Nine
U.S. Junior Titles for Irish Players
Our
Irish Juniors returned with 9 U.S. titles to their credit. Meath’s Gary
McConnell won his second title with a narrow win over Caolan Daly of Tyrone
winning by 20-21, 21-19, 11-10. Robbie
McCarthy failed in his bid to win the six in a row of singles titles but still
took the doubles with partner Billy O’ Donnell. Daly and Stephen Cooney took
the U-15 doubles titles while Keith Kavanagh Wicklow & Barry Nash Clare also
claimed titles. In the girls grades
Ashley Prendiville took the Girls 19 & Under at her first
championships. Marianna Rushe was
successful in the 17 & under while Shauna Hilley proved too strong in the
15 & under category. Marianna Rushe
and Pauline Gallagher defeated the favourites Ashley Prendiville and Shauna
Hilley in an all Irish final in the Girls 19 & under doubles final.
Healy’s
hunger starves Kennedy in Ulster Open final
Kingscourt’s
state of the art handball centre hosted the 2007 Ulster Open. Sponsors
Envirogreen, Myhomedubai.com and Martin Donnelly came on board. Top U.S.
players took part Allan Garner, Emmet Peixato, Sean Lenning, Courtney Peixato
and Anna Christoff. Over 200 players
took part a record for a Provincial tournament. The U.S. players found the going tough and it was left to our own
stars to fight it out in the Men’s Open. Tony Healy beat Lenning in the
semi-final while Eoin Kennedy defeated Cavan’s Paul Brady in an epic match
winning 18-21, 21-11, 11-6. Anna
Christoff did win for the U.S. when she got the better of Kerry’s Maria Daly in
the Ladies Final. There was only standing room for the Men’s final and Tony
Healy was on fire throughout. Eoin
Kennedy bravely kept in touch with Healy up to 14 in game one. Healy then reeled
off the next 7 points. In game two
Healy was unstoppable and not a player in the world would have beaten Healy in
the form he was in. In the end he stormed to a 21-3 win in game two.
Over
50 students from Irish University’s travelled to Burbank California to take
part in the U.S. Collegiates championships.
Brian Carroll went all the way to the Men’s final only to lose out to Luis Moreno in a thriller by 21-19,
18-21, 11-8. Maria Daly who won the Irish Ladies final for the third year
in row added the U.S. Collegiates title
to her long list of growing achievements. It was an all Irish final with Daly
proving too strong for Eimear Ui Falluin U.C.D by 21-1, 21-11. In the ladies
doubles Emer Coyle & Aifric Naughton D.I.T. were defeated by Lake Forest’s
Lindsey Ross & Aimee Ulbert 21-13, 21-19.
Bradys
wins the Irish 3-in-a-row
In the FBD Nationals finals in Kilkenny Tony
Healy defeated Dubliner Eoin Kennedy in straight games while Fiona Shannon took
the Ladies with a good win over Kildare’s Emer Fallon. Five days later both
Healy & Kennedy met yet again in Kilkenny this time in the semi-finals of
the All-Ireland 40 x 20 championships. Kennedy took the 1st game by
21-8 and was leading 4-1 when Healy was forced to retire injured. In the final
played in Kingscourt on March 31st last Paul Brady won the three in
row beating Kennedy 21-13, 21-11 in an exciting final. Brady with doubles
partner Michael Finnegan retained their doubles title with an 21-8, 21-10
victory over Mayo’s Dessie Keegan & Joe McCann. The final was played in
Cappagh. In the Minor Doubles final Diarmuid Nash & Niall Malone proved to
strong for Kilkenny’s Niall Smyth & Ger McGrath winning comfortably by
21-2, 21-3. In the Ladies Singles final Fiona Shannon defeated her club mate
Aisling Reilly in straight games.
