After a long awaited countdown to the final Intervarsity event of the season, representatives from fifteen different collegiate handball teams embarked on the journey to Kingscourt Co. Cavan. Travelling the width and breath of the country to represent their team at All Ireland level, we had some very tired players arriving late Thursday night and in the early hours of Friday morning to kick start the weekend. Reuniting with friends and rekindling/igniting romances in Dun na Rí is the highlight of Saturday night but for the most part, we play ball. Not only did we have experienced players represented at this year’s tournament, the number of beginners that entered was phenomenal. It is great to see our beautiful game growing and to see such a keen interest for new and current players wanting to develop themselves. And what better way to do it than gather us all in Cavan for one last hoorah. Looking at the entries this year the standard most definitely increased and it would be a tough weekend across the board for players in every grade, not just the Open.
In the Ladies Open final we had Kilkenny’s Ciara Mahon of Trinity faceoff against cáilín na Gaillimhe Ciana Ní Churraoin of UL. Both ladies currently playing at Senior Championship level; our spectators were surely in for a treat. Ciara who was unfortunate to lose out on the Senior Leinster final last weekend was coming into this tournament as the number three seed. Having already met the UL wolf in the 60x30 final and winning the One Wall Final this year, Mahon was ready to take down whoever she came across. Ciara has had great success and no doubt was going to give it her all to clinch her spot in the final once again. As for the young Míchaél Bhréathnach woman, she claimed her maiden 60x30 Open title in Kilkenny winning the tie-breaker 11-10 to Trinitys Ciara Mahon, followed by winning the Open 40x20 doubles title with fellow UL partner Niamh Dunne. Both women highly decorated at Club, County, Provincial and Collegiate level there was never a doubt they wouldn’t meet in the final. In the top half of the draw Ní Churraoin beat both Kate Ní Mhóráin of WIT and Deirdre Purcell of UL comfortably to secure a place in the final. On the other half of the draw Mahon dispatched UL’s Niamh Dunne and DCU’s Aishling O’Keeffe before meeting her match in the Open final on Saturday night.
The first game was slow to start but after a few rallies the two women warmed to the court and the ball started rolling. In what can only be described as an incredible first game, both players were equally well matched and the rallies could have gone either way. Ní Churraoin took the lead at 5-2 but Mahon quickly turned the tables and brought the game to 6-6. As Ní Churraoin crept ahead ever so slightly at 10-6 Mahon called her first Time Out so she could compose herself. Ciara was straight back in, standing her ground and fighting for every ball. Uncharacteristically of Ciana, she was not performing to the best of her abilities, missing setups and making hand errors. Mahon used this to her advantage as she upped the intensity, picking every single shot Ní Churraoin played. As the game progressed, Mahon’s footwork and movement could only improve. Mahon pushed Ní Churraoin around the court and got a few quick passing shots down the left to catch Ní Churraoin off guard. It was obvious Ní Churraoin was under pressure, leading by one point at 16-15, she called a Time Out to re-evaluate her game plan. When Ní Churraoin stepped back onto the court the pressure was on and she pulled ahead to 19-16. But this was not the end of Mahon as she rallied and brought the game back to 17-19 with a beautiful passing shot down the left. Once again Ní Churraoin called a Time Out and this time she was raring to finish the game. With two incredible rallies Ní Churraoin finished it off with a kill shot down the middle of the court just barely out of Mahon’s reach to take the first game 21-17.
The crowd were on the edge of their seats after such a spectacular first game as the women headed back into the court. The young Kilkenny woman served first but Ní Churraoin killed the ball off the back wall to take charge. In contrast to her serving in the first game, Ní Churraoin served strong and steady - it was like looking at a different player. Ní Churraoin was serving the ball like she did in her first few rounds of this tournament, showing no mercy. She started to shoot the ball and was placing it a lot better. Mahon was 0-4 down before she took her chance to rectify the score line and get into the game. Soon enough Mahon started losing her momentum. She seemed to have nothing to ease the frustration of how the game was going. In contrast with the first game, Mahon was not as quick on her feet which led her to lose her balance and miss shots she would normally put away instinctively. Ní Churraoin took her opportunity as she rapidly started serving as accurately and powerfully as any other player in the tournament this weekend. Mahon scrambled and dove for every ball she could, picking Ní Churraoin’s low and hard shots from all over the court. Sadly it was not meant to be for the Clogh woman this time around. We cannot take away from the accuracy and determination of UL’s Ní Churraoin, concluding the second game 21-0 and going on to claim her maiden Open 40x20 Singles title. As the first game between the two Senior players was of course much closer regarding the score, the second game did not reflect how well Mahon played against such a strong opponent on the day. Mahon has improved immensely in the past 12 months in each aspect of the game. She can only improve from this minor setback and make sure to raise the bar for the next time these two driven athletes meet again.
