Wonderful results for Wexford players
Medals for twelve of the 21 participants at an event to remember in Minnesota
THE 2018 world handball championships were held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last month with 761 competitors from ten different counties all hoping to get their hands on a prestigious title.
The University of Minnesota was the host venue, boasting twelve spectacular 40 x 20 courts that play probably faster than any other American venue, and four purpose-built wall ball courts.
The tournament was split into two sections, with the one wall element taking place in the opening five days, and this is where Josh Kavanagh and Mark Doyle combined to pick up their first world gold medals.
Kavanagh (St. Joseph’s) and Doyle (Taghmon) faced off against Mikie Kelly (Galway) and Rory Grace (Tipperary). With the talent that was on the court, this was always going to be a close battle, but the Wexford boys have faced into world finals together before and their close understanding of each other’s game took them over the finish line on a scoreline of 21-16, 21-14.
Mark Doyle had earlier in the morning faced off against Mikie Kelly in the 15 and under one wall singles final. These boys are no strangers to each other, having competed at national level many times before, and Mark certainly was facing a battle having never been able to claim victory over Mikie before.
Having lost the first game 21-14, Mark seemed to relax and found his shots, taking Mikie score for score only to lose out 21-19.
Joshua Roche (Castlebridge) had a fantastic run in the boys’ eleven and under singles and for his reward booked his place in the world final. This was Joshua’s biggest handball challenge to date when faced off against Gavin Kelly (Galway, younger brother to Mikie) who is no stranger to competing at the highest level.
Experience was the key to this final, although Joshua’s never-say-die attitude was on display. Gavin just found the killer shots at the right time to clinch the title 21-16, 21-2.
To round off the Juvenile wall ball campaign, Conor Doyle (Taghmon) teamed up with Cian Dunning (Cork) to compete in the boys’ Under-11 doubles. Having competed in a round robin format, the Wexford/Cork pairing secured a bronze medal and the experience gained will stand to them at a later stage.
Keeping the flag flying for the adult wall ball handballers, Michael Rossiter (Ballyhogue) took a silver medal in Over60 men’s singles, having come up against a tough opponent in Jay Spooner from America.
This was Michael’s first-ever wall ball tournament and he certainly didn’t let himself down, only losing in the final 21-16, 21-17.
Seán Nolan (Kilmyshall) and John Roche (Castlebridge) took bronze in the Masters doubles, rounding off a very successful world wall ball championship for Wexford before the focus then switched to the 40 x 20 world championship.
Josh Kavanagh was a member of the official Irish team, and for the second world championship in a row the Kavanagh household had reason to celebrate. This time they relied on Josh to bring home the medals, and he did this in style.
Three times he went to the well in the University of Minnesota and came away with world titles at 15 and under one wall Doubles and 15 and under 40 x 20 singles and doubles.
As the Team Ireland representative for the age group, it was certainly a prominent showing and one GAA Handball will be extremely happy with.
It was the 40 x 20 where he excelled, sweeping the boards at 15 and under singles and doubles and being the stand-out player in the grade.
He easily won the doubles with his long-standing partner Mark Doyle, accounting for Coughlan and Grace on a 21-7, 21-8 scoreline to stamp themselves as the best pair in Ireland at their age group by some considerable distance.
Josh produced quite a brilliant display in the singles final against Mikie Kelly (Galway) when he came from 3-12 and 7-16 behind in the opening game to overwhelm his Connacht opponent and claim overall honours.
In the process he became only the second-ever Wexford player after his brother, Daniel, to claim a Juvenile singles world title. Both Josh and Mark look set to dominate the landscape of Minor handball in Ireland over the next few years.
Charlie and Joshua Roche (Castlebridge) collected silver medals in the boys’ eleven and under doubles grade. Considering that Charlie at only seven years of age was the youngest competitor at the worlds, this silver medal was a massive achievement. These young brothers have gained much experience on the biggest of stages, and the seed of world handball is sown.
Marguerite Gore has played and been a servant to handball in Wexford for a couple of decades but this was her first time to travel over the water to play. She wasn’t disappointed and certainly had a tournament to remember.
