AS FORECAST, the Irish dominated once again in the US, with Paul Brady and Catriona Casey pulling off a double as they blitzed all opposition in the men's and women's Elite WPH R48ProStop Number 5 at the New York Athletic Club.
Mando Ortiz learned that you don't tangle with Brady twice and establish authority over the Cavan man. Californian Ortiz pulled off a shock by beating Brady in the semi-finals at Houston last month but there was never a chance that he would repeat the performance in New York when the pair met again.
This time it was in the final of the prestigious Burt Kossoff Invitational & WPH Tour event with Brady tossing aside the challenge of Ortiz in two games. The first may have given Ortiz a little hope that he could trouble the Irishman, again, as he battled to 11 points but that was as far as he progressed as Brady shut the door at 15-11.
The world champion then turned on his usual powerplay second time on court to wipe out Ortiz 15-5 and show his opponent that Houston result was just a blip in Paul's domination of handball in the States.
On the way to victory, the winner snuffed out the challenge of Luis Cordova, Junior (Argentina) at 8 and 2 and then defeated Daniel Cordova from Illinois at 11 and 7. Brady's former great rival Luis Moreno, from Arizona, fared no better in the semi-final as he lost 15-7 and 15-8 with Brady anxious to get another crack at Ortiz.
Ortiz prevented an all-Irish final by beating Killian Carroll 15-13, 15-7 to qualify for another crack at Brady, after Corkonian Carroll had beaten an impressive trail to the last four. He was taken to a tie-breaker by Texan Allan Garner but breezed through that test 15-2 and then demolished Mike Schneider 15-3 and 15-1.
There was an all-Irish decider, as expected, in the Women's ProStop event with Munster girls Catriona Casey and Martina McMahon renewing their rivalry. Casey made up for Carroll's defeat by taking the title to Leeside when easily beating the Limerick lady 21-11, 21-6. Casey conceded only eight aces in two semi-final games against New Yorker Sandy Nig while McMahon overcame Brooklyn's powerhouse Danielle Daskalakis in an 11-2 shootout.
Next up for Casey is next Saturday's All-Ireland 40x20 Singles Championship final against holder Ashling Reilly at Kingscourt.
