By Martin Lalor
This weekend the Irish Handball community travel to Kingscourt, Cavan for a weekend of top class activity in adult and juvenile All Ireland finals. This recently introduced format of playing all the Singles and juvenile finals on the same weekend has proved to be very successful and has created interest across all the provinces.
From a Kilkenny point of view, Kilkenny players, coaches and supporters will contest eight All Ireland finals, three in adult competitions and six in the juvenile grades. In the prestigious Minor Singles grade, Eoin Brennan (Kells) will play Tadgh O’Neill on Saturday in what should be a top class affair. On Friday, Mullinavat’s Joe Anthony will commence proceeding when he plays Brian Havern (Down) in the Diamond Masters B Singles final, closely followed by the Silver Masters B Singles decider between Willie Holden (Kilfane) and Michael Clerkin (Monaghan).
On Sunday at the Cavan venue, there is a full programme of Juvenile finals down for decision, with Kilkenny involved in five contests. In Boys U14 Singles, Billy Drennan (Galmoy) will play Monaghan in his final, followed by the U15 Boys decider between Jack Doyle (Windgap) and Clare. In the Boys U15 Doubles, Clare will also provide the opposition for the Clogh / Windgap combination of Jamie Maher and Padhraic Foley, and in Boys U16 Doubles, Clogh duo, Kyle Dunne and Billy O’Neill will seek to overcome Monaghan in their quest for glory. In the Girls U16 Doubles, the Kilfane/ O’Loughlins pair of Roisin O’Keeffe and Edel Mulholland will play Tyrone in the final.
Best of luck to all Kilkenny players, coaches and supporters travelling to the Ulster venue, hopefully it will prove to be a successful trip for all involved.
Results
In the last 32 of the Mens Open Senior Doubles championship, Ciaran Neary and Brendan Burke advanced to the next round when they defeated Kildare’s Niall O’Connor and Paul Moran, 21-12, 21-13. On the county scene, CJ Delaney and Gavin O’Keeffe (Kells) defeated Cian Ryan and Sean Foley (Windgap) in JBD, and in JD, Eoin Brennan and Dan Breen (Kells) beat PJ Barron and his partner from Windgap. In the Leinster championship, Anthony Martin and Diarmuid Burke (Kells) scored a good victory over Wayne Kinsella and David Curry (Wexford) in their JBD clash. Other recent results include Intermediate victory for Ciaran Neary and Brendan Burke in their Leinster clash with Dublin, and in the County Senior competitions, Brendan and Diarmuid Burke defeated Shem Kelly and Paul Dowling, while Patrick Funchion beat Ciaran Neary in their Singles match. There was also success for Harry Delaney (Kells) in the final of the U13B championship when he defeated Cathal Phelan (Galmoy) in the decider, 15-4, 15-0.
In the Leinster Juvenile team championships, Kilkenny teams have qualified for the All Ireland series in the Boys U12/13 and U14/15, but the U16/17 team lost out at the provincial final stage to a strong Laois side.
All Ireland Fixtures
Friday 17th March 2017
Court 1 starts @ 4pm
• DMBS Kilkenny (Joe Anthony) v Down (Brian Havern)
• SMBS Kilkenny (William Holden) v Monaghan (Michael Clerkin)
• MBS Dublin (Conor Maxwell) v Tipperary (Brian O’Brien)
• JS Dublin (Keith Burke) v Monaghan (Gavin Coyle)
Court 2 starts @ 4pm
• O70S Galway (Morgan Darcy) v Tipperary (Jim Ryan)
• DMAS Carlow (John Rossiter) v Tipperary (Billy Mullins)
• EMBS Galway (Denis Phelan) v Limerick (Jimmy Fanning)
• JBS Carlow (Aaron Geoghegan) v Antrim (Jordan O’Neill)
Court 3 starts @ 4pm
• LJBS Kildare (Ellen O’Connor) v Tyrone (Michelle Warren)
• EMAS Antrim (Thomas Maguire) v Westmeath (Robbie McCarthy)
• GMBS Mayo (George Miller) v Tyrone (Kenny Curran)
• O35BS Roscommon (Denis Creaton) v Cork (Jamie O’Donnell)
Saturday 18th March 2017
Court 1 starts @ 10am
• LMS Wexford (Cora Doyle) v Armagh (Megan McCann)
• IS Wexford (Daniel Kavanagh) v Cork (Tadgh Carroll)
• MS Kilkenny (Eoin Brennan) v Cork (Tagdh O’Neill)
Starts @ 4pm
• LSS Cork (Catriona Casey) v Limerick (Martina McMahon)
• MSS Armagh (Charly Shanks) v Westmeath (Robbie McCarthy)
Court 2 starts @ 10am
• LJS Kildare (Hannah Dagg) v Tyrone (Eilise McCrory)
• LIS Clare (Clodagh Nash) v Roscommon (Fiona Tully)
• U21S Kildare (Kevin Diggins) v Clare (Colin Corbett)
• GMAS Dublin (Egin Jensen) v Cork (John Herlihy)
Court 3 starts @ 10am
• SMAS Mayo (Tom Sweeney) v Limerick (Tómas Donegan)
• MAS Carlow (Ollie Ryan) v Kerry (Dominick Lynch)
• O35AS Wexford (Gavin Buggy) v Antrim (Ricky McCann)
Sunday 19th March 2017 @ 10am
Court 1
• GU14 Singles Mayo (Hazel Finn) v Tyrone (Clodagh Munroe)
• BU14 Doubles Wexford (Conor Murphy/Mark Doyle) v Tyrone (Jonathan Owens/Jack Darcy)
• GU16 Doubles Kilkenny (Roisín O’Keeffe/Edel Mulholand) v Tyrone (Caitlin Conway/Elizabeth McGarvey)
• GU17 Doubles Wexford (Cliodhna O’Connell/Eva Crean) v Tyrone (Claire Conway/Meabh McCrystall)
• GU16 Singles Kildare (Leah Doyle) v Tyrone (Mairead Fox)
• BU16 Singles Wexford (Josh Kavanagh) v Tyrone (Lorcan McBride)
Court 2
• BU14 Singles Kilkenny (Billy Drennan) v Monaghan (Tiarnan O’Rourke)
• BU15 Singles Kilkenny (Jack Doyle) v Clare (Seanie Doyle)
• BU15 Doubles Kilkenny (Jamie Maher/Padhraic Foley) v Clare (Sean Coughlan/Cormac Murphy)
• BU16 Doubles Kilkenny (Kyle Dunne/Billy O’Neill) v Monaghan (Justas Dambinskas/Konrad Kowal)
• BU17 Doubles Wexford (Ciaran Power/Colm Parnell) v Cork (Niall Delaney/Stephen O’Rourke)
Court 3
• GU14 Doubles Galway (Aifric Ni Ghibne/Sadhbh Ni Fhlaithearta) v Tipperary (Aine Spain/Anna Mulcahy)
• GU15 Singles Kildare (Abby Tarrant) v Armagh (Cailiosa Ni Dhuill)
• GU15 Doubles Laois (Emer Fitzpatrick/Lucy O’Connor) v Tipperary (Siobhan Prentice/Isabel Farnan)
• GU17 Singles Laois (Molly O’Connor) v Cork (Aoife Hurley)
• BU17 Singles Galway (Shane Kyne) v Kerry (Dara Keane)