The GAA Handball 40x20 All-Ireland Colleges finals take place this weekend at venues across the midlands where 60 of the country’s brightest underage stars will fight it out for national glory.
The Boy’s Senior Singles event at Crinkle (Offaly) will see players of the calibre of Limerick’s Padraig O’Carroll, representing Salesian Secondary School, Pallaskenry, and Mayo’s Ian McLoughlin, who flies the flag for Rice College, Westport.
Both O’Carroll and McLoughlin are familiar with the All-Ireland stage, and have a number of titles to their credit; Belfast’s Liam O’Reilly (CBS, Belfast) will also be hoping to mark his debut on the senior college’s stage.
In the Girl’s Senior Singles event, many of the familiar names on the Irish handball circuit will be in action. Mayo’s Leona Ryder, representing Sacred Heart School Westport, faces Lisa Loughnane from St Flannan’s College, Ennis in the first semi-final at Ballymore Eustace, Kildare, while Mullingar Community College’s Aoife McCarthy faces a tough battle with Down’s Lorraine Havern (St Mary’s, Newry) in the second.
The Girl’s Doubles event also sees some emerging talent on show with Mayo twins Clodagh & Ciara McMenamon (Sacred Heart School, Westport) facing Cork’s Catriona Casey and Aisling O’Keefe (Boherbue Comprehensive School) in one semi-final, while Armagh’s Fionnula McKenna and Erin Connolly (St. Catherine’s) take on Domincan College, Dublin’s Lisa McKenna and Susan Clinton.
Meanwhile, the GAA Handball Men’s Senior 40x20 Championship continues this weekend, with doubles action in Ulster. At the Eugene Quinn club in Armagh, Tyrone duo Darragh Daly and Padraig McGlinchey take on Armagh’s Charley Shanks and James Doyle, with the winners facing a real test against three-time champions Paul Brady and Michael Finnegan (Cavan) in the provincial semi-final.
At the same venue, Antrim’s Owen McKenna and Sean Devine pair up to take on Cavan’s Raymond Cunningham and Patrick Clerkin, and the Belfast pairing should have enough to overcome the Breffni men. At Loughmacrory, Antrim’s second duo, Ricky McCann and Seamus O’Tuama face Tyrone’s Ruairí Kelly and Shane O’Neill. While Kelly and O’Neill have home advantage, McCann and O’Tuama are experienced senior players and as number two seeds in the province are likely to advance.
