ONCE again, the annual weekend of handball action at Breaffy House in Castlebar provided three days of exhilarating action when 25 Irish National Wall-Ball titles were decided, with over 400 players battling it out in their efforts for honours.
The men's and women's open tournamants were, of course, the highlights of the huge programme but the finals in many other grades also provided many thrilling moments with the handball on view of the highest order.
Lorraine Havern was aiming to win back the Ladies' Open title, after a two years' hiatus, while Conor McElduff was looking to complete a treble in the Men's Open event. Havern was successful in her aim but McElduff's unbeaten run in 2016 was brought to an end.
The Tyrone man had to hand over his title to Galway's Martin Mulkerrins, who collected the crown for the first time in a three game battle between two of the best exponents of the one-wall game. Mulkerrins' aggressive style is difficult to deal with and he won the first game 15-5, then lost the second 15-8 but hit back in style to grab the title on an 11-2 ticket. Mulkerrins squashed the hopes of Paudi Quish (Limerick) in the semi-finals but got a huge battle from Armagh's Conall McCavitt in the quarter-finals, squeezing through by just one point (20-19). McElduff defeated Irish 40x20 titleholder Robbie McCarthy in the semis and James Doyle in the quarters. It was Quish who defeated US 40x20 champion Killian Carroll 22-18 in the quarter-finals.
Havern collected the Ladies' Open title for a fourth time repaying Martina McMahon for defeat in 2014, as both players had ended the hopes of Dutch challengers at the semi-finals stage. Limerick left-hander McMahon dismissed Miranda Scheffer 31-4 while Down's Havern confirmed her victory in the French Open final over Harmke Siegersma, winning 29-17. Havern then ended the hopes of McMahon in two games, 15-6 and 15-13, the second a spine tingling affair.
“I'm delighted to have won back the title and I will be going to the Holland and Belgium Championships and to Valencia, as well,” said Havern.
Another clash that had the gallery on the edge of their seats throughout was the ladies' quarter-final between Ciara Mahon (Kilkenny) and Siegersma with the Dutch girl only edging through to meet Havern 24-22. Mahon also caused an upset when beating Ciana Ní Churraoin 25-17 in the first round.
