29 September 2010 Annual Asian Gaelic Games Report Share this Article 0 0 0 Shares! 0 Shares! The 15th Annual Asian Gaelic Games Report The 15th Annual Asian Gaelic Games were held over the weekend of 24th to 26th September 2010 in Hong Kong and what a weekend it was!!! 650 players descended on King’s Park and Kowloon Tsai for 2 days of Football & Hurling Action in the searing Hong Kong heat. Plaudits must go to the Hong Kong GAA organising committee for a superbly executed weekend, with the schedule going off without a hitch! Over 220 Ladies took the field with 19 teams in all. We welcomed new Ladies teams to the competition from Dalian and Suzhou in China and this year saw the return of the Taiwan Ladies team also. The weekend opened with a day at the Races and the running of the Ireland Trophy at the famous Happy Valley track on Thursday 23rd. On Friday 24th the Asia-Pacific Ireland Business Forum was held, attended by former Taoiseach John Bruton, former Tánaiste Dick Spring among other dignitaries. Later that day the AGM of the Asian County Board was held with our distinguished guests, Uachtarain CLG Christy Cooney and Chairman of the GAA Overseas Committee Joe McDonagh. We were delighted & honoured to have a Ladies Referee, Michael Henry, in attendance at the games. Michael refereed the Ladies Cup competition and some other games over the weekend and managed extremely well in the mid-30’s Hong Kong heat & humidity! It was a great boost for the Ladies competition to have him in attendance. On Friday 24th September, the Games were officially opened poolside at the Kowloon Cricket club by Micheal O’Muircheartaigh and Chairman of Hong Kong GAA Shane Harmon welcomed all participants as the clubs began to assemble from all over Asia and the Gulf. Ladies Competition: In the Ladies Bowl last year’s plate finalists Japan GAA faced off against the Ladies from Thai GAA. The Japan Ladies had an extremely diverse team with 2 of their Japanese players scoring All-Stars at the event. The ThaiGals were competing in only their second AGG. Final Score: Japan 1-3, Thai GAA 0-1. In the Ladies Plate we saw the emergence of 2 teams from South East Asia. Orang Eire from Kuala Lumpur took on Viet Celts of Hanoi after both dominating in the group stages of the competition. Viet Celts were competing in only their 2nd AGG and Orang Eire in their third. After a keenly contested final the Ladies from KL scored their first silverware at the AGG. Final Score: Orang Eire 1-3 Viet Celts 0-4. The main events of the day were the three Cup finals and before that Micheal O’Muircheartaigh was installed in the commentary box and the Parade was paraded, the anthems were sung and we were ready to go! The Men’s “Derek Brady Cup” was won by Dubai Celts for the first time since 2005 and the Hurling Cup Final was won by a combined Hong Kong, China & Taiwan team. The Ladies Cup was played in a league format with each of the 4 teams playing each other twice in the group stages and the top 2 teams progressing to the final. Hong Kong GAA, Dubai Celts, Seoul Gaels and Singapore Gaelic Lions competed in this competition. Holders Singapore Gaelic Lions faced off against Seoul Gaels ladies in the Final. After each scoring a win over the other in the group stages it was anyone’s game – Singapore however went up another gear in the final and won their second trophy in a row. Final Score: Singapore Gaelic Lionesses 7-7 Seoul Gaels 1-5. All Trophies and medals were presented pitch side by our visiting dignitaries and games Platinum Sponsors Monex Financial Services and a close was drawn to the biggest & best organised AGG ever!! MVP: Singapore’s Rebecca Lewis from Chester in England won the MVP Award for the tournament. Gaelic for the first time in Singapore like most of the girls playing football in Asia and is one of the majority of Non-Irish players participating in the Competition. she is no stranger to competition – but the pinnacle of her career has to be playing Gaelic with the Lionesses in Singapore!! Becs took up Having played soccer with Spurs and Rugby with Singapore, All Stars: At the banquet held to close the games the All-Star awards were presented as follows: Ladies Cup Ladies Plate & Bowl Kym Tonkin, Australian (Singapore Gaelic Lions) Momo Hanagasaki, Japanese (Japan GAA) Katia Stapely-Oh, Australian (Singapore Gaelic Lions) Rebecca Simpson, Australian (Orang Eire) Gail Norman, Irish (Seoul Gaels) Louise King, Irish (Thai GAA) Rebecca Lewis, British (Singapore Gaelic Lions) Tara McMahon, American (Viet Celts) Ealga Ní Aodha, Irish (Seoul Gaels) Jen Pratt, Irish (Beijing GAA) Gráinne O’Brien, Irish (Singapore Gaelic Lions) Shauna Tay, Malaysian (Orang Eire) Brona Malone, Irish (Seoul Gaels) Miki Kurokawa, Japanese (Japan GAA) Cassie White, Australian (Singapore Gaelic Lions) Claire Coughlan, Irish (Viet Celts) Sarah Doran, Irish (Dubai Celts) Deirdre McCaul, Irish (Singapore Gaelic Lions) Sponsors: All of this would not have been possible without the support and enthusiasm of the Tournament Sponsors, particularly Monex our Platinum sponsor and other sponsors Fexco, Magners, Guinness, Morgan McKinley, Watsons Water and Pepsi. And thanks also to Asian County Board Partners ESBI, Enterprise Ireland, PCH International, Guinness & Kerry Group. Interested in Playing Ladies Gaelic Football in Asia? There are 19 clubs throughout the Middle East & Asia with Ladies Squads at the moment. They are always looking for new players and welcome any player regardless of their level or experience – for more information contact ladiesdevelopmentofficer.asia@gaa.ie or visit http://www.asiancountyboard.com. Share this Article 0 0