The first Kerry Badminton County Championship of 2026 was held in Killarney Leisure Centre yesterday, February 1st, and it was a resounding success! Hotly contested matches in the Division 3 Men's Singles, Division 3 Women's Singles, Division 5 Men's Singles, and the Division 5 Women's Singles kept everyone on the edge of their seats.

A huge thank you to Ballyheigue for helping to run the event, and to Josie Gilbert (Ballyheigue) and Suzanne Smith (Killarney) for keeping things running smoothly at the desk. It was great to see all the spectators, support, and great rapport between competitors – everyone was in high spirits!

The championship saw some thrilling matches:

- Division 5 Women's: Anna Lyons (Moyvane) beat Emilie Keane Stack (Listowel) in two sets in the final, having beaten Katelyn Dillon (Killarney) in a two setter in the semi-final. Stack had overcome Mary Flahive (Annascaul) in 3 sets in her semi-final.

- Division 5 Men's: Mark O'Connor (Listowel) took the title, after beating Sam Baradi (Tralee) in the semi-final and Corey Heaphy (Listowel) in the final.  Heaphy had beaten Padraig Moriarty (Annascaul) in 3 sets in the semi-final to face O'Connor in the final.

- Division 3 Women's: Bridget McCarthy (Moyvane) won a tough 3-setter against Olena Paiuk (Tralee) in the final, having beaten Sinead McElligott (Listowel) in the semi-final also in 3 sets. Paiuk had beaten Darina Ellen Burke (Killarney) in her semi-final.

- Division 3 Men's: Daniel Weiland (Listowel) took the title, beating Brendan Carroll (Ballyheigue) in a 3 set final. Weiland had beaten reigning champion Padraig Curtain (Listowel) in the semi-final, while Carroll had beaten Ciaran Moriarty (Listowel) in 3 sets to earn his spot in the final.

The draws and live scores were updated in Tournament Software – a first for Kerry Badminton! This allowed people at home and spectators to get live score updates, which was never before possible in the history of Kerry badminton. A big thank you to Tom Bradley for the great photos!