Great start to the year for Frost

KATE Frost has had a great start to 2023.

Over the weekend, Frost won her second Women’s Doubles badminton National title and took home silver in the Mixed Doubles in the National Indoor Arena, Blanchardstown bringing her national title tally to three after winning the women’s singles title in 2019 and the women’s doubles in 2021.

Frost from Templeogue teamed up with long-time partner Moya Ryan (Co. Clare) to come through three rounds of matches to clinch the title.

In the opening round, Frost and Ryan faced Ruth Kilkenny and Ciara Dwyer.

This was not an easy match for Frost and Ryan who had to settle in and gain control over the match against tricky opposition.

The girls did just that and won the match 21-13, 21-4.

Next up in the semi-final Kate and Moya faced Sara Boyle and Sophia Noble, two talented women’s singles players, the latter who went on to claim women’s singles gold on the day.

As with the first round, frost and Ryan knew they needed to settle in quickly and find their rhythm as the girls would come at them all guns blazing.

However, the skill level and experience Frost and Ryan had really showed through as they stormed through the opening set winning it 21-5.

The second set was much more competitive as the pairs won point for point all the way up to 19-19.

At this stage, Frost and Ryan just took the edge to win the next two points to win the semi-final in straight sets (21-5, 21- 19).

In the final, Frost and Ryan came up against two underage Irish internationals in Paige Woods and Michelle Schochan.

The young pairing had a good run to the final as they beat last year’s winner so it was essential that Frost and Ryan used their experience to help them through this tie.

Frost and Ryan did just that as they pulled out all their shots and expertise to win in 2 sets 21-10 and 21-13.

That wasn’t the end of the day for Frost who had made a second final in the mixed doubles with partner Scott Guildea.

As a new partnership, Frost and Guildea made it all the way to the final before falling short to Joshua Magee and Moya Ryan.

However, Frost and Guildea can be really proud of their performances over the weekend as they took out the 3/4 seeds Brian O’Mahoney and Ruth Kilkenny in the opening round 21-10 and 21-13.

They then beat Eoin Walsh and Ciara Dwyer 21-19, 21-9 to set up an exciting encounter with number one seeds Declan Bennett and Lauren in the semi final.

Again, Frost and Guildea showed just how good their partnership could be as they won this match in two straight sets 21-12, 21-13.

This win meant they were through to the National Championship mixed doubles final in their first event as a pair.

However, this was the end of the road for the new partnership as they came up short against Irish number ones Joshua Magee and Moya Ryan in what was an exciting encounter which ended 21-16, 21-16.

Kate Frost wasn’t the only Frost who had a good weekend, as her younger brother Robbie Frost made his first senior national championship semi-final in the mens singles, aged 17.

This was a great tournament for Robbie who is an Irish junior international.

He recorded wins against, Jack McIvor in the opening round, Jack Armstrong in Round Two and Conor Bradley in the quarter-finals to set up a semi-final with Adam McAllister.

Unfortunately, Adam was too strong on the day who used his senior presence and experience to win the match and progress to the final.

But Robbie can be very proud of his achievement in reaching the semi-final stage at such a young age and we will see more from him in the future.