Sam Barry beaten in Irish Open semi-final

Limerick man Sam Barry lost to Josh Milton of Wales in the semi-final of the FBD Irish Open at Fitzwilliam yesterday. Barry, the top seed, lost 6-2, 6-4 to the Welsh number one in a disappointing contest. It is the second year in a row which Barry has lost at the semi-final stage of the tournament

Barry made numerous errors and seemed lethargic in a match the third seed dominated from the start, breaking Barry in his opening service game when the Limerick man hit a volley out.

Milton broke the Barry serve again to lead 3-0 when the Irishman missed a backhand. Barry had his one break point of the match in the next game, which Milton saved with an ace before going on to win the set 6-2.

Groundstroke winners

Barry tried to force the points, often going for a winner too early in the rally, while Milton hit some terrific groundstroke winners especially off the forehand side.

There was only one break of serve in the second set, when Milton took the third game when Barry made a forehand error at break point.

The set was more even with Barry becoming more aggressive and Milton appeared to suffer from nerves with victory in sight.

Milton, however, held on to win the set 6-4 and the match when Barry made another unforced forehand error on match point.

The Limerick man will be particularly disappointed with the defeat as he beat Milton in March at a tournament in Birmingham.

Impressive

Milton will face

Ed Corrie

in the final after the second seed had an impressive 6-2, 6-1 win over Yannick Jankovits. The English player dominated the match with some terrific serving, while Jankovits, the fourth seed, made numerous unforced errors.

Corrie has a terrific serve and is slightly unusual in that his backhand is better than his forehand. The Englishman, who played in the Wimbledon qualifiers this year in singles and in the main draw in doubles, hit his groundstrokes with great depth and followed this play with aggressive volleying at the net.

The final should be an intriguing encounter should both players produce similar performance levels .

The match begins at 2.30 and admission is free