end of the tournament has come. It’s the last group day, where all the remaining qualification positions were to be decided. The day started off well for UCD Men as they ensured their qualification with a straight forward victory over Queen’s Men 3rds. Trinity Men also bagged a consolation win by beating DCU 2nds moving themselves into the plate competition. There were wins for DCU Men, DCU Ladies and UCC Men as they all progressed to the semi-finals.

 The afternoon descended and there we were to be entertained by two classic matches. First of which was by NUI Galway girls who pulled off another fantastic shock comeback. They started the tie falling to a 4-0 deficit to UCD 2^nd’s but came back to win the remaining three singles making it 4-3 to UCD going into the last two doubles. Galway took the first doubles with relative ease and the tie once again hanged in the balance of the second doubles pairing. It was to be a fairytale for Galway as they won comfortably and take them to the semi-finals of the intervarsities for the first time in their history.

 The last match on court was the decider between Trinity ladies and Queen’s Ladies. Queen’s were in no mood to suffer a similar loss to the previous day and raced to a 4-0 advantage over their opponents. Trinity got one back leaving them a slim chance of forcing the doubles. The tie was to be settled by two sisters, Clare Thompson representing Queen’s and Rachel Thompson representing Trinity. The sibling rivalry clearly added an extra spice to the tie in a tight first set with the Queen’s sister taking it 7-5 and much to Queen’s ladies delight Clare went on to take the second set also meaning they would not have to worry about another set of nerve jangling doubles ties.

Later that evening the players were treated to the very popular Odyssey Arena where our first stop was something a little different with a Spanish buffet at La Tasca. We then moved on to Bar 7 where we had a private room booked, and our final destination was Northern Ireland’s premiere evening venue, the Box, where we had priority entry into.

 Day Four is when it all gets serious. There are some new names in the Intervarsity “Big Four”. That being Queen’s Men, and NUI Galway girls. Their prominent rise can only be good news for the tournament meaning more competition for the Dublin & Cork teams. First to take centre stage was DCU men versus UCC Men and UCD Ladies versus NUI Galway ladies. DCU Men stormed into the final only dropping a single set against Cork, whilst there were to be no more heroics NUI Galway ladies as they lost 5-1 to UCD

The second set of semi-finals saw Queen’s Men face UCD Men, and Queen’s Ladies face the last two year’s champions DCU ladies. Queen’s Men on paper were the underdogs for their match against UCD, but they blew all expectations out the window by taking a 4-1 lead against UCD. As we waited for the last singles to finish we put on a couple of doubles matches on. Queen’s raced to victory in one of them meaning they beat Trinity and UCD in the same year for the first time in memory. They march into the final, and hopefully inspiring the girls to do the same.

 Things started off encouragingly for the Queen’s girls taking a 2-0 lead by beating DCU’s no.1 and no.2 (much like earlier in the week against UCD). There was a change in the wind however as DCU no.3 took a surprise win over Queen’s Kate McNulty bringing the tie to 2-1. DCU went on to win the rest of the singles making it a daunting task for Queen’s to overhaul them. Queen’s took the first doubles to make it 4-3 and were up in a tight second doubles pairing, but DCU took the last doubles making the tie dead and winning 5-4 overall – Queen’s hearts broken again. The signs were good however and with a little more depth to the squad the future is bright for Queen’s.

In the plate Trinity ladies and Cork ladies moved to the final, and Trinity men would face Trinity Men 2^nd’s in the final after their surprise win over UCD 2^nd’s. As the night came in, the players were entertained with some cutting edge entertainment at the Eglantine – Inflatable Sumo suits. This proved popular with the students and many long lasting memories were created on this night!

 The day everyone had been anticipating had come – it’s finals day at the Irish Tennis Intervarsity. Queen’s University Men’s had made the final for the first time since they last won it in 1958, and with all their surprise victories this week who’s to say that history wouldn’t be on their side. First thing is first however, and just as equal an attraction, the ladies final of Dublin City University versus University College Dublin.

 UCD given their recent good form were determined to wrestle the crown from the seemingly dominant DCU Ladies, but it wasn’t to be. Every match was tight, many going to the 3^rd set, and had even one of which gone UCD’s way things could have been so very different. But DCU’s experience shined through as they took the trophy beating UCD 5-1, and well deserved they were.

 Next came the men’s final, which drew much attention due to the surprise package Queen’s team. Similarly to the ladies earlier on, things started brightly for Queen’s, many of the matches being forced into a deciding set. In particularly DCU Men’s no.1 Simon Wrafter playing Queen’s Men no.1 Mark Prenter.  Simon took a tight first set 7-6 then Mark rallied back to take the second 6-3, and the final set went to 4-4 before Simon finally broke Mark’s resistance and went on to take the set and the match 6-4. It also proved to be the end of Queen’s hopes as DCU took the rest of the matches and with that the trophy for the 4^th year running.

 Will anyone be able to challenge DCU? It used to be UCD and Trinity had a duopoly on the trophy but ever since the emergence of the Tennis Ireland National Tennis Centre at Dublin City University, DCU have been unstoppable. We hope that Tennis Ireland look into investing into the other Universities in Ireland otherwise the tournament could suffer an air of inevitability about it, much like Roger Federer’s dominance in the game from 2003-2007.

The tournament was capped off with a presentation and some “tasteful” initiations, followed by a buffet at the student union where we partied, despite the tiredness, the rest of the night away. It has been a fabulous tournament, thoroughly enjoyed by all, well contested in the most sportsmanlike of attitudes, with many new bonds of friendship being made between the universities. It has been the pleasure of the committee to organise the event, and we look forward to an even bigger tournament next year in Dublin.

Click here to see all the photos on bebo!