The eagerly awaited 2010 GAA Handball Irish Junior 40x20 Nationals take place this weekend in Cavan and Monaghan.
The venues are Kingscourt in Cavan and Bawn and Monaghan Harps in Monaghan.
There is added interest surrounding the event, with a total of 15 grades and almost 300 players, as the winners in the Girl’s and Boy’s U-15 A, U-17 A and U-19 A grades will also have the honour of representing Ireland at the USHA Junior Nationals in San Diego next month.
In the Boy’s 19 and Under, Tyrone’s Caolan Daly is seeded number one, having collected the Minor Singles title last year, but Mayo’s Stephen Cooney will mount a serious challenge to Daly’s title claims, while Meath’s Gary McConnell and Limerick’s Padraig O’Carroll will also provide tough competition.
The 19 and Under Girls grade is one of the most keenly contested in years, with very little separating the top four of Down’s Lorraine Havern, Wicklow’s Shauna Hilley, Mayo’s Amy Corrigan and Westmeath’s Aoife McCarthy. Havern and Hilley clashed in this year’s Intermediate final, where the Down lady came out on top.
In the Boy’s 17 and Under there will be some intense action as number one seed,Killian Carroll (Cork) and Niall O’Connor (Kildare) look to take advantage of the withdrawal of the injured Martin Mulkerrins. O’Connor and Carroll are expected to contest the final, but Clare’s Jamie Lynch and Wexford’s Dean Corrigan will be eager to rewrite the script.
Cork duo, Catriona Casey and Aisling Keeffe are ranked one and two respectively in the 17 and Under Girls, while the 15 and Under Girls draw contains a number of upcoming stars in the game, such as Galway’s Ciana Ní Churraoin, Limerick’s Martina McMahon and Roscommon’s Lauren O’Riordan.
In the Boy’s 15 and Under, Irish Under 16 champion, Monaghan’s Darren Doherty is favourite to take the title, with Clare’s Barry Nash seeded two, fellow Banner man, Colin Crehan, ranked three, and Tyrone young-gun, Patrick McCrory in fourth.
Meanwhile on the international front, the One-wall Federation’s Cup team returned from Imperia, Italyon Tuesday, where the Men’s team finished fifth behind Puerto Rico, the USA, Mexico and England. The Ladies took the ELA Cup, finishing third, in beating the Basque Country and Italy to take the title.
