Kells Handball Club had great success at the recent World Handball C-he club was represented in seven World finals ranging from the Boys 13&Under to the Mens Open Doubles. Despite only winning only one title i.e. the Girls 19&Under Doubles (Joy Smith), the club can be very proud of its players and their achievements.
In the Boys 13&Under Singles , Gary Mc Connell came very close to taking home his first World Title only to fail in the tie-break. Fr the record the score was 21-12, 17-21, 7-11 in favour of M. Lawlor of Limerick. Despite being only 12 years old, Gary outplayed and outclassed his older and more experienced opponents and should be very proud of his achievements.
In the Boys 17&Under Championships, Brian Carroll came very close to taking home Two World Titles. In the singles, Brian went all the way to the final without losing a game or even conceding more than 10 points per game. However in the final he came up against a determined Robbie Mc Carthy of Westmeath and unfortunately lost 21-13, 21-16. In the doubles, Brian teamed up with Ger Coonan of Tipperary. They played R. Mc Carthy and J. O'Shaughnessy of Westmeath and despite bringing them to a tiebreak, lost 21-17, 19-21, 6-11.
In the Girls Championships Joy Smith again lead the way by reaching the final of the Girls 19&Under Singles only to lose to her doubles partner Maria Daly of Kerry, 21-9, 21-10. When they teamed up in the doubles they went through the competition with ease. In the final they overcame Emer Coyle and Nicola Kelly of Roscommon on a scoreline of 21-9, 21-10. This is Joy's second International title having previously won the U.S.H.A. Juniors 19&Under Doubles with Patricia Doyle of Wicklow in 2001.
Our next finalist came in the shape of Michael Mc Govern of New York, formerly of Kells. In the Masters 'A' Doubles he teamed up with Paul Williams but unfortunately they lost to Chris and Vern Roberts of Tucson, Arizona 21-16, 21-14.
Our last finalist was Tom Sheridan who teamed up again with Walter O'Connor in the Mens Open Doubles. Despite taking part in their sixth World Championships, these two lads played some of their best handball to defeat Marcos Chavez and Norm Dunne of the U.S. in the semis, 21-16, 21-17. However, in the final which was played in front of a capacity crowd of 350 in Croke Park, they came up against Paul Brady (newly crowned World Singles Championship) and Michael Finnegan of Kingscourt, Cavan. It was a very tense final and unfortunately they lost 21-16, 21-18. This was a remarkable performance as the Meath Duo only finished the 60x30 season two weeks previously.
In the other championships, Donnachá Maguire reached the quarterfinals of the 19 & Under singles only to lose to Damian Martin of Roscommon 21-8, 21-12. Also, in the Girls 17 & Under Sinead Tevlin lost in the Semis to Sandy Mc Swiney of Kerry. Sinead then teamed up with Sandy only to lose out in the Semis to Roscommon opponents.
In the Mens A Singles, Carl Browne and Peter Reilly took part and Carl reached the Quarters only to lose out to Joe Mc Cann. Peter lost in the Round of 16 to Owen Mc Kenna of Belfast. They then teamed up and unfortunately lost to Paddy Crothers and John Mc Garry of Antrim.
St. Colmclle's Handball Club would like to congratulate all of our players and look forward to continued success.