The 66th USHA Nationals take place this week in Minnesota, with Ireland again harbouring high hopes of glory in the Open grades.
Mens Open Singles:
Paul Brady will start as strong favourite given his domination of the event over the last decade. The Cavan man has won 10 of the last 11 events, having missed that sole event due to injury. Victory this year will see Brady tie level with the all time record of 11 USHA Nationals titles held by the legendary Naty Alvarado Snr.
Cork's Killian Carroll takes third seed, whilst in the same half of the draw is Galway's Martin Mulkerrins, who will have to overcome second seed Sean Lenning in a possible QF before getting the chance to meet Carroll in a SF. 17 year old Tadhg O'Neill, a club mate of Killian Carroll's in Mallow, will make his Open debut, and will be a very dangerous player in the prelim round. A win would see O'Neill face Brady in the Last 16. Tyrone's Shane O'Neill also has a daunting task, with an opening round fixture against 4th seed Luis Moreno.
Ladies Open Singles:
Catriona Casey will bid to retain her crown, and he biggest challenger this year is expected to be Galway's Ciana Ni Churraoin. Aisling Reilly's absence sees Ni Churraoin take second seed, with a likely SF against Canadian Jessica Gawley. Westmeath's Aoife McCarthy will be expected to advance in her opening fixture to set up an all Irish SF with Casey.
Mens Open Doubles:
Martin Mulkerrins teams up with one half of the current World Championship title holders, Minnesota's Andy Nett. The duo make up a formidable pairing and take second seed. Experienced duo Gavin Buggy & Ducksy Walsh are 4th seeds, and should run into top seeds Marcos Chavez & Sean Lenning in the SF.
Both of this years All-Ireland Minor Finalists Sean Kerr & Tadhg O'Neill will also be competing in the Open Doubles as they take on 3rd seeds Tyree Bastidas & Ryan Bowler, where a shock could be on the cards for the youngsters.
Other Irish competitors:
- Sean Kerr, Shane O'Neill (Mens A)
- Jordan O'Neill, Kevin Barrett (Mens B)
- Gavin Buggy (35+)
- Ducksy Walsh (45+)
- Eugene Kennedy (65+)
- Kate Ni Mhorain (Ladies B)
- Antoin Fox (Boys 15&U)