Dublin's Eoin Kennedy, following his All-Ireland senior semi-final defeat to Cavan's Paul Brady, made it to the final of the WPH Ektelon Handball Fireball Classic in Tucson, Arizona, over the weekend.
Impressive victories over Billy O'Donnell were followed by superb displays as he produced exceptional form to deny the number two and three seeds in the event and claim his place in a first WPH tournament decider.
Two of the rising and most exciting stars of World Handball Luis Moreno and Alan Garner were being tipped to claim the throne from David Chapman, but in the end it was the Dublin star who showed up best to power his way past the duo.
The event proved a considerable success and was watched by a large audience on the live web-stream, with the new-style red Ektelon ball being used and this could prove a popular move for the future.
In his matches, Eoin Kennedy defeated Billy O'Donnell in the opening round and scored an emphatic 21-15, 21-9 victory over a hotly fancied Moreno in the quarter-finals.
Alan Garner, who had defeated Kennedy in the world quarter-finals in Portland back in October 2009, was next to find the Dubliner too hot to handle as Kennedy fired his way into the final courtesy of a 21-17, 21-15 scoreline.
In the final, which was streamed live on the WPH site at 6.30pm on Saturday evening, Kennedy found legendary US star David Chapman in imperious form and lost out in his title bid on a 21-8, 21-15 scoreline.
Overall, Kennedy again showed himself to be at the top of his game in a terrific event and will now be looking towards the Irish Nationals at the end of the month as a further opportunity to secure silverware before the 40x20 season ends.
In the same competition, Mayo's Dessie Keegan lost out to David Fink 21-16, 21-12 in the last 16 stage of the tournament.
