THE Collins factor will loom large, yet again, for top seed Owen Casey when the Pamela Scott sponsored Irish Open Indoor tennis championships begin at the Riverview club on Saturday.
Traditionally, a problem for Casey in these championships has been presented by Eoin Collins, the former Davis Cup player now living in the US. In this instance, the seedings committee have named Robert Collins, his 19 year old brother, as Casey's main challenger.
Both players contributed, to varying degrees, towards Ireland's recent promotion to Division One of the European Nations championship. Collins is currently learning the trade with marked enthusiasm on scholarship at Rice University in the US.
Indian.a University bound George McGill is seeded at three with Ross Niland the possible dark horse. The supporting cast includes Micky Malone, David Mullins and Sean Cooper.
Yvonne Doyle is the favourite ford the women's title in the absence of the injured Gina Niland. Her big task could be to tame the ebullience of power hitting international colleague Lesley O'Halloran.
Both these players will be very much aware of the presence of Claire Curran who will be anxious for a farewell success before starting her scholarship at the University of California at Berkely.
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