Jiri Medonos CQS Trophy in Prague - June 12th - 16th 2024:

Jiri Medonos CQS Trophy in Prague - June 12th - 16th 2024: 

Irish Team: Bernard McCormack (C) & Jimmy Wilson

Hosted by IC Czech at the Stvanice Tennis Centre, Prague.

Participating countries - IC Ireland, IC GB, IC Spain & IC Czech Republic                 

I attended the Captains meeting chaired jointly  by Honza Michálek and Helena Sukova at the Tennis club on Wednesday evening  to inform us of the planned schedule of play for the following  2 days.

The Tournament got a new sponsor and they also decided to rename the Tournament after Jiri Medonos going forward. Helena Sukova stepped down as their IC president after many years of service. Fanda Stejskal Jr will be their new president . 

They also had a presentation on the life & times of Jiri Medonos as a player and as a coach and several prominent members of the IC Czech Club said a few words recalling their times with Jiri. 

They also invited the Medonos family to the event. Marek the older son said a few words on the family’s behalf. 

This year with the Death of Jiri Medonos hanging over the tournament , there was a sombre air to the whole event. As in previous years  - Points are awarded & accumulated by the number of games you win & this is added to your country’s score.  On the 1^st day you play with your team . On the 2^nd day team members were mixed up with other IC’s. 

In the final shakedown, we finished joint 3^rd with IC SPAIN . The 4 ladies from the IC GB came 2^nd  (unable to retain their win from last year). IC Czech proved too strong and won the tournament. 

Honza Michálek  accepted the Trophy on behalf of the IC Czech Team.

Their hospitality was very generous at the club. They provided us with Lunch on the veranda of the Stvanice tennis centre on both Thursday and Friday. We had the ‘Official IC Dinner’ on the Thursday night at a restaurant along the river.

On the Saturday morning the IC Czech provided us with a sightseeing tour of the old city.

It was a very enjoyable trip –. We made some New friends and met some old ones from past IC events. It was lovely to meet up and play Tennis again in this beautiful city. .

Bernard McCormack