Sarah Cousins with 2013 Limavady Senior Ladies Trophy
The past few weeks have certainly been busy for Enniskillen Tennis Club member Sarah Cousins. Sarah continues to take local tennis achievements to new levels making history along the way.
Three weeks ago Sarah qualified to enter a European under 14 junior tournament in Dublin. Tennis Ireland have been able to secure two under 14 European ranking tournaments hosted in Dublin that has allowed Irish juniors to chase ranking points on home turf.
These events receive entries from players all over the world. Sarah made it into the main draw by means of her Irish ranking thus bypassing the qualifying rounds. With first round success Sarah received vital ranking points. This opens the door for Sarah to gain entry to other European events.
Her coach Matthew McGann explains the importance of these points –
“European junior tournaments are very difficult to get into unless you have a European ranking. Literally hundreds of junior players try to get into these tournaments. Players without a ranking will often not even get into qualifying for such events, instead they will be put onto a reserve list sometimes with hundreds of others! Ranking points make it much easier to get into qualifying and sometimes straight into main draws. Once a player wins a main draw match they earn more points.”
Sarah has not only opened the door to international tennis but has made local tennis history being the first junior in Fermanagh to attain a European ranking!
Sarah also made a historical début at the senior championships hosted at Limavady last week. She won the ladies open championship being the youngest to ever do so at the age of 13.
This is the second time this season that a junior from the Enniskillen tennis club has had such success at a senior event. Club-mate Laura Griffin at age 14 was the youngest to ever win the senior open championships held at Irvinestown last month.
The Enniskillen tennis club is delighted to have juniors making such progress. With record numbers attending the clubs summer camp and places filling up for the autumn term coaching programme it looks as though local tennis will continue to enjoy the success that Sarah is pioneering.
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