Antrim know that they are facing a major challenge to reach Croke Park in Tailteann Cup quest
If Antrim are to return to Croke Park, they will have to do it the hard way, beginning with Sunday's Tailteann Cup preliminary Quarter-Final trip to Wexford Park (1.00pm).
Their eight-point win over London in Newry proved to be enough to claim one of the three places on offer for third-place finishers in the group phase, with Leitrim missing out at the expense of New York, who are parachuted in at this, the preliminary last-eight stage.
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The Guardian
33 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Raducanu says ‘expectations are pretty low' for Queen's Club after back spasm
Emma Raducanu has admitted she is unsure how her body will hold up to the rigours of the grass court season after another back spasm in training. The 22-year-old's latest injury concern came as she was preparing for the first women's tournament at Queen's Club for 52 years, and left her unable to practise for several days. It was Raducanu's second back spasm in three weeks, after initially experiencing the problem against Danielle Collins in Strasbourg a week before the French Open, and she admits she goes into the Queen's Club event with low expectations as a result. 'Of course I want to win this tournament, like every tournament, but especially when it's at home,' Raducanu said. 'But my expectations are pretty low, because I played points for the first time today, and I've had maybe two or three days on the grass courts, so it's not been much.' Asked whether she was worried about it affecting her grass court season, Raducanu replied: 'I can't really predict the future, and how it's going to be. I know I've been managing my back for the last few weeks now. It's something that comes and goes. 'It can be frustrating. When I was playing in Strasbourg in my second-round match it definitely hindered me, and in the first round in Paris when I got through. But I try not to let it get to me. I just have to manage it and take care of it when things happen.' Raducanu knows she faces a stacked field at Queen's Club that includes the reigning Wimbledon champion, Barbora Krejčíková, the Olympic gold medallist Qinwen Zheng and the Australian Open winner Madison Keys. However, her preparations were given a lift when her former coach Nick Cavaday, who left her camp for health reasons in January, returned to help her practise with her main coach Mark Petchey still at the French Open. 'I'm happy to see Nick healthy, first of all,' Raducanu said. 'It's been a long time since we were last on court together in Australia, and Mark is in Paris commentating. Nick was around, and it is nice to have a few days with him.' The new WTA 500 tournament at Queen's Club features an enhanced prize money of $1.4m (£1m), but the purse remains about half that of the men's ATP 500 event, which begins next week. Raducanu did not want to be drawn on whether there should be more equal prize money between the men's and women's tour. 'There is obviously a big difference, and I'm sure a lot of players will say their piece on it, but prefer not to kind of get involved,' she said. 'Whatever the situation is, I'll kind of roll with it, but I'm never really going to take a stand, either way.' She was equally non-committal when asked about the LTA's commitment to equal prize money at Queen's by 2029. 'I don't really get involved or stay in the loop with all the boards and all the decisions and stuff,' she said. 'I just get on with it. But I don't feel like I really am playing for money. Of course, I need to sustain my team, which is extremely expensive. And with my kind of profile, coaches and team members see that. So it is a very expensive sport, but it's not my motivation when I play.' skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion As a child, Raducanu used to come to Queen's Club with her father, although she admitted that she was more interested in looking for brownies than watching the tennis. But now she admits she is delighted that women are finally back playing for the first time since 1973. 'To be playing here is amazing. It's the first time there's been a women's event for a very long time,' she said. 'It's going to be great to be playing on home turf with a good crowd.' Raducanu will also be making only her second appearance in a WTA doubles tournament after agreeing to partner with her fellow Briton Katie Boulter, with whom she has played in Billie Jean King matches. 'It'll be extremely special,' Boulter said. 'Obviously, she's a great player, and I'm looking forward to having the first of many more.'
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Strong field as women's event returns to Queen's after 52-year gap
LONDON, June 8 (Reuters) - Top tier women's tennis returns to Queen's Club for the first time in more than half a century on Monday with the start of the WTA 500 event at the prestigious London establishment. While the men's event has become one of the key dates in the grasscourt season and the build-up to Wimbledon, a women's tournament was last held in 1973. In effect, Olga Morozova can claim to have been the reigning champion for 52 years, but not for much longer. A high-quality field have assembled in south west London including Olympic champion Zheng Quinwen, reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, current Australian champion Madison Keys and former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina. There will also be strong home interest with Emma Raducanu, Sonay Kartal and Katie Boulter all in the draw. "I've actually always said to myself, I wish there was a women's event here," Boulter said in the build-up. "I wish I got the chance to play on this court, because you can feel the history and you can feel how incredible it is." One thing is for sure, it will feel a world away from when Morozova won the title with a wooden racket, spent the week staying in a cheap bed and breakfast in Earl's Court and took a public bus to the courts for her matches. She earned 1,000 pounds for her work that week, although coming from the former Soviet Union meant she could not keep it. The inaugural version of the revamped event will boast total prize money of $1.415 million, the highest for a WTA 500 event of its draw size on the Tour, with the singles champion receiving a cool $164,000. Organisers say, they plan to have equal prize-money with the men's event, which takes place the following week, by 2029. The ATP event has a total prize fund of $2.87 million. The WTA 250 event in Eastbourne will take place from June 23-28, in the week before Wimbledon. "We are making significant increases this year to the women's prize money at Queen's and Eastbourne and want to achieve equal prize money as soon as possible," Lawn Tennis Association chief executive Scott Lloyd said in a statement. "The LTA is committed to growing women's tennis, both at professional and grass-roots level and this move is an important part of that commitment."
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Emma Raducanu feeling ‘pretty good' as she steps up Wimbledon preparations
Emma Raducanu felt 'pretty good' after completing her first rigorous grass-court training session of the season as she manages an ongoing back issue in the build-up to Wimbledon. The 2021 US Open champion, who suffered a second-round exit to Iga Swiatek at the French Open, has been hindered by persistent spasming for much of 2025. She is set to play at Queens this week, with grand slam action at the All England Club scheduled to start on Monday, June 30. 'I got back (from Paris) last week and then I got straight back on the court,' Raducanu told a press conference. 'I had a small interruption with a bit of a back spasm again, which was a bit annoying and that hindered my grass prep. But the last few days I have managed to get on the grass. 'I can't really predict the future. I know I have been managing my back for the last few weeks now and it's something that comes and goes. 'It can be frustrating. I try not to let it get to me because I have a pretty good feel when it happens of how to manage it. All I can do is deal with what's in front of me 'Today was the first day I opened it up and played points on the grass. It is pretty early days and I can't say I have had a lot of prep on it. But I felt pretty good today.' British number two Raducanu, who is ranked 41st in the world, was dismantled 6-1 6-2 by reigning champion Swiatek at Roland Garros. Subject to overcoming a qualifier, she could face current Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in the second round at Queens, while she is set to pair up with British number one Katie Boulter in the doubles. 'Playing a doubles match with Katie will hopefully give me a good feel for that surface and it will be positive,' the 22-year-old said. 'I really like playing with Katie. We've practised a few times together in the past at Billie Jean King Cup ties.'
