Commonwealth Games Council Northern Ireland

2nd May - NI Open Wrestling C'ships

The NI Open Wrestling Championships were held last weekend at Methodist College, Belfast. This is the first time in some twenty-five years that Belfast has hosted the event, doing so in conjunction with Redhog Wrestling Club who availed of the council's Support for Sport grant assistance.

The event attracted wrestlers from across Northern Ireland, England, Republic of Ireland and also international wrestlers from Switzerland, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic who made the journey to Belfast. The scale of the event was such that for the first time two Olympic standard wrestling mats awarded last year by Sport Northern Ireland were brought into play.

'The quality of wrestling ranged from Mini wrestling (children 5-8yrs) to world-class standard' said Coach John O’Rawe 'and it was great to see all ages and abilities getting the chance to compete at a major tournament'.

14th March - Mary Peters Trust - 2011 Report

Young athletes, parents, coaches, sponsors and sports fans were welcomed to the Hospitality Suite at Ravenhill last night for the launch of the 2011 annual report from the Mary Peters Trust. The Trust has been a long time supporter of Northern Ireland's young athletes, many of whom have gone on to compete at Commonwealth Games or Commonwealth Youth Games. Last year, eleven awards were made to NICGC athletes.

Outstanding Sports Person Award - Matthew Hall. Bronze medallist shooter at the 2010 Delhi Games. Also won a Silver at the 2008 Youth Games.

Outstanding Sports Person Award - Sycerika McMahon. Won 3 Gold and 2 Silver medals at the 2011 Youth Games. Also competed at Delhi 2010.

Other NICGC representatives to collect awards during 2011 were:

King George VI Sports Awards - Charlotte McKenna (Gymnastics), Ciaran Chambers (Badminton) and Daniel Stewart (Cycling).

Mary Peters Awards - Amy Foster (Athletics), Caroline Black (Badminton), Sinead Chambers (Badminton), Jack Neill (Gymnastics), Ashley Givan (Table Tennis) and Amanda Mogey (Table Tennis).

12th February - Athletics success at Irish indoors

North Down's Ben Reynolds (above) was one of the stars to shine at Belfast's Odyssey Arena over the weekend as he claimed the 60m hurdle title with a time of 7.75, just .01 of a second outside the World Indoor Championship qualifying time. Other title winning athletes who may have an eye on Glasgow 2014 included Amy Foster who ran a 60m PB of 7.37, Christine McMahon over 400m, Daniel Mooney over 1500m and Ballymena and Antrim pole vaulter Claire Wilkinson. Congratulations to all at Athletics NI for hosting another excellent indoor championships. Full results from the weekend are available HERE.

3rd February - NICGC boxers collect National Titles

Three boxers from the NICGC Delhi Games team have won National Elite Championship titles at the recent finals in Dublin. Paddy Barnes had a tight contest against Hugh Myres, eventually winning 21-17, while Michael Conlon beat Chris Phelan 19-11. Tommy McCarthy landed a devastating right hand on Christy Joyce to claim a third round KO and his first Elite title. Michael has already qualified for London 2012, while Paddy and Tommy will box the last round of qualifiers in Turkey during April. We wish them well.

25th January - Commonwealth Judo Championships

The cream of Northern Ireland's judo players are currently in Cardiff competing in the Commonwealth Judo Championships which will give some indication of the competition to be faced at Glasgow 2014.

The Masters have collected a total of 22 medals with a noteworthy Gold going to Barry McCune of the Belfast Maurakwai club. The juniors/cadets have also collected a Silver and two Bronze.

Senior competition takes place today and we'll post further information once available.

18th January - Belfast Telegraph Sports Awards

Commonwealth Games swimmer Sycerika McMahon added to her already mighty haul of awards from 2011 when she collected the recent Belfast Telegraph allocade for Best Young Player. Sycerika is pictured above during September's Commonwealth Youth Games in the Isle of Man where she won 3 Gold and 2 Silver medals. The Northern Ireland team at the Youth Games also won a nomination in the Best Young Team category.

17th December - Ulster Elite Boxing C'ships

The SportNI sponsored Ulster Elite Boxing Championships came to a conculsion last night at Belfast's Emerald Roadhouse.

Although only six bouts were contested on the night, the standard of competition was superb and cetainly kept a nosiy audience entertained.

Commonwealth Youth Games silver medallist Joe Fitzpatrick (right) picked up the Flyweight title and also the Bap Morrison trophy for the most improved young boxer.

James Fryers won the Lightweight title and the Nat Joseph Memorial Belt for the best boxer of the championships.

Other winners on the night were Sarah Close, Jamie Kennedy, Paul Upton and JP Delaney.

8th December - Lisburn hosts top class badminton.

We're into the second day of action at the Yonex Irish International Badminton Championships at Lisburn Racquets Club. More than 200 players from over 20 countries are taking part in the prestigous event which offers a qualification route to the London Olympics. Many of our top local players (including Caroline Black and Stuart Lightbody above) will have the opportunity to test themselves at the highest level as they continue to develop ahead of Glasgow 2014. The event runs until Sunday.

11th November - Gold Coast in 2018.

Team NI will be heading down under for the 2018 Commonwealth Games following the selection of the Gold Coast as the host city during today’s CGF General Assembly held in St. Kitts.

The Queensland tourist resort becomes the fifth Australian venue for the Games, following Sydney 1938, Perth 1962, Brisbane 1982 and Melbourne 2006.

The Gold Coast is renown as a sporting hub, with extensive facilities already in place seven years out from the Games. Their slogan ‘It’s our time to shine’ reflects the hospitality, climate and vibrancy of the nation’s fastest growing city.