Brady’s
wins the U.S. 3-in-a-row
Paul Brady completed the three in a row of
U.S. singles titles as well when he defeated Sean Lenning in the final by
21-18, 21-12. Johnny Willoughby from
Wicklow took the Men’s A while Donnacha O’Dea bt John Paul O’Connor from
Limerick in the Men’s C final. Egin
Jensen claimed the seniors final while Duxie Walsh took the Masters Over 40
final. In the hardball finals Dublin’s
Eoin Kennedy defeated Meath’s Tom Sheridan in the final and Kennedy made it a
double of hardball wins by also taking the doubles with Egin Jensen.
Shanks
spin serves win the Irish One Wall final
July
seen the Irish One Wall Nationals take place in Sligo. Over 165 players entered
in the biggest ever field. Charly Shanks from the Clann Eireann club in Armagh
beat his doubles partner James Doyle 15-7, 15-3 in the final. Shanks use of the spin serve was something
that Doyle could not counteract and was the difference between the players in
the end. Darragh Daly from Carrickmore took the B in a thrilling final win over
Abbeylara’s Niall Flynn in the tie breaker. Niall Gordan from Roscommon took
the C final. In the Ladies Ashley Prendiville made the long journey form Kerry
a winning one when she won her first Ladies One Wall title beating Katie
Costelloe 15-5, 15-14. Leona Doolin took the Girls U-18 title defeating her
club mate Marianna Rushe in three great games.
In
the Munster 60 x 30 open Robbie McCarthy from Westmeath beat Wicklow’s Michael
Gregan 215-21-8. Marianna Rushe won the Girls under 19 from Kerry’s Ashley
Prendiville. Seamus O’Carroll from Limerick overcame Tipperary’s Fegal Collins in two games in the Boys under
19 final. Cork’s rising young star
Caitriona Casey proved too good for Limerick’s Martina McMahon in the Girls
under 15 while Eoghan Hennessy from Kilkenny won the Boys under 15 final.
The
Ballaghaderreen Club won their fourth All-Ireland 60x30 Open Club title
when they beat Tipperary side Ballina on a 105 - 69 score-line at
Mullingar Joe McCann got the perfect
start for Mayo when he defeated Ger Coonan by 21-20, 21-11. Paul Flynn and
Vinnie Moran came through a tough battle against Martin McInerney & John
McQuaide winning 21-16, 21-15. Dessie
Keegan in the last singles made sure the title was staying in Ballaghaderreen
when he beat young Fergal Collins 21-7. Eoin Kennedy from Dublin and the
legendary Michael Duxie Walsh from Kilkenny qualifed for the softball singles
final. Kennedy defeated Mayo’s Dessie Keegan 21-20, 21-5 while Walsh beat
Wicklow’s Michael Gregan 21-8, 21-1 in the second semi-final.
Kennedy’s historic 4-in-a-row
Dubliner Eoin Kennedy took the Martin Donnelly All-Ireland
softball singles title for the 4th year in succession following his
impressive win over the legendary Michael Ducksy” Walsh from Kilkenny in
Croke Park on Saturday September 1st last. CJ Fitzpatrick from Limerick easily won the
Minor singles with a 21-0, 21-7 win over Ciaran Neary from Kilkenny. Eddie
Burke & Michael Clifford from Kilkenny beat Tipperary’s Adrian Johnson
& Paul Mullins 21-8, 21-8 in the Intermediate doubles. Eoin Kennedy from
the St. Brigid’s Club in Dublin won his 4th successive All-Ireland
senior softball singles title with a 21-10, 21-6 victory over the legendary
Michael Duxie Walsh from Kilkenny. Many observers were predicting a close
contest. However from the start Kennedy was the better player. His high lobbing
serves to Walsh’s left side landing over on the right had the 16 times champion
in difficulty. Kennedy also kept the
ball high up on the front wall not allowing Walsh any time or space to hit
volleys from. After a whirlwind start from Kennedy which seen him into a 16-0
lead. Walsh came back with 4 points in a row but Kennedy surged clear again
into a 20-4 lead. Walsh managed 6 more points but it was not enough as Kennedy
closed out the game by 21-10. In game two Kennedy went 7-1 up. Walsh at last
came to life and showed some signs of the Walsh of old when he killed well and
only 1 behind the Dubliner at 7-6. But from there to the finish it was all
Kennedy as he got 14 unanswered points. Kennedy began to kill well and Walsh
did not know whether Kennedy would put the ball high up on the wall or go for
kills. In the end it finished 21-6 to
Kennedy.
