Casey in right form to belie rankings in Open

It would surprise little if Irish Davis Cup player Owen Casey makes a mockery of the world rankings and sweeps into next Saturday's final of the Carlsberg Irish Open at Templeogue.

Casey, seeded fifth, is in the form of his life, despite retiring from the professional circuit.

His impressive run in the recent ITF Futures event earned him points he has no use for any more. He is ranked number 821 in the world but, says Irish Davis Cup captain Peter Wright, "is playing the best tennis of his career".

Casey, a 28-year-old Dubliner, is playing shots that he would not have dared on the circuit. "I am more relaxed now," he says.

South African Vaughan Snyman is seeded first and compatriot Kyle Rudman (ranked number 662) is seeded second.

The Leinster Women's Open is also being staged at Templeogue and Irish players Gina Niland (995), Lesley O'Halloran (unranked) and Yvonne Doyle (unranked) are the sixth, seventh and eighth seeds respectively.

In the Dunlop Irish Open at Fitzwilliam, members of the not-so-old firms of Nugent and Niland will contest the senior boys' singles final today.

Stephen Nugent from Malahide and Conor Niland from Limerick are regular, closely matched rivals.

Both players won their semi-finals in straight sets, Niland perhaps being the more impressive in disposing of tournament surprise Brian Condren of Wicklow. Nugent slowly dismantled David O'Connell's worthy game from the baseline.

Two unseeded players will contest the girls' final. Catherine Lynch defeated Dearbhla Kelly 63 6-4 in their semi-final but the title could well be exported - Cana dian Lara Vohnov defeated Ann Marie Hogan 6-2 6-2 in the other semi.

In the intermediate semi-finals, Ulster's Nelson Boyle got his first tough match when defeating Derek Fluskey in their semi-final.

Cork's Elsa O'Riain, the top seed in the intermediate girls, has lost only seven games in three rounds on her way to the final. Della Kilduff is her opponent after defeating second seed Emma Murphy.