In the Men’s Open final we saw UCD’s Martin Mulkerrins battle it out against his fellow teammate Galen Riordan. Having been extremely successful last year winning the 40x20 doubles Open final in Wexford and attaining the US Collegiate Open doubles title in Portland together, the duo would soon meet each other both biding for that Open Singles title. As this was Galen’s first year reaching the open final in Kingscourt, he would be put to the test coming up against Mulkerrins who this year, was striving to claim his “four in a row”. As the standard of all grades rose this season, it was tough to make the call as to who would come out victorious from the battlefield like draw to reach the final. Both Mulkerrins and Riordan had it far from easy as they eliminated the other contenders one by one over the course of the tournament. As for the Wexford man, Riordan put on a show performance for spectators this weekend as he took down some of the top dogs, including the number two seed Darren Doherty in the quarter final stage, winning 21-16 21-14 and Michael Hedigan in the semi-final winning 21-13, 21-14. As Riordan took control of the bottom half of the draw, Mulkerrins undoubtedly dominated the other half defeating Ciaran Buckley, fellow Galway man Ian McLoughlin and UL’s Colin Crehan to book his place in the final once again. After winning the Connacht final the previous weekend, Mulkerrins was in flying form and was the definite favourite to retain his Open title. But it’s not all black and white in handball and upsets can happen at any stage of the tournament.
In the first game Riordan found it difficult to settle, most likely due to nerves and inexperience playing in the Open final. Mulkerrins took a quick 6-0 lead. We’re all human and even the best players get nervous. Mulkerrins was not hanging around as he put away every ball that came to him with a swift and seemingly effortless motion. As Riordan gathered his thoughts he put himself back on the map clocking up points as he trailed 4-7 behind the Moycullen man. The rallies improved immensely as Riordan kept pushing Mulkerrins to the back court playing numerous roof shots awaiting his chance to roll the ball out. Unfortunately it came down to Riordan making more errors than Mulkerrins as the crowd could feel Riordan’s frustration when the game wasn’t going his way. Taking his timeouts cautiously Riordan upped his game each time he re-entered the alley but Mulkerrins kept calm and continued to tyrannize the front court. Again the two were very closely matched as Mulkerrins led by just two points at 13-11. It was Mulkerrins vast experience of intense finals that helped him prevail by taking the first game from the Wexford buck 21-11.
As the second game got underway Mulkerrins opened with a crack serve down the right setting the tempo for Riordan to follow. Mulkerrins’ uncanny power serving left and right made it tough for Riordan to pick the ball and get a rally going. With an 8-1 lead Riordan eventually got into the swing of things. His serving and shot selection improved from the first game as he went on to take 4 points on the trot. Regrettably there wasn’t much the Wexford man could do to oust the Moycullen machine. The raw power Mulkerrins generated off the back wall into the left and right corners was unbelievable. Moving so fluidly around the court Mulkerrins took complete control of the game. As Riordan shook his head becoming more and more frustrated at every shot he missed and every kill Mulkerrins made. The game looked well and truly over before it started. Mulkerrins was ruthless and didn’t give Riordan a single inch. Within a few minutes Mulkerrins had gone from a 10-5 lead to taking the game and retaining his title at 21-5. His incredibly fast passing shots, left and right, were too powerful for Riordan to return. The Moycullen man comforted his fellow teammate on his loss and without a doubt reassured him he’d live to fight another day. Of course Riordan will be disappointed with the outcome of the final but we know he’ll be back “guns a-blazin” to give Party Marty a run for his money.
So the curtain call has finally come as Kingscourt is the last Intervarsity’s event on Irish soil for the current academic year. The US Collegiates is being held in Minnesota in February this year and, like every year, we are sending a group of players to compete and hopefully bring home plenty of silverware. We wish the very best of luck to all who are travelling; players, coaches and physios. Please do your best to all come back in one piece.
On behalf of the Committee, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who was involved in the running of this event. For the use of the courts in Kingscourt, St Pats, Bawn, Truagh, Meaghcloone, Munterconnacht and Emyvale this year we are forever grateful. For hosting all ninety odd of us for the weekend making sure we had enough tea and sandwiches to keep going. To Avonmore for travelling out to us, making sure the players recovered properly after each game. To the current Committee members, thank you ever so much for keeping the show on the road like you always do without fail and without any complaining.
The best of luck to everyone in their exams and I hope to see you all next year to do it all over again. Keep her lit.
Results
Men’s Open: Martin Mulkerrins (UCD) dft Galan Riordan (UCD) 21-11, 21-7
Ladies Open: Ciana Ni Churraoin (UL) dft Ciara Mahon (TCD) 21-17, 21-0
Men’s A: Colin Corbett (UL) v Niall Bolton (UL)
Ladies A: Niamh Dunne (UL) dft Deirdre Purcell (UL) 21-7, 21-6
Men’s B: Conor Noone (NUIG) dft Darren Carter (NUIG)
Ladies B: Lisa McKenna (TCD) dft Niamh Farrell (DCU)
Men’s C: Ronan McNea (NUIG) dft Brian Busher (WIT)
Ladies C: Shannon Geoghegan (ITC) dft Fiona McKenna (ITC) 21-4, 21-0
Men’s Contender: Mark McDonnell (QUB) dft Colin Beckett (ITC)
Is mise le meas,
Kate Ní Mhóráin
ICHA PRO