“All that is good about Handball”
Just one of the many positive comments from yet another sensational Irish One-Wall Nationals weekend at the Breaffy House Resort in Castlebar that saw Catriona Casey & Conor McElduff claim the premier titles in front of huge crowds to claim their official spots on Team Ireland for Augusts World Championships in Canada.
The decision of GAA Handball to move the Men's & Ladies Open Finals from their traditional Sunday evening spot to the Saturday evening spot proved a major success with the largest ever Open Final spectator numbers adding to an electric atmosphere.
In the Ladies, the final saw Cork’s Casey face Down’s One-Wall specialist Lorraine Havern, after both girls came through tough battles in their SF encounters against Limerick’s reigning Martina McMahon & Kerry’s former champion Ashley Prendiville respectively.
Casey held her nerve to somehow came from 14-9 down in the first game to snatch the first 15-14 against three time champion Havern after the Saval club woman vowed the crowds with perfectly executed angled kill shots off both hands. But in what was a brilliant exhibition for ladies handball, both girls provided the crowd with exceptional handball before the ever reliable and impressively consistent Casey sealed the match 15-9 in one of the most entertaining and high quality finals ever.
The Men's proved to be a fitting finale as Conor McElduff retained his title with a thrilling tiebreak win over Galway's Martin Mulkerrins. The Moycullen man, in his maiden Open decider produced some exquisite, powerful handball in the opener, as he stole an advance in the match taking the first 15-9. Reigning champion McElduff upped his play in the second, cutting ball off early and using the angles well to take the second 15-11, before taking the title 11-3 in the tiebreak.
But there was of course much more on offer than the Open finals, with an array of brilliant juvenile finals on Sunday, as the quality of depth in our juvenile grades grows year on year. This year, the Boy’s and Girls 19&U grade provided an opportunity to gain a place on Team Ireland, and the competition was fierce.
Monaghan’s Darren Doherty, who narrowly missed out on the 40x20 Nationals title in April, was forced to dig deep on two occasions before claiming the 19&U boys grade. In the SF, Tyrone’s Sean Kerr, who made the jump from 17&U in a bid to get on Team Ireland, pushed the Emyvale man to a tiebreak, before falling 5-1. Then in the final, another classy 17&U player Fergal Coughlan played his part in an exciting final as the classy Doherty showed some great touches around the frontcourt to seal a 17-15 win.
The Girls 19&U section was played in a round robin format, with Galway star Ciana Ni Churraoin winning the title after winning all her games against Niamh Coleman, Meave McElduff & Niamh Dunne. But with the Galway girl already having her spot on Team Ireland for the 40x20 squad secured, the second placed player McElduff, sister of Open champion Conor, earned her spot in the penultimate game of the tournament with a tense 19-14 win over Armagh’s Coleman.
Elsewhere, there were wins for Tadhg O’Neill (B17&U), Hannah Dagg (G17&U), Peter Donohue (B15&U), Megan McCann (G15&U), Eimhin O’Diolluin (B13&U) and Niamh Heffernan (G13&U).
See below for full list of results.
GAA Handball would like to thank all the volunteer helpers and referees who gave up their free time to ensure the tournament ran so smoothly. Without their help the tournament would not be as great a weekend as it now known to be.