The St. Mary’s player became the first Wexford woman to win a world title since women’s grades were introduced back in Kelowna, Canada, in 1986, when she defeated Aishling Mullen (Galway) 21-20, 21-20 in a nail-biting ‘C’ singles final and this after she had, only one hour earlier, lost the 35 and over singles final after a gruelling battle lasting over two hours to Jean Kastner (U.S.A.) 21-20, 11-21, 11-5.
That unlucky defeat only served to spur her on in the ‘C’ final however and, although feeling the strain of repetitive action over a number of days and a shoulder injury picked up in her first final, she remarkably rose to the huge challenge to record an historic victory, bringing a gold and silver medal back to Wexford.
A special mention and thanks must go to Marguerite’s son, Pádraic (acting coach), who accompanied her on this memorable trip as his help was outstanding.
Galen Riordan (Ballyhogue) had been having a season for the ages so far in 2018, and he showed that his appetite for success had not dwindled over the summer months as he collected gold medals at the 23 and under grade, winning both the singles and doubles.
After wins over Ryan Lopez (U.S.A.) and Max Langmack (U.S.A.), he came up against Gabhain McCrystal from Tyrone in the final. The opening set proved crucial as Riordan snatched a 21-20 win, and from there his fitness and momentum took him quickly home 21-7 in the second set.
Galen, who is a U.C.D. graduate, joined forces with his college partner, Brian Mahon from Kilkenny, to take the doubles crown. The Wexford-Kilkenny duo were seeded number two and it was no surprise to see them up against number one seeds Michael Hedigan and Daniel Relihan (Cork) in the final.
This went the distance as the winners took the first set 21-14, but the second set went to the Rebel county men 21-20.
The Slaney-Noreside combination got home in the third set 11-4. Galen has had an incredible season, with his list of honours including a first-ever county 40 x 20 Senior singles, an All-Ireland Junior 40 x 20 singles, the men’s ‘A’ Irish Nationals title, and also the Golden Gloves competition in Belfast earlier in the season.
Adam Walsh became the second Wexford man in the history of the world championship to win the minefield that is the 40 x 20 ‘C’ singles. A stacked field of 64 set out at the University of Minnesota and Lifetime Fitness Target Centre, and the St. Joseph’s man had far too many punches for the whole field as he swept aside all challengers over the course of the gruelling four days of competition.
Adam had a series of eye-catching wins all week, none more so than his 2-0 upset of number one seed Shane Murphy (Limerick). He was particularly impressive in
the final as he beat Myles Carroll (Kildare) 21-16, 21-6.
The opening game was tight but Adam always looked the more comfortable and he cleared right away in the second after a very polished display which featured great shot selection and consistent cross court kills.
Adam has made rapid last 18 months and his dedication to his own training and also his willingness to help train younger players travelling to the worlds has certainly not gone unnoticed and was appreciated by all. This win will signal his arrival on the national and world stage as a name to be reckoned with.
Gavin Buggy (St. Joseph’s) is no stranger to playing on the biggest of casions on the national and international stage. And he continued his dominance this time around, picking up two more world titles to add to his collection in the Masters grade.
In the singles event, Gavin easily worked through John O’Connor (Limerick) 21-2, 21-3 in the semi-final before being taken to a tie-break by Antrim’s Paul Gra ham in the final, a match that Gavin won 12-21, 21-14, 11-0.
Gavin partnered Dominick Lynch from Kerry to success in the 35 and over dou bles and they were also pushed right to the limit in the final by U.S.A. duo Chris Tico and Emmet Peixoto, with the Wex ford-Kerry combo taking honours 11-8 in the tie-break after trailing 8-0 at the start.
Gavin’s dad, Ned Buggy (St. Mary’s), gave everything to try to dethrone Eugene Kennedy from Dublin in the 70 and over singles competition , and the efforts of both players probably cost them glory in the doubles when they joined forces. Kennedy eventually claimed glory in the singles as he came from a set down to defeat former Wexford hurling great Buggy 20-21, 21-9, 11-1.
Bobby Doyle (Taghmon) and Conor Horan (Coolgreany) teamed up together to play in wall ball and 40 x 20. The two very talented Wexford boys were extremely unlucky to lose at the quarter-final stages in both codes in a very highly competitive age group (boys 13 and under).
Bobby, Conor and their travelling families should be very proud of their achievements. The boys 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.