MUCH of the worldwide interest in the World Handball Championships, which hit off on Monday at the Optimist Arena in Calgary, Canada, will undoubtedly centre on the Men’s and Women’s Open events, but every one of the 120 competitions will have much to interest people around the globe.
A total of 719 competitors from 12 countries will battle through the various grades from now until August 21 at six venues.
Man of the moment Paul Brady is hoping to create a record of winning the Men’s Open title for a fifth consecutive time with Aisling Reilly aiming to retain the Women’s Open singles crown she won, at City West in Dublin, in 2012, after her St Paul’s, Belfast club colleague Fiona Shannon had completed a hat-trick.
Neither player begins their bid to hold on to their Open title until next week. Brady gets a bye into the Round of 32 when he will face either Chris Simmons (Newfoundland) or Ryan Pesch (Minneapolis). Seeded number two is once again his arch rival Luis Moreno from Arizona.
Among the 64 players in the draw are 15 Irish, including Brady, Charlie Shanks, Irish 40x20 champion Robbie McCarthy, Darragh Daly, Killian Carroll and Brady’s double partner Michael Finnegan.
There are five Irish players aiming to take the crown from Aisling Reilly’s head in the Women’s 40x20 Open so the Belfast girl knows stiff tests await her. At number two is Catriona Casey so it looks like the scene is set for yet another epic battle in a final between this pair of world beaters. There will be others with serious thoughts of upsetting the plans, of course, and Galway teenager Ciana Ní Churraoin is one who could pull off a surprise.
Reilly’s Doubles partner Martina McMahon is there, too, along with New Yorker Danielle Daskalakis, Tracy Davis (Arizona) and Lisa Fraser (Winnipeg).
The Men’s and Women’s Open Doubles don’t commence until next week, either, when it will be non-stop action for all the leading players.
The One-Wall competitions hold much of the action this week and first up is the Women’s Singles today. Catriona Casey won the Irish title but Danielle Daskalakis is the number one seed with her Brooklyn, New York, clubmate, Sandy Ng at number two. Casey heads the second half of the draw with all those players getting a bye into tomorrow’s round of 16.
Martina McMahon plays today for the right to face Daskalakis and in the same half of the draw as Casey are Lorraine Havern, Maria Daly (Tralee) and Sinéad Hanley (Galway).
The Men’s Singles One-Wall combines the Open and ‘A’ grades with James Doyle, Darragh Daly and Irish champion Conor McElduff included. McElduff gets a bye into the Round of 16 tomorrow but Doyle, who meets Joseph Kaplan (Brooklyn) and Daly, who meets Billy O’Donnell (Queen’s NY) play today.
