Irish handballers return today from their latest excursion across the Atlantic with successes achieved in multiple categories at the US Open of Handball in Fountain Valley, California.
There was Irish success in the Ladies Open Senior Singles, Masters (40+) Singles, Men’s B Singles and Men’s Super Masters Singles (60+).
There was also an all-Irish semi-final in the Men’s Open Doubles as all eyes focused on the latest title ambitions of Michael ‘Ducksy’ Walsh (Kilkenny) and Tom Sheridan (Meath).
On this occasion the duo were up against the eye-catching combo of Eoin Kennedy (Dublin) and Dessie Keegan (Mayo) and it was the latter pairing who were in imperious form this time around to claim victory on a 21-7, 21-11 scoreline.
Robbie McCarthy (Westmeath) and Michael Gregan (Wicklow) also teamed up but came unstuck at the penultimate stage, losing to the dynamic US pairing of Marcos Chavez and Vincent Munoz by 18-21, 21-12, 3-11.
In the final, it was the clinical pairing of Chavez and Munoz who held their nerve to take the title for a fourth successive season and deny the Dublin/Mayo partnership.
The US pairing won the opening game 21-18 but Kennedy and Keegan took control and sent the match to a tie-breaker with a 21-13 win in the second. There were a few controversial decisions in the tie-break game but in the end Chavez and Munoz came through by 11-7.
Antrim’s Aisling Reilly secured her second US title of the year as she dominated the Ladies Open division once again to deny Megan Mehilos in the final on a 21-11, 21-7 scoreline.
Reilly has again been in dazzling form on her US trip, defeating Bryttin Bidegain 21-2, 21-0 and Courtney Peixoto 21-8, 21-4 to reach the final.
Elsewhere, Paddy Donovan (Laois) claimed his first US title as he showed excellent form to defeat Mike McDonald (USA) in the US Masters (40+) final in a thrilling encounter by 21-20, 21-17.
There was also consolation for the Kennedy family following the defeat of Eoin in the doubles decider as his father, Eugene Kennedy (Dublin), secured the Men’s Super Masters Singles (60+).
The Men’s B Singles Final was an all-Irish affair as Limerick's Paul Hedderman (Limerick) claimed his first title in the US event as he denied Michael O'Brien (Offaly) in the decider, following a series of wins in a very competitive field.
