Handball News

All-Ireland Cumann na mBunscoil win for St Teresa’s Loughmacrory…
It has been confirmed that Tyrone’s last four championship survivors for 2013 will all be in All-Ireland final action on the opening weekend of April, with Loughmacrory’s Lisa McAleer and Breacach trio, Shane O’Neill, Barry Devlin and Elise McCrory, all gearing themselves for the final leg of their 2013 championship journey.
Elise will have Galway opposition to contend with in the All-Ireland under-15 singles final in Belfast on Saturday 6th April at 12 noon, and then later that same day Tyrone will be hoping to complete a famous doubles in Kells as Shane O’Neill and Lisa McAleer take on Mayo and Kildare respectively in the mens and womens intermediate championship finals, with Barry Devlin completing the county’s four pronged challenge for All-Ireland honours 24 hours later against Kilkenny, a match that will also take place in Kells in County Meath.
Meanwhile, Maeve McElduf”s bid to give Tyrone a first All-Ireland minor singles championship title was ended by the brilliant Ciana Ní Churraoin in Kingscourt last Saturday.
The young Tyrone star was always going to be up against it as the outstanding Galway player is widely regarded as the best underage female player that has ever graced a handball court, and the title favourite was in scintillating form as she saw off Maeve’s brave challenge on a scoreline of 21-4, 21-8.
There was national success for Loughmacrory’s Mairead Fox in Kingscourt on Saturday as the talented St Teresa’s ten year old defeated the champions of Munster, Connacht and Leinster in the girls All-Ireland Cumann na mBunscoil finals.
The Ulster under-11 singles champion negotiated the challenges of Kilkenny’s Roisin O’Keefe, Clare’s Amber Nolan and Galway’s Aoibhe Breathnach to emerge with a 100 per cent record in the competition, finishing in first place in her section.
Tyrone were also represented well in the under-11 doubles competition by Drumduff pair, Sharlene Short and Seana Clarke, and by Caitlin Conway from St Teresa’s in the under-13 singles category. Caitlin put up a great display against last year’s world 11 and under singles champion, Kildare’s Leah Doyle, in one of her three matches.
Meanwhile, there was no joy for any of the Tyrone adult doubles teams that were on championship duty down the country last Sunday. The Daly brothers, Caolan and Darragh, went closest to securing a big win in Ballymore Eustace, only to lose their tiebreaker narrowly, 21-16, against Cork’s Killian Carroll and Brendan Fleming in the mens open doubles quarter-final.
Ulster minor doubles champions, Patrick McCrory and Johnny Woods, found Clare’s Colin Crehan and Barry Nash too strong in their All-Ireland minor semi-final in Tuamgraney, while Conal Curran and Martin Toner also suffered defeat in their over 35 semi-final against Limerick’s John Noonan and Pat Doody in Ballydesmond.
And the long trip to Tipperary also proved fruitless for Ulster intermediate doubles champions Gary McCrory and Shane O’Neill who bowed out at the hands of the host county’s strong pairing, Ger Coonan and Fergal Collins.
However, Shane still has the All-Ireland intermediate singles title in his sights and he is one of the four Tyrone players who will be striving for All-Ireland glory on the first weekend of April.
All-Ireland Championship results…
Ladies minor singles final: Galway (Ciana Ní Churraoin) beat Tyrone (Maeve McElduff) 21-4, 21-8
Mens Open doubles quarter-final: Cork (Killian Carroll/Brendan Fleming) beat Tyrone (Darragh Daly/Caolan Daly) 7-21, 21-18, 21-16
Intermediate doubles semi-final: Tipperary (Ger Coonan/Fergal Collins) beat Tyrone (Shane O’Neill/Gary McCrory) 21-9, 19-4 (Tyrone player injured)
Over-35B doubles: Limerick (John Noonan/Pat Doody) beatTyrone (Conan Curran/Martin Toner) 21-18, 21-4
Minor doubles: Clare (Colin Crehan/Barry Nash) beat Tyrone (Patrick McCrory/Johnny Woods) 21-14, 21-12
All-Ireland championship final fixtures…
Saturday 6th April…
Under-15 girls singles final: Elise McCrory (Tyrone) v Eimear Ní Bhiadha (Gaillimh) in Gort na Mona, Belfast, 12 noon
Intermediate singles final: Shane O’Neill (Tyrone) v Niall O’Connor (Kildare) in Kells, County Meath, 3pm
Ladies Intermediate final: Lisa McAleer (Tyrone) v Amy Corrigan (Mayo) in Kells, County Meath, 4pm
Sunday 7th April…
Junior singles final: Barry Devlin (Tyrone) v William Love (Kilkenny) in Kells, County Meath, 3pm
TYRONE’S TOP JUVENILES GETTING READY FOR COUNTY FINAL DAY…
The 2013 Tyrone juvenile championship finals will take place on Sunday 7th April, when there will be eleven county singles titles up for grabs in Carrickmore.
There has been a lot of quality handball played in the various competitions in recent weeks and most of the final pairings are now known, with the last county final places due to be filled in the coming days.
The under-12 boys and girls competitions were both played down to the final last weekend with some great matches served up in Carrickmore and Loughmacrory.
The under-12 boys quarter-finals and semi-finals were contested on Friday night, with the top eight having come through the earlier rounds a fortnight earlier, and in the end it was Lorcan McBride and Dara Curran who emerged to set up an intriguing county final meeting, thanks to their semi-final victories over Caolan McCartan and Cahir Munroe.
Cahir Munroe pushed Dara Curran really strongly in the second semi-final and was eventually denied on a scoreline of 15-2, 15-14.
