Handball Championship set to begin

The 2009 World Handball Championships get underway on Monday in Portland, Oregon, where over 260 Irish handballers will contest events ranging from Under 11 to Over 80.

The official Irish squad comprises 18 of Ireland's top handballers, but none of these will be in action until later in the week.

The Men's C category boosts a massive 87 entries, so it will open play in the City of Roses, where players face a total of seven rounds over the week.

The blue riband event of the Men's Open Singles also starts on Mpnday, with a small number of Irish representation in the preliminary round. Cork's Colm Jordon, Wicklow's Johnny Willoughby, Kerry's Dominick Lynch and Armagh's James Doyle all open their championship campaigns today.

Cavan's Paul Brady, who suffered severe damage to his quad two weeks ago, withdrew from the Men's Open Doubles on Friday, in a bid to concentrate on defending his Men's Open Singles title.

Partner, Michael Finnegan (Cavan) will now team up with Dublin's Eoin Kennedy in the Doubles and after a draw reshuffle, the pairing are now seeded number two in the event.

Top American, and former World Champion, David Chapman, also withdrew from the Doubles event, which leaves California's Emmet Peixoto to partner, Texan, Allan Garner as the number one seeds.

‘We still have a very strong pairing in Michael and Eoin and we're very confident that they can still take honours in the Open Doubles event,’ said team manager Tony Hayes.

Number one seed, Brady and two seed, Tony Healy (Cork) both launch their world championship bids on Tuesday, where Brady faces the winner of Washington's Pete Svennungsen and Eric Hilgreen (Missouri).

Healy will take on Mexican, Luis Cordova or Armagh's James Doyle in his opening round game.