NATIONAL HANDBALL CONGRESS
The 2013 GAA Handball National Congress took place last Sunday in the Hillgrove hotel Monaghan. Representatives from every county converged in the Hillgrove to debate motions ranging from ,amending rule 25 to the future of the Handball advisory committee. A lot of time was devoted to discussion on the proposed handball center in Croke Park and how to maintain the momentum generated by the World Championships. Also on the agenda was the election of a new president. Nominees were Willie Roach from Clare and Eugene Maguire from Tyrone. Willie Roach won the vote 57-40.
IRISH HANDBALL NATIONALS
The deadline for entries for 2013 Irish Handball Nationals is Friday 8th March.
The junior 40×20 nationals take place from 19th-21st April in Clare. The Adult 40×20 nationals take place from the 26th- 28th April in Kingscourt.
Please note:
- Entries will only be accepted through the online system and can be paid for by credit card, laser, cash or cheque.
- No entries can be accepted after the closing date.
- Players can only enter one grade.
- GAA Handball reserves the right to amend grades or entries if they feel it is necessary. GAA Handballs decision will be final in such matters.
- HARPS HANDBALL
- Congratulations to Terry Mc Elvaney who won the Ulster Under 21 Singles title against Tyrone’s Conor Mc Elduff and now takes on the Munster champion, Jamie Lynch from Clare, on Saturday, March 9th at the Limerick venue of Cappagh. This is a tough assignment for Terry who has just returned from the USA where he competed in the American Collegiate competition representing his college DCU. In fact he reached the quarterfinals only to be beaten by the American number 1 Daniel Cordova.
Ulster Juvenile Finals
Monaghan handball supporters will not want to miss the Ulster Juvenile finals which take place in Kingscourt this Saturday. There are some major contests to be decided and Monaghan Harps are very well represented by the following 8 county players: Eoghan Mc Ginnity, Jakub Szkup, Konrad Kowal, Justas Dambinskas, Cailean Myles, Hubert Sheinbach, Martin Mullen and Ramunas Ramanauskas.
Eoghan takes on multi-gold World medalist, Lorcan Mc Bride from Tyrone. This is expected to be an unmissable encounter between two players in top form at present. Prediction: Too close to call.
Jakub and Konrad make up a steady doubles pairing but will give it all against the Tyrone pairing of Daire Curran and Cahir Monroe. Prediction: Tie-break.
Justas takes on Tyrone’s Cormac Monroe in the Under 13 Singles final. Prediction: Sorry Justas ! – Tyrone to win over three games.
Cailean and Hubert will be under severe pressure from Tyrone’s Darragh Canavan and Anton Fox with the latter in superb form. Prediction: Tyrone to win.
Martin Mullen teams up with James Mc Cague for the Under-15 Doubles against Cavan or Tyrone. Prediction: A Monaghan win is possible.
Ramunas plays Donegal’s Cormac Muldoon. Prediction: Monaghan to win in straight games.
Cumann na mBunscol National Finals
Four of the above Harps players – Eoghan Mc Ginnity, Jakub Szkup, Konrad Kowal and Justas Dambinskas- represented Ulster at the Cumann na mBunscol National finals last Saturday in Kingscourt. This was excellent preparation for the Ulster Juvenile Championship finals at the same venue this Saturday. There is no doubt that the boys are in great form at such a crucial time. Eoghan stayed calm early on despite falling behind in his opening match with an excellent Wexford player, Richard Lawlor. A fantastic comeback ensued following numerous side-wall killshots. Eoghan won both games and continued with similar victories over the Munster and Connaught champions Sean Quirke and Niall Fleming. The standard of handball was very high throughout and to remain undefeated was an excellent achievement.
Jakub and Konrad were expected to struggle in the Under 13 Doubles such was the strength of the Roscommon and Tipperary teams which included Dylan Hanley, John Mc Grath and especially Sean Hayes who was part of the All-Ireland winning team of 6 last year. However the Monaghan pairing put in a tremendous effort to win against both Wexford and Roscommon and to draw 11-6, 6-11 against Tipperary.
Finally Justas lost both games to the top Wexford player Todd Hynes in the Under 13 Singles. The latter was always in command. However Justas played much better against Eanna Wood and David O’Byrne representing Connaught and Munster. In fact he did enough to make up the overall deficit to ensure an excellent finish.
Coaching
Please note that there will be a break in juvenile coaching until Tuesday March 12th. Hopefully we will have some Ulster titles to celebrate on resumption.
Monaghan handball supporters will not want to miss the Ulster Juvenile finals which take place in Kingscourt this Saturday. There are some major contests to be decided and Monaghan Harps are very well represented by the following 8 county players: Eoghan Mc Ginnity, Jakub Szkup, Konrad Kowal, Justas Dambinskas, Cailean Myles, Hubert Sheinbach, Martin Mullen and Ramunas Ramanauskas.
Eoghan takes on multi-gold World medalist, Lorcan Mc Bride from Tyrone. This is expected to be an unmissable encounter between two players in top form at present. Prediction: Too close to call.
Jakub and Konrad make up a steady doubles pairing but will give it all against the Tyrone pairing of Daire Curran and Cahir Monroe. Prediction: Tie-break.
Justas takes on Tyrone’s Cormac Monroe in the Under 13 Singles final. Prediction: Sorry Justas ! – Tyrone to win over three games.
Cailean and Hubert will be under severe pressure from Tyrone’s Darragh Canavan and Anton Fox with the latter in superb form. Prediction: Tyrone to win.
Martin Mullen teams up with James Mc Cague for the Under-15 Doubles against Cavan or Tyrone. Prediction: A Monaghan win is possible.