Dublin’s 3-in-a-row and Kennedy’s grand slam
Two weeks later Eoin Kennnedy was back in headquarters along with
doubles partner in the final of the softball doubles. Their chances of the
3-in-a-row was greatly helped by the unfortunate injury to Mayo’s Joe McCann
the week before the final. Dessie Keegan had to call on the services of veteran
Kevin Geraghty. It was to prove
Dublin’s day yet again as Kennedy playing superbly well and with Egin Jensen
controlling the right there was only going to be one outcome a win for Dublin.
In the end it finished 21-5, 21-5.
Kennedy also claimed the grand slam of wins in the 60 x 30 court a feat
only matched by the late John Ryan of Wexford in 1957 and Walter O’Connor Meath
in 1998. Limerick’s CJ Fitzpatrick & Seamus O’Carroll proved too strong for
Ciaran Neary and Keith Bourke winning
by 21-0, 21-9. Paul Mullins from Tipperay had a good 21-2, 21-8 win over Mayo’s
Ollie Cassidy in the Intermediate singles final.
Brady beats Lennning in big
prizemoney U.S. final
Paul Brady was the strong favourite for the Simple Green U.S. Open
which took place in Los Caballeros Fontain Valley California from October 18-21 last. Brady played super handball
through the contest. In the semi-final he defeated Cork’s Tony Healy by 21-3,
21-19. In the final Brady was given his sternest test in recent years when he
had to come from behind to defeat emerging U.S. handball star Sean Lenning in a
tie breaker by 13-21, 21-5, 11-10. Lenning looked well on course to win when
leading 9-4 before Brady stormed back into contention and duly snatched the
final at the death winning a great final by 11-10 and securing another U.S. pay
check. The winner receiving $25,000 dollars.
Cork’s Tony Healy was back in action the following weekend in the Golden
Gloves competition in Belfast. He accounted for local favourite Ricky McCann in
an entertaining final by 21-7, 7-21, 11-9. Fiona Shannon beat her club mate Aisling Reilly 21-11, 21-7 to
win the ladies final.
In the Italian One Wall Championships Ireland was represented by
Gary McRory, Pauric McGlinchey, Darragh Daly and Naill Flynn. Dublin also sent
out a team comprising of Frank Semple, Michael McGee, Gary McNulty & Darren
Flynn. Shortly after the Basque One
Wall games took place and Ireland were represented by Charly Shanks & James
Doyle from Armagh.
The Irish Junior team to take part in the U.S.H.A Juniors which
will take place in Tucson Arizona from December 27th-30th
has been finalized. The Irish team will consist of:
Boys 19 & Under: Richard Hogan (Kilkenny)
Boys 17 & Under: Diarmuid Nash (Clare)
Boys 15 & Under: Eoghan Hennessy (Kilkenny)
Girls 19 & Under: Aishling Reilly (Antrim)
Girls 17 & Under: Leona Doolin (Roscommon)
Girls 15 & Under: Caitriona Casey (Cork)
The team will be managed by the legendary Michael Ducksy Walsh of
Kilkenny handball fame. A winner of 38 Senior All-Ireland titles. He has the
distinction of being the first Irish player to win a USHA Junior title back in
1981 in Tucson. After a lapse of 26 years he will return as Irish Manager.
Niamh Egan Promotions Officer with the IHC is the Assistant Manager.
On behalf of all players, supporters, sponsors and their families
I would like to wish everyone associated with Irish Handball a very happy and
holy Christmas and for a great, exciting and sporting New Year