Boys' Badminton 2004

Ulster and All Ireland Champions 2004

The Junior Boys' Badminton Team scored an outstanding success on Saturday 20 March 2004 at the All Ireland Championships in Gormanstown College, North Dublin.

They won a very close victory against Clonmel High School, the Munster Champions, and a thrilling victory over the highly fancied Leinster Champions, Carlow CBS to take the Junior Boys' All Ireland title for the first time since 1982.

Congratulations to the team:
1. Andrew Shannon
2. Grant Gardiner
3. Stephen McGookin (Captain)
4. Matthew Holmes
5. Simon Shannon (playing reserve)


Junior Boys' Team - Ulster & All Ireland Champions

Ballyclare High School (Ulster Champions) V Clonmel High School (Munster Champions)

Andrew Shannon set the tone with an outstanding 21-3 win against a promising Munster Player. Grant Gardiner had to fight very hard to win an excellent game 21-13 game against a very talented Munster player. The Munster team fought back well to win the third and fourth singles after being behind in both matches. Stephen McGookin lost very narrowly 21-20 and Matthew Holmes lost by the same score to two stars from Clonmel. The stage was set for the singles. Shannon and Gardiner won 21-12 victory and this time McGookin, the Captain of the Ballyclare team, and Holmes were determined not to lose and fought brilliantly to win 21-17. Ballyclare were exhausted by delighted to come away with a 4-2 victory.

They had to wait while Munster and Leinster played their match. Leinster won a narrow 4-2 victory and the scene was set for a final match to be played between Ballyclare, representing Ulster, and Carlow CBS, representing Munster.

Ballyclare High School (Ulster Champions) V Carlow CBS (Leinster Champions)

This game was won and lost in the first two singles. Andrew Shannon swept aside a talented Leinster player 21-0 which demoralised the Carlow hopefuls. Grant Gardiner had to fight to the very last point to pull off an outstanding 21-20 victory against a rather unsporting Leinster player, whose disappointment was obvious for all to see. Ballyclare 2-0 up were not going to slip up in the final two singles which Stephen McGookin won 21-13 and Matthew Holmes won 21-4 to give Ballyclare an unassailable 4-0 lead. The doubles were free from the tension of the singles and Andrew Shannon and Grant Gardiner won 21-5 and Stephen McGookin and the up and coming Simon Shannon won 21-13.

The Coach, Simon Thompson and the boys were thrilled by this hard fought victory. Although the school has had several successes in the Minor Boys' All Ireland Championships over the years, this is only the second time they have won the Junior Boy's All Ireland Championship. The last time was in 1982, when Simon Thompson was on the winning team.

Gormanstown College - Venue for the All Ireland Badminton Championships
 Gormanstown College, north of Dublin, is one of the best venues for badminton in Ireland. There are sixteen badminton courts in the one arena which creates a tremendous atmosphere.
Games go on from ten o'clock in the morning with the final matches ending around six o'clock. The boys and girls from Ballyclare High School have played with great success over the years. The journey down is exhausting but with considerable success the journey home is usually with celebration.
Many team members have caught the selectors' eye and have gone on to representative honours after playing in the All Ireland Championships. This year tje Junior Boys' team had outstanding success in the Championships. Congratulations also to Coleraine High School, Senior Girls' Champions and Royal and Prior for their win in the Minor Boys' Championships.

Minor cup Finalists 2004

Under 12 Cup Finalists 2004

Eye on the Shuttle

Article about the individual success of Andrew Shannon in 2004
Andrew gained success at both at Ulster and Irish Championships.
Can you recall a more outstanding success?