World of Sport
Irish Open joy for home hero Bothwell
AIG Irish Open Championships
Tennis
Daire Walsh
Down native Peter Bothwell delivered a magnificent display at Carrickmines yesterday evening to claim the AIG Irish Open Tennis Championship men’s singles title at the expense of Britain’s Ryan James Storrie.
This win (5-7 6-3 6-3) comes as a major milestone for the 22-year-old Hillsborough man, as it is the first singles crown of his professional career.
While Bothwell conceded the opening set amidst the sweltering heat in the south Dublin venue, he soon settled into a smooth rhythm of play.
Tied at three games each in the second set, he ruthlessly took control of the contest to set-up a grandstand finale.
With both players holding serve under enormous pressure, this fascinating duel looked set to go down to the wire.
A determined Bothwell (ranked seventh for the tournament) was not to denied, however, and he won three more games on the bounce to finally see off Storrie’s persistent challenge.
Emily Appleton was earlier crowned women’s singles champion with a straight sets victory (6-4 to 6-3) over fellow Briton Sasha Hill.