So this is it, the cherry on top of the Irish collegiate calendar: Kingscourt. This year's 40x20 singles tournament will run from Thursday 21st to Sunday 24th of January, and will take place in no less than 6 different handball clubs around the border counties. Munterconnaught, Kells, Corduff, St. Pat’s of Cavan, Tydavnet, Monaghan Harps and Kingscourt will all be in use, as students travel from all over Ireland to represent their respective colleges. But there can only be one winner come Sunday afternoon.
Men’s Open
UCD's Martin Mulkerrins returns with the intention of achieving an impressive four in a row. His fellow club mates, Terry McElvaney and Galen Riordan, will bid to win their first senior title, while keeping the top prize in the South Dublin university. UL, who seem to grow stronger by the year, are represented by Colin Crehan, Daniel Relihan, and Michael Hedigan, all of whom are more than capable of causing an upset. While IT Tralee's Shane Hedigan will undoubtedly have his say on proceedings before the tournament is over.
Ladies Open
2016 sees a vacant crown atop the ladies open division with Catriona Casey being ineligible to compete. This year's prominent contenders for the blue ribbon event include Galway's Ciana Nì Churraoin (UL), Cork's Aishling O’Keeffe (DCU), and Kilkenny's Ciara Mahon TCD.
Don’t be fooled, this division is wide open.
As always spectators are more than welcome to come along and watch the games free of charge! Games will take place all day Friday and Saturday, with Kingscourt being used as the home courts. Finals will take place on Sunday with times TBC. For tournament updates, check out our Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/IrishCollegiateHandballAssociation/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/IchaHandball) pages!
See you there. Oh, and bring it!