3446 points scored. 68 hours. 61 matches. 11 tie breakers. 5 courts. 3 venues……..1 ace serve.
After a top quality weekend of tournament handball in the 5th edition of the Salthill Open, a solitary point from a powerful right hand crack serve at 10-10 in the tiebreaker proved the most impressive statistic of all as Monaghan’s Gavin Coyle defended his Men’s A title against Clare’s Colin Corbett.
Corbett started strongest of the pair in game one, and some impressive court control early on game every indication that it was just not meant to be for Coyle. Corbett was utterly dominant out of the blocks, with Coyle unable to get a foothold in the game.
Game 2 saw Corbett continue the dominance he showed in the first, but never beaten, Coyle turned on the style in game two and finally began to make good of the dynamic court movement that he is known for and came from behind to force a tiebreaker.
At 10-10 in the third, Corbett served for the match but after an incredible 20 shot rally, Coyle saved match point and called for timeout. Composed, Coyle took what proved to be his final swipe at serve, and proved his worth as top seed with a (18-21), 21-19, 11-10 victory, retaining his title for the second year in a row.
After a series of tiebreakers, Kevin Barrett (Tinryland) finally managed to overpower Newport’s Ciaran Burke to claim the Mens B Cup in two straight games with a dominant display, while Oran Kiernan from Carrickmacross came through a huge field to claim the Mens C final over Youghalarra’s Aidan O’Flaherty. It was two in a row for Brian O’Brien and John Kennedy in the Mens Masters Doubles as they won with a dominant display over Tom Sweeney and Tom Coyle.
Salthill Handball Club would once again like to thank all those for travelling and making this such an enjoyable event to run. Thanks also to our sponsor O’Reilly’s Bar & Grill Salthill for their continued support.
We look forward to seeing you all again in 2019!
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- Mens A Cup Final: Gavin Coyle dft. Colin Corbett (18-21), 21-19, 11-10
- Mens B Cup Final: Kevin Barrett dft. Ciaran Burke 21-16, 21-10
- Mens C Cup Final: Oran Kiernan dft. Aiden O’Flaherty (17-21), 21-10, 11-6
- Mens Masters Final: John Kennedy & Brian O’Brien dft. Tom Sweeney & John Coyne
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- Mens A Plate Final: David Walsh dft. Peter Donohue 31-17
- Mens B Plate Final: Conor Noone dft. Glen Murray 31-13
- Mens C Plate Final: Shane Hayes dft. Brendan Higginbottom 31-25
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Mens A
Cup QF:
Gavin Coyle dft. Conor O'Brien 21-4, 21-7
Seamus Conneely dft. Niall Bolton 21-19, 21-7
Ian McLoughlin dft. David Walsh 21-13, (2-21), 11-5
Colin Corbett dft. Peter Donohue 21-19, 21-16
Cup SF:
Gavin Coyle dft. Seamus Connelly 21-19, 21-7
Colin Corbett dft. Ian McLoughlin 21-7, (20-21), 11-5
Cup Final:
Gavin Coyle dft. Colin Corbett (18-21), 21-19, 11-10
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Mens B
Cup R16:
Gary McElroy dft. Glen Murray 21-9, (9-21), 11-6
Mark Rainey dft. Nevan McCartin 21-5, 21-4
Conor O'Gorman dft. Ben Devlin 21-19, 21-17
Declan Gleeson dft. Brendan McDonagh (4-21), 21-13, 11-9
Cup QF:
Ciaran Burke dft. Gary McElroy 21-8, 21-6
Mark Rainey dft. Conor Noone 21-8, 21-4
Paul Hedderman dft. Conor O'Gorman 21-12, 21-18
Kevin Barrett dft. Declan Gleeson (9-21), 21-10, 11-6
Cup SF:
Ciaran Burke dft. Mark Rainey
Kevin Barrett dft. Paul Hedderman 21-18, (19-21), 11-2
Cup Final:
Kevin Barrett dft. Ciaran Burke 21-16, 21-10
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Mens C
Cup R32:
Blake Sheedy W/O Eoghan Hegarty
Oran Kiernan dft. Jonathan Conroy (8-21), 21-5, 11-1
Steven Smullen dft. Kieran Forde 21-2, 21-1
Ronan McNea dft. Jack McNeela 21-15, 21-13
Labhras Hession W/O Darren O'Neill
Cup R16:
John Hurley dft. Blake Sheedy 21-13, 21-20
Kevin Hassett dft. Eoghan Hynes 21-7, 21-10
Oran Kiernan dft. Brendan Higginbottom 21-4, 21-13
Steven Smullen dft. Mike Dillon 21-6, 21-7
Ronan McNea dft. Shane Hayes 21-3, 21-19
Aidan O'Flaherty dft. Cathal Curran 21-6, 21-7
Labhras Hession W/O Eddie Bennett
Lawrence Dunne dft. Sean Hession 21-10, 21-10
Cup QF:
John Hurley dft. Kevin Hassett 21-19, 21-17
Oran Kiernan dft. Steven Smullen 21-8, 21-19
Aiden O’Flaherty dft. Ronan McNea 21-16, 21-7
Lawrence Dunne dft. Labhras Hession 21-19, 21-9
Cup SF:
Oran Kiernan dft. John Hurley 21-1, 21-14
Aidan O’Flaherty dft. Lawrence Dunne
Cup Final:
Oran Kiernan dft. Aiden O’Flaherty (17-21), 21-10, 11-6
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Mens Masters
Doubles QF:
Keith Donnellan & Mairtin O'Coisteala dft. Joe O'Connell & Tommy Duggan
Graham Casburn & Peter Melia dft. Mike Shaughnessy & William Corcoran
Tom Sweeney & John Coyne dft. Tony McInerney & John Cawley
Doubles SF:
Tom Sweeney & John Coyne dft. Graham Casburn & Peter Melia
John Kennedy & Brian O’Brien dft. Keith Donnellan & Mairtin O'Coisteala
Final:
John Kennedy & Brian O’Brien dft. Tom Sweeney & John Coyne