Mallow Handball Club to open new state-of-the-art facility

HANDBALL action this weekend will be nearer home with Mallow hosting their Open One Wall Tournament on Saturday and Sunday.

Mallow’s weekend will commence on Friday evening with Mr Sean Sherlock, TD, Minister for State, Dept of Foreign Affairs & Trade, with responsibility for Development, Trade Promotion & North South Co-Operation, officially opening the club’s state of the art new facilities, which now brings Mallow handball complex in line with the best there is anywhere in the country.

A lot of work has gone into doing this upgrading which should greatly benefit all Mallow players juvenile and adult and indeed the local community.

One Wall action commences on Saturday at 10am, with the games being played in the three One Wall Courts in Davis College and two One Wall courts in Patrician Academy Sports Hall, there is a huge entry and it certainly promises to produce a memorable weekend of handball.

In Men’s there is Open, Grade A, B and C,Challenger, Masters and Golden Masters.In Womens Open, Grade A and B . In Juvenile there is 11, 13, 15, 17, 19 and Under in Boys and Girls. This is a huge programme with great credit due to all concerned in organising this weekend of handball it is a big task.

Last weekend there were some good results for the Cork players involved in All-Ireland Hardball Championship action. In Minor Doubles both Cork pairs won through to a semi-final in which they will now face one another.

In one quarter-final David Walsh, Mallow, teamed up with Kevin O’Connell, Ballydesmond, to overcome Limerick’s Evan Murphy/Nigel O’Callaghan in a thrilling contest played in Ballymacelligott on the score 21-14, 15-21, 21-20.

In the second quarter-final played in Kilfane, Co Kilkenny, Boherbue pair Shane Flynn and David O’Connor defeated Wexford’s Thomas Hall and Stevie Lawlor 21-3, 21-13. The semi-final is scheduled for May 30/31.

In Junior Doubles quarter-final we had a positive result with Liscarroll pair Daniel Relihan and John Hedigan defeating Kerry’s Jack O’Shea and Clive Counihan on a score of 21-2, 2-15. They will now meet the winner of Limerick v Meath in the semi-final, also on the weekend of May 30/31.

Meanwhile, last weekend the Inis Mor, Aran Islands One Wall Ranked Tournament was played off, again attracting a huge entry as is now customary, and which produced an excellent weekend of One Wall Handball.

There was a sizeable number of Cork players involved, and the main winner was Catriona Casey who defeated Galway’s Ciana Ni Churraoin in the Ladies Open. The Mens Open was an all Limerick Final with C J Fitzpatrick, Broadford, defeating Paudi Quish, Hospital.

Ballydesmond’s Sean Murphy won Boys 15 & Under Plate, with another Ballydesmond player Kevin O’Connell winning Boys 17 & Under Plate. There were good displays from all Cork players involved with in particular Donnacha O’Dea, Ballydesmond, reaching a quarter-final in Mens C; David Walsh, Mallow, reaching the semi-final of Boys 17 & Under, losing out to eventual winner; and Conor Walsh, Mallow, getting to a semi-final in Boys 15 & Under, which he lost to the eventual winner.

In County One Wall Juvenile Doubles championship both 15 Doubles and 17 Doubles will be played in Mallow on Thursday, May 28 at 6pm.