Rachael returns to form but comes a cropper against old adversary

Rachael Woods was back to her best at the weekend.

It cannot be easy to have to play second fiddle to such a dominant player as Ireland No1 Clodagh Dunne has been within the same age group and again Dunne was the only player to beat the Alpha star.

Rachael was seeded No3/4 for last weekend’s Irish Championships and coming from the bottom half of the draw she wasn’t due to face her old adversary until the final.

She was to have a relatively easy passage through to the last four with a convincing 21-10 21-10 victory over Cliodhna Duggan, having earlier ended the challenge of Judith McClure 21-11 21-18.

Rachael took the opening set in the semi against Kate Frost 21-19 before losing the second 21-17. The Hunterhouse 14 year-old pupil was not going to let Miss Frost back into the match and ran out the victor 21-10.

In the final against Dunne, who had seen off twin Rebecca Woods, Rachael edged the opener 25-23 with the top seed coming back to level 21-14 in the second and as the final approached the 40 minutes mark, the game swayed towards a win for the top seed 21-16.