Ramunas plays Donegal’s Cormac Muldoon. Prediction: Monaghan to win in straight games.
Cumann na mBunscol National Finals
Four of the above Harps players – Eoghan Mc Ginnity, Jakub Szkup, Konrad Kowal and Justas Dambinskas- represented Ulster at the Cumann na mBunscol National finals last Saturday in Kingscourt. This was excellent preparation for the Ulster Juvenile Championship finals at the same venue this Saturday. There is no doubt that the boys are in great form at such a crucial time. Eoghan stayed calm early on despite falling behind in his opening match with an excellent Wexford player, Richard Lawlor. A fantastic comeback ensued following numerous side-wall killshots. Eoghan won both games and continued with similar victories over the Munster and Connaught champions Sean Quirke and Niall Fleming. The standard of handball was very high throughout and to remain undefeated was an excellent achievement.
Jakub and Konrad were expected to struggle in the Under 13 Doubles such was the strength of the Roscommon and Tipperary teams which included Dylan Hanley, John Mc Grath and especially Sean Hayes who was part of the All-Ireland winning team of 6 last year. However the Monaghan pairing put in a tremendous effort to win against both Wexford and Roscommon and to draw 11-6, 6-11 against Tipperary.
Finally Justas lost both games to the top Wexford player Todd Hynes in the Under 13 Singles. The latter was always in command. However Justas played much better against Eanna Wood and David O’Byrne representing Connaught and Munster. In fact he did enough to make up the overall deficit to ensure an excellent finish.
Coaching
Please note that there will be a break in juvenile coaching until Tuesday March 12th. Hopefully we will have some Ulster titles to celebrate on resumption.
MELLANS HANDBALL
U21 Doubles Ulster Final. Congratulations to Christopher Mc Kenna and Terry Mc Elvaney from the Harps as they won the Ulster U21 Doubles final Saturday last where they defeated another two club men in Padraig Mc Kenna and Fergal O Neill, the shared experience of the two winners proved pivotal as they won 2 games straight, the first one was a tight affair and went 21-19, but the second slid away from Fergal and Paudie and they went down 21-1, so well done to all players and congrats to the winners.
Juvenile Ulster Competition. Hard luck to Shauna Mc Aree as she lost her Ulster semi-final against Aoife Kelly from Loughmacory Tyrone, but we still have Gary Treanor(T) as he plays in the U16 Ulster doubles final, good luck Gary.
All Ireland Semi-Final. Good luck to Michael McCarron who plays in the All Ireland semi final in the “Diamond Masters A Singles” in Eugene Quinns in Armagh Sunday coming the 10th at 2pm, good luck Mickey.Adult County Junior Final. Eamon Todd’s Junior Final still hasn’t been rearranged but when we get the new fixture we will text out to club members so all can travel to support.
Adult Club Competitions. Would all adult players make sure the clubs Singles & Doubles competitions in both divisions are played on the date set or definitely before the next game is fixed, contact your opponent if any problem arises from the fixtures.
Juvenile County Doubles. A list of the doubles both girls & boys that are entered into the county doubles for our juveniles is on display at both alleys so get practicing for the competitions as it is just around the corner.
Mens Open Singles. St.Mellans hosted only one game in the Mens open singles Sunday past, it was between Michael Finnegan of Cavan and Ricky Mc Cann of Antrim and this served to be a cracked of a marathon 3 game thriller which was witnessed by a large crowd of spectators, congratulations to Ricky on his victory.
TYDAVNET HANDBALL
Ulster juvenile handball championship finals
The Ulster juvenile handball finals take place this Saturday in Kingscourt starting at 10.30am. The Tydavnet handball club have a number of players in the finals. In the U15 singles final Conor Leonard will take on Jordan Murtagh from Armagh at 12.45pm in court 1. In the U15 doubles final,Tydavnets James McCague teams up with Monaghan Harps Martin Mullen and they will play Steven Smyth and Thomas Donohue from Cavan in court 2 at 12.45pm also. In the U16 doubles final Tydavnets Conor Mohan teams up with Gary Treanor from St Mellans in court 2 at 1.30pm where they will play Sean Kerr and Jack Cambell from Tyrone. Meanwhile in the girls U17 singles final Tydavnets Casey Treanor shall play Aishling Fagan from Armagh in court 3 at 3.30pm. Note : These are approximate times and all players need to be ready to play at least 1 hour before time given. We wish all our juveniles good luck in the finals and hopefully as many people as possible will travel to Kingscourt to support them.
Mickey Eoin wins novice 2
In an epic novice 2 championship final in Scotstown at the weekend, Mickey Eoin McMahon defeated Corduffs Tim Oliver in a three game marathon. Tim Oliver is a first class opponent and all bets were off before this clash but Mickey Eoin stuck to his game plan rigidly and in the end it was his ability to conduct the pace of the game that lead to his success. Using a high three walled lob serve he forced weak returns and then he went to work with some of the best roof shots ever seen at the Scotstown venue. In the second game Tim Oliver got off the leash and showed what he was capably of but in the third and deciding game Mickey Eoin steadied the ship and went on to achieve a well deserved victory.
The novice 3 final between Emmet Caulfield and Bawn’s Martin Clerkin has been postponed for two weeks due to an injury to the bawn player.
County club league
The Tydavnet club have finished top in the county handball club leagueafter defeating Bawn in their final match on Monday evening. The four semi-finalists are now known with Tydavnet, Bawn, St Mellans and Monaghan Harps all through to the knock-out stages. More news on this later.
County doubles
We still have a good few players involved in the county doubles in all grades. Martin Kilpatrick and Steven Treanor have been causing a stir in novice 4 with a few good wins and hopefully they will make the final.More news on doubles results next week.
