Dubliner Elena Moore, an under-18 international seeded to reach the semi-finals, fell well short of her target when shocked by Limerick's Jane Hession in the opening round of the Dunlop-sponsored Irish Open Junior Championships at Fitzwilliam yesterday.
Moore plays out of the Charleville club in Dublin and her form had clearly justified a fourth-seed spot but she was made realise at an early stage of what proved a nip-and-tuck match that in Hession she was confronted by a tenacious and adroit opponent.
The Limerick inter-provincial player hit some great winners while some obliging Moore mistakes, on crucial points, fashioned a totally unexpected, if close 7-5 7-5 result.
Top seed Elsa O'Riain dropped three games to Barbara Black but her projected final opponent, Catherine Lynch, reeled off the 12 games against Natasha Duffy in an even more impressive opener.
The big guns in the senior boys' singles came through in style although James Colhoun was given a fright in the first set by Cork prospect Paul Cashman who forced it to a 12th game.
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