ENNIS TENNIS and badminton club coach and member, Anne-Marie Darcy has been selected to play on the Irish Ladies Young Seniors 35s national team.

This week, Anne-Marie was in Lisbon, Portugal in a team of four competing in the Ladies 35s ‘Suzanne Lenglen Cup’. The venue ws CDN Jamor, Oeiras, Lisbon and was played on a clay surface. A teacher in Clarecastle NS, she lives in Ballyea.

Darcy was selected based on results and ranking from the 2021 season in her age category. The opportunity to represent Ireland is the culmination of many years of success in competition at local, national and interprovincial level.

Play concluded on Friday after a week of intense matches. The Nenagh native and her ladies 35s team achieved a final standing of tenth place in the world after a play off against a strong France team.

Anne-Marie is a top-graded Munster player who has played and competed with clubs in Ennis, Nenagh, and Dublin. She has captained and won Munster Winter League and Summer Cup titles. She has competed in national competitions and won titles in Munster, Connacht & Leinster. Her successes include singles, ladies doubles and mixed doubles titles, highlighting her skill base.

In between practice she also provides coaching in Ennis Tennis and Badminton Club throughout the year, for both children and adults alike. Most recently she led the Tennis Ireland ‘Try Tennis’ initiative in conjunction with Clare Sports Partnership aimed at enticing ladies who had never played tennis before to give tennis a try out which was oversubscribed in less than 48 hours. Of the 24 ladies who took part many became members of the club and some have already competed in their first tournaments.

In preparation for this event, Anne-Marie has been training on an artificial clay surface in Killaloe Tennis Club and in DCU, Dublin. This takes huge commitment as suitable locations to prepare for such an event are geographically dispersed. Anne-Marie is honoured to have been selected to represent her country in the World Tennis Championships and is really looking forward to the experience.

Karen Walsh Tennis Captain in Ennis said, “We wish Anne-Marie every success in the World Championship and we are very lucky to have such a great player, coach and role model in our club.”