This article is from page 63 of the 2009-01-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 63 JPG
IN excess of 20 juvenile handball players from Clare took part in the annual Munster Juvenile Handball Open hosted by the Liscarroll Hand- ball Club.
In all, almost 60 players from In- ver in Galway to Waterford took part in this prestigious juvenile handball competition, which concluded on New Year’s Day.
This tournament is always very popular as it prepares the young play- ers for the upcoming juvenile provin- cial championships which by the way commence in late January this year and it also gives a good indication of who’s who in the juvenile circuit.
As always Clare had a strong entry in both the under 13 and under 15 categories and hopes were high from all the followers that Clare would produce not one but two champi- ons, a feat that has not been repeated since the very first open was held in 1996 when Adrian Kelly and Seamus Lawlor of Clare took the honours in the under 13 and under 15 competi- tions respectively.
In the under 13 category, of the eight quarter finalists, five of them
were from Clare, namely, Colin Crehan, Colin Corbett, Barry Nash, Owen Tuohy and Paddy Fitzgerald. This shows how strong Clare juve- nile handball is at present and what the future lies in store for Clare Handball.
In the semi-final Colin Crehan of the Mills fought off a very brave challenge from Colin Corbett of Tul- la to win on a 15-13, 15-12 scoreline. In the other semi-final Barry Nash of Tuamgraney beat Martina McMahon
of Cappagh 15-10, 15-6 which set the scene for an all Clare final.
The final proved to be exciting fi- nale to a fantastic competition with both players giving it their all to claim top prize. Both players showed great agility and prowess but in the end it was young Nash who walked away with the title on a 15-13, 15-13 scoreline.
In the under 15 category, all eyes and hopes were now on young Jamie Lynch of the Mills who was as they
say the last man standing when it came to the quarter finals, but he didn’t stop there and reached the fi- nal in emphatic form.
In the final he was up against the favourite in Michael O’Connor of Leixlip in Kildare.
From the start young Lynch showed great match intelligence and outwit- ted and outclassed his opponent. He did not relinquish during the match at any stage and claimed the title on
a 15-12, 15-1 scoreline.