London calling after a stellar year

SPORTSWOMAN OF THE MONTH: CHLOE MAGEE (Badminton):IT'S BEEN a dizzying conclusion to 2011 for more than a few of our sportswomen, among them the Murphys, swimmer Gráinne and sailor Annalise, who have both qualified for next year's Olympic Games.

And, of course, there was Fionnuala Britton (last December’s nominee) bringing home gold from last Sunday’s European Cross Country Championships.

While those achievements don’t fall into the timeframe for this year’s overall award – which covers December 2010 to November 2011 – all three sportswomen are certain to be contenders in 12 months’ time, not least if they maintain their progress at the London Games.

And joining them in that 2012 Irish team will – more than likely – be Donegal badminton player Chloe Magee who, in November, edged ever closer to Olympic qualification by reaching the final of the Norwegian Open, despite being seeded just four for the event. And, to complete her weekend, she won the tournament’s mixed doubles title with her brother Sam.

Magee all but sealed her place in London by making it to the quarter-finals of the Irish Championships in Lisburn last week, where she lost to former world number three PI Honygan, 17-21, in the deciding set. She will, though, have to wait until the end of the badminton season, in April, for her qualification to be officially confirmed. But it looks good.

“I’m just delighted, basically that’s it sealed and delivered now,” she said in Lisburn. “I have had 10 good tournaments so it’ll only be an injury that will stop me. All my focus now will go into training for the Olympics.”

If she makes it to London it will be Magee’s second appearance in the Olympics. Back in 2008 she beat Estonia’s Katie Tolmoff in the first round in Beijing, a player who was ranked 28 places above her. Korea’s Jun Jae-Youn, ranked in the world top 10, proved too strong, though, in the second round.

Magee (23) has since risen 28 places in the world rankings, now at 46, having had her most successful year on the circuit. Back in June she won her first senior title beyond these shores when she took the Lithuanian International Open, playing 10 matches in three days. She also won the mixed doubles title with Sam.

There were plenty of other highlights through the year, including her defeat of the Indonesian number one at the World Championships in August.

In all, she reached the last eight in seven events that counted towards Olympic qualification, her runners-up spot in Norway earning her 3,400 ranking points – her highest yield of the year.

All going well, then, Magee’s reward for an excellent year’s work will be a trip to London next summer.

MONTHLY AWARDS SO FAR ...

This year’s awards cover December 2010 to November 2011.

December: Fionnuala Britton (Athletics). The Wicklow runner just missed out on a medal at the European Cross Country Championships, finishing fourth but given the same time as the runner in third. But you know what happened last Sunday.

January: Leona Maguire (Golf). The 16-year-old won the Portuguese Amateur Open by 15 strokes.

February: Fiona Coghlan (Rugby). Coghlan captained Ireland to Six Nations’ wins over Italy and Scotland and just a two-point defeat to France. The team went on to finish third.

March: Lisa Maguire (Golf). Lisa won the Spanish International Amateur Championship, a victory that lifted her in to the top 10 of the world rankings.

April: Nina Carberry (Horse racing). Carberry became only the second woman to win the Irish Grand National, on Organisedconfusion, at Fairyhouse.

May: Jenny Egan (Canoeing). The Salmon Leap canoeist took silver at the World Cup Two in the Czech Republic.

June: Katie Taylor (Boxing). Our two-time sportswoman of the year won her fourth successive European Union championship title in Poland.

July: Sycerika McMahon (Swimming) and Madeline Perry (Squash). McMahon won two golds and a silver medal at the European Junior Swimming Championships and Perry won the Singapore Masters.

August: Deirdre Ryan (Athletics). It was an outstanding summer for Ryan who improved her Irish high jump record before breaking her record again (securing her place at the Olympics) to reach the final at the World Championships in Daegu.

September: Ursula Jacob (Camogie) and Amy O’Shea (Gaelic football). Wexford’s Jacob and Cork’s O’Shea captained their counties to All-Ireland success.

October: Aileen Morrison (Triathlon). The Derry woman inched closer to an Olympic Games place by finishing second at a World Cup event in South Korea.