Or Wexford players
At an event to remember in Minnesota
yles Carroll (Kildare)
e was tight but Adam ore comfortable and ay in the second after play which featured and consistent crossrapid
progress in the his dedication to his so his willingness to ayers travelling to the not gone unnoticed d by all. This win will he national and world be reckoned with. St. Joseph’s) is no on the biggest of ocnal and international nued his dominance icking up two more o his collection in the
event, Gavin easily n O’Connor (Limerick) mi-final before being by Antrim’s Paul Graatch that Gavin won
Dominick Lynch from he 35 and over doualso pushed right to by U.S.A. duo Chris eixoto, with the Wexking the honours 11-8 railing 8-0 at the start. Buggy (St. Mary’s), y to dethrone Eugene n in the 70 and over n, and the efforts of bly cost them glory n they joined forces. claimed glory in the from a set down to d hurling great Buggy
ghmon) and Conor teamed up together nd 40 x 20. The two ford boys were exse at the quarter-final in a very highly comboys 13 and under). and their travelling very proud of their oys played with pride and dignity in all their games and their never-say-die attitude was delightful for all to watch. They played their hearts out and showed that they will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.
In their 40 x 20 singles, Bobby got a good win over local lad Moses Gardae in the last 16 round but went out in the next round to speedy Mexican Andres Cordova (21-13, 21-13). Cordova also eliminated Conor Horan in a feisty battle in the previous round (21-11, 10-21, 11-1).
St. Joseph’s girl Cora Doyle faced into her first world championship in the ladies’ ‘B’ singles wall ball where she came up against New York’s hotshot Serena Wu, with Cora claiming an easy victory in a very one-sided game.
Next up was a semi-final date with the very talented number one seed, Tyrone’s Eilise McCrory. Cora got off to a flying start and put marks on the board but it wasn’t long before the Ulster girl found her stride and produced dazzling side arm strokes. A superb battle ensued, and Cora lost out to the eventual world winner 21-15, 21-12.
Over in the 40 x 20 court, it was much the same for Cora as she faced Leah Kirk (U.S.A.) at the quarter-final stage and had a comfortable win (21-5, 21-8).
Next, she met number one seed Niamh Heffernan (Galway) and faced a mighty battle and just couldn’t get a rub of the green, losing 21-10, 21-6, with the Galway girl going on to calm the title.
Cora joined forces with Team Ireland’s Megan McCann in the 19 and under girls’ 40 x 20 but they were extremely unfortunate not to secure their spot into the final after losing in the tie-breaker by the closest of margins (11-10). On another day things could have been so different for the young Wexford girl as she was extremely unlucky.
Father and son Pádraig and Joe Devereux (Castlebridge), who set off on their first world adventure together, will take away lifelong memoires and can look back fondly on a super tournament.
Pádraig played in the men’s 50+ wall ball and had a cracker of a game which went all the way to a tie-breaker to earn himself a spot into the semi-final.
The quarter-final took its toll on him and, having hurt his shoulder, his semi-final was just a step too far and, unfortunately, he lost out to top seed Robbie McCarthy (Westmeath).
Joe had entered in boys’ 15 and under 40 x 20 and wall ball, and joined forces with Cork’s Sam Dunning for his doubles campaign. Both boys played super handball and produced some fine, skilful shots, but lack of court time together made it difficult for them and the boys lost in the wall ball quarter-final.
Joe also played the singles in both codes but firstly came a cropper to Australia’s top prospect, the very experienced Brodie Winter, in wall ball and also Galway’s hugely-talented Mikie Kelly in 40 x 20 at the quarter-final stage.
Laurence Dunne (Kilmyshall) entered the tournament in men’s ‘C’ in both wall ball and 40 x 20 and faced a massive challenge. Having carried an injury to America, it was always going to be difficult for Laurence in a group of highly-talented handballers from across the world.
Having come through his last 16 and quarter-final wall ball games remarkably well, his injury was an obvious hindrance as he faced Gearóid O’Connell (Cork) in the semi-final where he went down 21-14, 21-10.
Laurence teamed up with his dad, Jimmy, in the men’s ‘C’ wall ball doubles, only to lose out to a strong American pairing in Calabrese/Virricchio.
Laurence got one win under his belt in the men’s ‘C’ singles 40 x 20 before losing out to Gary McElroy (Monaghan) in the last 16. Laurence teamed up with Jack Roche (Bridgetown) in men’s ‘C’ doubles 40 x 20 where the Kilmyshall/Bridgetown duo faced the Japanese top seeds in an excellent and exciting game. The Wexford lads lost out in the tie-breaker 11-1.
Jack Roche played in the men’s ‘C’ singles 40 x 20 and had a great first round win against American Enrique Macias 21-2, 21-14, but he went out in the next round to Niall McMahon (Meath) in the tie-breaker (11-8).
Jimmy Dunne (Kilmyshall) competed in the wall ball Golden Masters, 40 x 20 Golden Masters and veteran Golden singles grades, and Tom Byrne (Kilmyshall) performed in the 40 x 20 Super 60+ ‘B’ singles.
Jimmy got off to a winning start in the wall ball when he faced off against Enrique Rugel from Ecuador at the quarter-final stage, but the next step was just too big and he lost out to Cork man John Herlihy 21-8, 21-5.
After an impressive win over Mike McRae (U.S.A.) 21-12, 21-18 in the quarter-final, Tom lost out to Canadian handballer Laurent Couture 19-21, 21-10, 11-1 in the semi-finals.
Tom played veteran Golden doubles alongside his clubmate, Jimmy Dunne, but this time the men went out in their opening game.
Wexford had a travelling party of over 35, of which 21 were players, and twelve of the team medalled in ten days to remember.
It was described as a fantastic championship by all the players and travelling supporters. Minnesota will hold a special place in their hearts forever.