Wednesday 19th August 2015 will be a day long remembered for Irish handball fans, as a day when we dominated the World stage with the depth of sheer quality in our players!
It is semi-final stage here in Calgary at the World Handball Championships and Ireland have an unprecedented, and truly sensational clean sweep of all Open semi-finalists in both the Mens & Ladies Open grades.
Starting with the Mens Singles, Team Ireland Captain Robbie McCarthy was first on court at 9am in an eagerly anticipated shoot out with the extremely gifted Sean Lenning (USA) in a clash of the #4 & #5 seeds. A 21-14 first game win for McCarthy saw him settle well, but Lenning came out shooting in the second to level the match at 21-16. A tiebreak to 11 aces was all that stood between either men and a World SF spot. McCarthy progressed to hold a 10-7 lead before failing to convert two match points. Lenning drew level at 10-10 but missed a guilt edged opportunity to close out the match. McCarthy duly obliged with his third match point to seal a dramatic 11-10 win, and cue an emotional fist pump celebration.
Next up was Clare man Diarmaid Nash v Emmet Peixoto. Nash, the current Irish #3 has come into this championships as many peoples dark horse, given his recent form, but also his fantastic tournament play ability. Peixoto on the other hand is arguably the most consistent American player in 2015, but from the word go Nash took control of the game and sealed a 21-9, 21-14 win.
The third QF saw Luis Moreno (USA), the 2012 World silver medalist, and #2 ranked player in the draw take on Cork hot shot Killian Carroll. Carroll has not seen any competitive action since January so was coming into the tournament in a somewhat unknown quantity. But there is no doubting this young mans skill, athleticism and heart. An exhibition of serving from Moreno saw him blitz the first 21-7, but Carroll responded in similar style in the second, winning 21-9, including a run of three consecutive sublime aces at the latter stages of the second. Cue another tiebreak! The momentum of the tiebreak swung back and forth, and Moreno held a 9-8 lead in the closing stages. But he failed to build on this and Killian regained serve before finishing out the match 11-9 to a rapturous applause form the large crowd in attendance.
The final QF saw reigning 4 time World champion Paul Brady take on Charly Shanks. By this stage an all Irish semi-final line up was already confirmed, and Brady looked set to storm into the next round with a 21-9 first game win. But Armagh man Shanks is not one to lye down and roll over and he fought back and made a real go at the second. Shanks went on the aggressive and was putting ball away, not giving Brady much chance to return. There was never more than a few points of a lead throughout the first, with Shanks generally holding a slight lead. The pressure was continuously applied to Brady and Shanks held an 18-17 lead in the second. But after a timeout, Brady came out of the blocks and finished out the game within a few minutes in an explosive finish to keep alive his drive for five!
It was much of the same story in the Ladies with our Irish girls showing their class yet again against international competition. Reigning champion Aisling Reilly cruised to a win over Tracey Davis (USA), Catriona Casey was as ruthless as ever when dispatching Jessica Gawley, and Ciana Ni Churraoin took out Dannielle Daskalakis (USA). One all Irish QF saw Martina McMahon produce a highly impressive win over Maria Daly (Kerry) in two straight games.
So Semi-Final Thursday sees Brady v McCarthy, Nash v Carroll, Reilly v Ni Churraoin, & Casey v McMahon. All games will be webcasted for free at race4eight.com and should not be missed! The Irish are dominating the world stage!
Key Results - Wednesday 18th:
- Mens Open QF: Paul Brady (Team Ireland) dft Charly Shanks (Armagh) 21-9, 21-18
- Mens Open QF: Robbie McCarthy (Team Ireland) dft Sean Lenning (USA) 21-14, 16-21, 11-10
- Mens Open QF: Diarmaid Nash (Clare) dft Emmet Peixoto (USA) 21-9, 21-14
- Mens Open QF: Killian Carroll (Cork) dft Luis Moreno (USA) 7-21, 21-9, 11-9
- Ladies Open QF: Aisling Reilly (Team Ireland) dft Tracey Davis (USA) 21-0, 21-5
- Ladies Open QF: Ciana Ni Churraoin (Team Ireland) dft Dannielle Daskalakis (USA) 21-0, 21-10
- Ladies Open QF: Martina McMahon (Team Ireland) dft Maria Daly (Kerry) 21-4, 21-8
- Ladies Open QF: Catriona Casey (Team Ireland) dft Jessica Gawley (Canada) 21-1, 21-1
- B17&U QF: Daniel Kavanagh (Team Ireland) dft Gavin Coyle (Monaghan) 21-5, 21-11
- B19&U QF: Colin Corbett (Team Ireland) dft Michael Gaulton (Canada)
- G15&U QF: Fiona Tully (Roscommon) dft Eilise McCrory (Team Ireland)
Key Fixtures - Thursday 19th - Semi-Final Day:
- Mens Open SF: Paul Brady (Team Ireland) v Robbie McCarthy (Team Ireland) @ 10am
- Mens Open SF: Diarmaid Nash (Clare) v Killian Carroll (Cork) @ 11am
- Ladies Open SF: Aisling Reilly (Team Ireland) v Ciana Ni Churraoin (Team Ireland) @ 12pm
- Ladies Open SF: Martina McMahon (Team Ireland) v Catriona Casey (Team Ireland) @ 1pm
- G15&U SF: Caitriona Millane (Team Ireland) v Aoife Floyd (Clare) @ 1pm
- B15&U SF: Tiarnan Agnew (Team Ireland) v Michael Egan (Roscommon) @ 10am
- B17&U SF: Daniel Kavanagh (Team Ireland) v Tadhg O'Neill (Cork) @ 12pm
- B19&U SF: Colin Corbett (Team Ireland) v Johnny Woods (Tyrone) @ 9am
Images courtesy of Keith Thode