US Nationals Preview - Brady leads the hunt for honours
Paul Fitzpatrick
World handball champion Paul Brady’s busy schedule continues this week as he heads the field for the 65th US Nationals in Los Angeles. Brady - who has won every renewal of the prestigious event since 2005 barring 2009, which he missed due to hand surgery - starts as favourite to land his 10th title.
However, while he will, barring a monumental upset, advance past young gun Tyler Stoffel from Minnesota and either Tucson’s Abe Montijo or local player Vic Perez in the quarters, a tough test is expected in the last four stage against the powerful Armando Ortiz. Should the seeds hold true, Ortiz and Brady will clash in the semis. The Los Angeles native is the only player in the field, with Luis Moreno missing out due to participating in the Australian Nationals in Melbourne, who holds a win over the Cavanman. That came in the Players Championship at Salt Lake City when Ortiz survived a tiebreaker. Brady has since avenged that loss in some style but Ortiz, with an all-out attacking style and two-handed offense, remains a genuine threat to the Mullahoran meastro. However, Brady has been in devastating form this season and if he is over the injury troubles which reared their head in the Senior Doubles and world doubles trials, he will be expected to go all the way once more.
The lower half of the draw is stacked with talent, with Armagh’s Charly Shanks the main Irish hope. Number two seed Emmet Peixoto has been in fine form of late while a rejuvenated Sean Lenning and New York’s explosive One Wall specialist Tyree Bastidas will also be expected to feature prominently. Completing the Irish line-up in the Open Singles are Waterford’s David Walsh and Kill man Patrick Clerkin, a veterinarian based in Virginia. Clerkin is particularly unlucky to be thrown into the top grade. He operates one grade down at home (intermediate) at home but has been forced to play in the premier division as he won an A Doubles along with Wexford’s Paul Lambert some years ago. Clerkin plays Californian Loren Collado, with smooth backwall specialist Walsh meeting San Jose youngster Anthony Sullivan. Clerkin and Walsh pair up for the Open Doubles, where they take on Montijo and partner.
Meanwhile, Mullahoran man James Brady has also made the long trip to the west coast and is seeded no 1 in the A Singles. Brady is also eligible for the 35 and Over grade, where one of his likely opponents will be Oregon’s Matt Steele, a player, incidentally, whom St Pat’s right-hander Brady beat in the U19 grade in Baltimore in 1999. Carlow’s Aaron Geoghegan will also be in action in the B Singles, where there is a novel entry from Tokyo, where there is a thriving handball community.
Holder Catriona Casey and Irish two-in-a-row Senior Singles champion Aisling Reilly look set to be on a collision course again in the Ladies Open Singles, with Casey top seed and Reilly in at two. The Casey-Reilly rivalry has been arguably the most engaging in world handball in recent years and the to and fro nature of their exchanges - Casey has beaten the Belfast woman on five occasions in the last 14 months, with Reilly winning the Irish Senior Singles final twice - means that there will be a huge focus on this particular grade. However, Casey will have to contend with Galway sensation Ciana Ni Churraoin (should the dual star see off Candian lefty Jessica Gawley) in the semi, with Mullingar’s Aoife McCarthy on Reilly’s side of the draw. In the Ladies B Singles, Carlow’s Kate Ni Mhorain has been handed the no 1 seed and she is joined in the draw by compatriots Laura Keaver (Waterford) and Rebecca Mulholland (Kilkenny).