Two
Doubles Titles for Galway at 40x20 2nd Level Championships
Galway handballers picked up gold medals at the
40x20 2nd level championships with Emma Kinane and Niamh Burke winning the
All-Ireland Junior Girls Doubles Championship. The pair were representing Holy
Rosary College as they came through County and Connacht Championships to reach
the All-Ireland semi-final. There they faced talented Clare duo Leah Minogue
and Eimear Rogers from Clare. The Galway pairing won the opening game 15-9
before edging the second game 15-14 to reach the final. They came up against Clodagh
McNamee and Clodagh Munroe from Tyrone. The Galway duo held their nerve to
claim the first game 15-14. With the momentum, Kinane and Burke raced through
the second game, winning it 15-1 and becoming All-Ireland champions.
Mikey Kelly and Conor Duane also claimed an
All-Ireland title as they represented Clarin College Athenry. The Galway pair
won their semi-final in straight games before they faced Joe Devereux and Conor
Murphy from St. Peter’s College, Wexford in the final. Kelly and Duane
struggled to hold serve in the opening game as the Wexford duo claimed the
first game 15-5. The Galway men managed to raise their level and played some
excellent handball to claim the second game 15-12 and bring this match to a
tiebreaker. The final game was a tight affair but Kelly and Duane produced the
big shots when needed to win it 15-11 and pick up an All-Ireland title.
Brian Walshe, Conor Hession, Enda Lawless and Cathal
Curran reached the All-Ireland semi-finals in doubles but were defeated while
Sadhbh Ní Fhlaithearta competed in the All-Ireland Junior Girls semi-finals but
lost out to eventual champion Chloe Philpott from Clare.
Moycullen
claim Gael Linn honours
The 30th Annual Gael Linn competition saw
handballers across the country compete in this novel mixed doubles event. The
competition is played with the use of the Irish language being encouraged
throughout it. The format of the Gael Linn sees two pairings from each province
(one boy and one girl) play off in a timed basis of 3 matches; Girls Singles,
Boys Singles, Mixed Doubles.
The Moycullen pairing of Cara Hanley and Mark
Gillespie won their quarter final by 60 points to 33 against Breacach from
Tyrone before they faced Kilfane of Tipperary in the semi-final. Hanley and
Gillespie prevailed on a final scoreline of 51-36 in a contest which was closer
than the scoreline suggested. In the final the duo faced Monaghan Harps who
have produced some excellent handballers in recent year including All-Ireland
winner Eoghan McGinnity. However, the Moycullen pairing proved far too strong
as they won by 71 points to 36. The duo became only the second Moycullen
pairing to win this competition in the 30 year history of this event.
Abbeyknockmoy’s representatives Aoife
Flynn and Caleb Donnellan lost to Monaghan Harps in the opening round before
they reached the Plate final where they were defeated by Tuamgraney from Clare.
Heffernan
reaches Four Wall Colleges Final
Niamh Heffernan reached the final of the 4 Wall
Singles Intervarsities where she was defeated by Roscommon player Fiona Tully.
Heffernan was representing the University of Limerick and reached the final in
her first year competing. However, she came up against DCU’s Tully who was
aiming to win her third title in a row. Tully enjoyed the perfect start as her
power proved too much for Heffernan in the opening game, claiming it 15-1. The
Claregalway handballer survived a comeback to win the second game and bring the
match to a tiebreaker. However, it was Tully who prevailed taking the final
game 15-10.