And the girls under-12 singles final will see Ulster singles champion Elizabeth McGarvey up against Ulster doubles champion Caitlin Conway following their semi-final wins over Mairead Fox and Emer Kerr in Loughmacrory on Sunday. The match between Elizabeth and Mairead was a great game which resulted in a 15-9, 15-14 win for the young Breacach player.
The under-13 boys singles final will also be a superb contest on April 7th between Ulster under-13 singles champion, Cormac Munroe, and provincial doubles winner Antoin Fox.
And the under-14 boys decider will feature Ulster singles champion Turlough Clarke and doubles runner-up Ciaran Cuddy, with Breacach and Carrickmore also contesting the under-15 singles final courtesy of Tiernan McCrystal and Ciaran Daly.
There are four quality players still in contention for the Tyrone under-16 title, with Ulster doubles champions, Sean Kerr and Jack Campbell, in one semi-final and Niall Allison and Aaron Owens in the other semi-final.
In the under-13 girls singles, Ciara Mullan and Michaela McCartan will compete on the first Sunday of April for the county title, and in the under-14 grade, Eve Loughran and Maeve McElroy will cross swords.
Elise McCrory, who is preparing for the All-Ireland under-15 singles final, will meet either Sinead Donnelly or Aoibhinn McAnespie in the county under-15 girls final.
The under-10 boys semi-finals were called off last Friday evening and will be rearranged this weekend, while the under-10 girls singles competition is scheduled for Easter Saturday in Beragh at 2pm.
Meanwhile, many of Tyrone’s best underage handballers will be all over the country this weekend taking part in qualifiers to try and make it into the last sixteen of their respective competitions for the 2013 Irish Nationals in late April.
TYRONE JUVENILE SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIPS 2013…
UNDER-10 BOYS
Semi-finals: Lorcan McGarrity v Eoin McElholm; Ruairi Canavan v Jack Darcy
UNDER-10 GIRLS
Saturday 30th March in Beragh at 2pm
UNDER-12 BOYS
County final: Lorcan McBride v Dara Curran
UNDER-12 GIRLS
County final: Elizabeth McGarvey v Caitlin Conway
UNDER-13 BOYS
County final: Cormac Munroe v Antoin Fox
UNDER-13 GIRLS
County final: Ciara Mullan v Michaela McCartan
UNDER-14 BOYS
County final: Ciaran Cuddy v Turlough Clarke
UNDER-14 GIRLS
County final: Eve Loughran v Maeve McElroy
UNDER-15 BOYS
County final: Tiernan McCrystal v Ciaran Daly
UNDER-15 GIRLS
County final: Elise McCrory v Sinead Donnelly or Aoibhinn McAnespie
UNDER-16 BOYS
Semi-finals: Sean Kerr v Jack Campbell (to be completed); Niall Allison v Aaron Owens
COUNTY JUVENILE CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS 2013
All county juvenile singles finals, from under-10 through to under-16, for boys and girls, will be staged on Sunday 7th April in Carrickmore
JUVENILE DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIPS 2013…
There will be doubles championships at under-10, under-12, under-14 & under-16 commencing in April
(Please note: under-13s play in under-14 doubles, and under-15s play in under-16 doubles)
ADULT SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIPS 2013…
There will be three singles championships commencing in April as follows: Mens Open Singles, Mens B Singles, Mens Over 30 Singles
£10 entry fee per player (also covers doubles entry fee)
*CLUBS MUST MAKE SURE ALL ENTRIES FOR JUVENILE DOUBLES AND ADULT SINGLES ARE SUBMITTED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE…
2013 GAA HANDBALL IRISH NATIONALS QUALIFIERS…
Saturday 30th March 2013
(Matches begin at 11am or 12 noon at each venue)
At Mullingar
B15&U Sean Kerr (Tyrone) v Aaron Hogan (Tipperary) or Anthony Fitzgerald (Waterford)
At Curraghboy
B13&UB Ciaran Cuddy (Tyrone) v Devlin Courtney (Tipperary) or Andrew Dunphy (Laois)
B13&UB Darragh Canavan (Tyrone) v Martin Walsh (Clare) or Aaron O’Connor (Cork)
At Williamstown
B13&UB Ronan Curran (Tyrone) v Shane Kyne (Galway) or Finn Dempsey (Offaly)
At St Comans
B15&UB Aaron Owens (Tyrone) v Padraic O’Driscoll (Cork) or Mikey Kelly (Mayo)
At Delvin
B15&UB Conor McNelis (Tyrone) v Daniel Huane (Mayo)
At Leixlip
B15&UB David Doheny (Laois) v Eoin Quinn (Tyrone)
G13&UB Niamh O’Brien (Clare) v Eve Loughran (Tyrone)
G13&UB Méabh Mc Elroy (Tyrone) v Molly O’Connor (Laois)
At Ballymore Eustace
B17&U Patrick McCrory (Tyrone) v Brian Mahon (Kilkenny)
At Ballaghaderreen
B15&U Matthew McCartan (Tyrone) v Sean Mulkerrin (Galway)
B15&U Nathan Feeney Dolan (Galway) v Ronan McKay (Tyrone)
B15&U Mikey Maher (Tipperary) v Pauric Mullan (Tyrone)
B17&U Shane Walsh (Mayo) v Niall Allison (Tyrone)
At Kells
MENS OPEN Caolan Daly (Tyrone) v Stephen Cooney (Mayo)
MENS OPEN Shane O’Neill (Tyrone) v Peter Funchion (Kilkenny)
At O’Loughlins (Court 1)
MENS B Gabhain McCrystall (Tyrone) v John Horgan (Cork)
At Kingscourt
MENS B Martin Raftery (Leitrim) v Pol Clarke (Tyrone)
At O’Raghalliaghs
MENS B Michael Duffy (Monaghan) v Conor McElduff (Tyrone)