Larne Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club

Well done Lynsey!

Congratulations to Lynsey McCullough who has been part of the team representing Ireland for the third time in the prestigious Fed Cup, the largest annual team competition in women’s sport. The Fed Cup was launched in 1963 to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the International tennis federation and is the equivalent for women of the Davis Cup. The inaugural event was held at Queen’s Club in London and the first final set the tone with Grand Slam champions Darlene Hard, Billie Jean King, Margaret Court and Lesley Turner all proudly representing their country on court. The US won on that occasion and still holds the record for the most wins with 17 titles, followed by Australia with seven. Current 2010 champions are Italy with the 2011 title still to be decided.

Lynsey is delighted to have played along with her 3 team mates, Julia Moriarty, Amy Bowtell and Sinead Lohan, in a tournament which has included some of the great tennis legends over the years and as she is a member of Larne Lawn tennis and Bowling Club we are proud to share in her achievements.

Lynsey travelled to Cairo to take part in the event and played teams from Norway, Tunisia, Egypt and Moldova. Ireland defeated Moldova but lost to the other countries. Although the team did not succeed in going through to the next stage, the experience of playing at this standard and of meeting the best players in these countries is of great personal and professional benefit to Lynsey, who is developing her skills as a coach as well as pursuing her academic studies.

Larne Tennis International makes history
Lynsey McCullough scooped a second successive hat-trick at the Febvre Wines Ulster Open earlier this month, writing her own little bit of history along the way.
Still only 20 and ranked 8 in Ireland,Lynsey retained the women's title for the third successive year at Belfast Boat Club. She is the first woman since 1928 to achieve such a feat, when she defeated Romanian teenager Karola Bejenaru, 6-4 7-5.
"I'm delighted to retain the title, it was tougher than I thought. I didn't think I was playing my best but I got there in the end. Karola put up a very good performance," said the Irish Federation Cup star.She broke in the eighth game and held to take the set.
Lynsey, who proudly continues to represent our club, was under pressure in the second set as the 14-year-old took a 3-0 lead. But she clocked up five straight games to take the lead.
The Romanian girl leveled to make it 5-5 but Lynsey rose to the challenge and finished the job.
She completed the historic treble, teaming up with Kate McNulty to win the women's doubles and Carlos Miranda to win the mixed doubles.
Her triumph is a great personal and professional achievement and we hope she will be an inspiration to our own young people as we continue to promote the game through our Development Plan.