IRELAND’S TOP two boys’ under-18 players have secured places in the qualifying round for this year’s Junior Wimbledon. Originally, Dubliner John Morrissey and Limerick’s Sam Barry were four and six places adrift of the cut-off point, but the withdrawal of a number of players for a variety of reasons means the Irish duo will be bidding for glory in the London SW 19 event.

But Morrissey and Barry, who need to win two matches to make the main draw, experienced contrasting fortunes in the draw for tomorrow’s opening round. Morrissey, who has made the encouraging jump of 33 places in the ITF under-18 world rankings from 94th to his career-best mark of 61st, is the number six seed in the qualifiers, and he has been paired against Britain’s Liam Broady, who is placed 654th in the world ladder.

However, 112th-ranked Barry has been drawn against the 15th seed, Britain’s 84th-ranked Ahmed El Menshawy.