Treacys Carpets and Furniture
Shop online at www.treacyscarpetsandfurniture.ie Carpets, Timber, laminate and Vinyl floors, Mattresses, beds and bedroom furniture, dining room, sui...
Kells Handball - World Championships
24 August 2015
The World Handball Championships were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada between August 10th to the 21st. Dan Breen, Eoin Brennan and Brendan Burke representing Kells travelled to Canada for the Championships. Competing in the One Wall and 40x20 events saw the World's best handballers descend to Calgary for 12 days.
One Wall
The One Wall events took place the first week in the Clearwater Academy and the Optimus Arena.
Boys U15 Singles
First in action was Eoin Brennan in the Boys U15 One Wall Singles who won his round of 32 game comprehensively against Guillaume Chouinard from Quebec in a brilliant performance. Next up in the last 16 Eoin met Cormac Monroe from Tyrone but despite an excellent showing lost out to the Tyrone player who went on to take silver in the singles and gold in the doubles.
Men's C Singles and Doubles
Dan Breen competed in the Mens's C Singles and Doubles where he was partnered by Talbots Inch player Ciaran Neary. In the Singles round of 16 Dan had a good win against the experienced Fergal Coughlan from Clare. In the quarter final Dan met Jonathon Berger from New York and was beaten by the US player. Berger went on to win the Singles title beating fellow Kilkenny player Ciaran Neary in the final in a gruelling 11-10 tie break
In the Men's C One Wall Doubles Dan Breen and Ciaran Neary teamed up and received a bye in their first round. They met Fergal Coughlan (Clare) and Ken O' Neill (Cork) in the quarter final and had a good performance against the Munster pair to qualify for the semi final. In the semi final Dan and Ciaran lost out to Longford brothers Darren and Niall Flynn from Abbeylara. The Flynn's have been competing at the top level of Irish one wall for a few years now and their experience showed in the semi final. They went on to win the Men's C Doubles Final. Thus ended the clubs participation in the One Wall event at the World Championships.
Fourwall 40x20
The 40x20 was based at the University of Calgary and spread out between Arcadia, Thorncliffe and the YMCA. All three Kells players competed in the 40x20.
Boys U15 Singles
In the Boys U15 Singles Eoin Brennan started proceedings off with an excellent win over Oliver Lariviere completely outclassing his opponent 21-0, 21-0 to progress to the last 16. He met Roscommon's Michael Egan and despite a very strong showing lost out 21-9, 6-21, 11-2 to the Connaught player who went on to be beaten in the semi final by the eventual champion.
Men's A Singles and Doubles
Brendan Burke competed in the Men's A singles and doubles where he was partnered by Ciaran Neary. In the round of 32 of the singles Brendan got off to a great start defeating Anchorage player Malachy Flisk 21-8, 21-3 in a game which the Kilkenny player dominated. From here he carried his form into the round of 16 defeating Arthur Sayed from New York 21-3, 21-13 in another strong showing . He faced Shane O' Neill from Tyrone in the quarter final and despite carrying a shoulder injury gave everything before going down to the Ulster player 21-11, 21-5 .
In the Men's A doubles Brendan and Ciaran Neary former All Ireland Junior Doubles champions this season's beaten All Ireland Intermediates Finalists started off with a dominating performance beating US pair John Hanki/Shawn Kupchenko 21-1, 21-0 in the last 16. In the quarter final they met Patrick Clerkin (Cavan) & David Walsh (Wateford) who also competed strongly in the Men's Open. After a 2 hour battle Brendan & Ciaran came through on the right side of a 20-21, 21-8, 11-6 scoreline to secure a place in the semi finals after an excellent performance. In the semi finals they met Mallow and Cork pair Ryan Harkin and Tadgh Carroll who also competed in the Open Doubles before losing out to former World Open Doubles Champions Paul Brady and Michael Finnegan. Brendan and Ciaran never got going in the first game and the Cork players took the first game. The Kilkenny lads upped their performance in the second game and despite leading for large periods of the second lost out 21-19 to the Munster pair who went on to win the A Doubles title.
Men's C Singles and Doubles
Dan Breen competed in both the Men's C Singles and Doubles where he was partnered by Noel Holohan (Templeludigan, Wexord). In the Singles Dan went down 21-13, 21-8 to Jonathon Walsh from Cashel who went on to the quarter final of the large field.
In the Men's C Doubles Dan was partnered by Noel Holohan from Wexford. In their opening round they played Dan Grant/Daniel Tristao from the UK who in the One Wall had competed strongly in Open with Tristao picking up the B Singles Title also. Breen and Holohan got off to a great start winning 21-2, 21-8 to reach the quarter final. In the quarter final they met the John Walsh and Danny Riordan, where again Dan and Noel won comprehensively 21-2, 21-8. In the semi final they came up against Japan's top two players in Kitahara Daisuke and Yutaka Sakurai who had come through a 2 hour 40 minute quarter final the previous night. Daisuke had also played in the Men's Open Singles losing out in a tie break in the opening round. Dan and Noel never let the Japanese pair settle and won the opening game 21-5. In the second game the Japanese pair feeling the effects of the previous nights quarter final lost out 21-1 to Breen/Holohan who had qaulified for the final would meet Michael Donovan/Tomas Lennon from Laois in an all Leinster World final. In the final in the opening game the lead changed numerous times and could have went either way but the Laois players finished the stronger and won 21-18. In the second game Dan and Noel never got going showing the effects of the previous 10 days and lost 21-8 to the Monavea pair in a very sporting final to claim World Silver Medals
The 2015 World Handball Championships were a brilliant experience for anyone that competed in them. Well done to Eoin, Dan and Brendan on competing in the Championships. The next World Championships will be held in Alaska in 2018
