Tyrone’s young handball stars primed for Ulster success…

Wednesday 06.03.2013

Club

There will be a wonderful feast of handball action in Kingscourt this Saturday as the most exciting young players from across the province make their bid for Ulster championship glory.
The Ulster juvenile championships have now reached the concluding stage, with 24 provincial titles set to be decided in a mouthwatering programme of fixtures involving a total of eight counties.
Tyrone topped the provincial roll of honour in wonderful style last year before going on to steal the limelight at the national finals for the first time and, with a formidable team again travelling to Cavan for the 2013 finals, hopes are high that another memorable day is in store for the county.
The challenges facing Tyrone’s young stars this Saturday will be significant and the programme could hardly be launched with a more enticing encounter as Carrickmore’s Lorcan McBride goes head to head with Monaghan’s Eoghan McGinnity in the under-12 singles decider at 10.30am.
This is a match not to be missed as Tyrone’s world under-11 champion takes on the highly skilled McGinnity who partnered Lorcan in two world doubles finals last October, the pair winning gold together in the 40×20 court.
And while that match is unfolding in court one, there will be two other great tussles taking place in the other courts, with world under-11 one wall doubles gold medalist, Dara Curran from Loughmacrory, partnering last week’s national Cumann na mBunscoil winner, Cahir Munroe, in the under-12 doubles final against a very strong Monaghan duo, including world under-11 singles silver medalist, Jakub Szkup.
Elizabeth McGarvey from Breacach will also be in action at 10.30am in court three against Antrim’s Grace Shannon, daughter of multiple world champion, Fiona Shannon.
The three matches opening the finals programme in each court will certainly whet the appetite for the rest of the day and Tyrone are in with a great shout in each contest.
The Tyrone title challenge continues in the second instalment of games, with Loughmacrory’s Mairead Fox and Caitlin Conway, fresh from winning their Ulster Cumann na mBunscoil titles, flying the Tyrone flag against Down in the under-12 girls doubles final, while Mairead’s brother Antoin, another gold medalist from the worlds, will be joining forces with Darragh Canavan, son of football legend Peter, in the under-13 boys doubles final. Monaghan will again provide a serious test in this one.
Carrickmore star Cormac Munroe, who was a silver medalist alongside Darragh Canavan at the world championships, will carry the county’s hopes in the under-13 boys singles final against the talented Justas Dambinskas, while Tyrone will also feature strongly in the under-13 girls finals, although Emer Kerr certainly has a tough task on her hands against Armagh’s Dearbhla Coleman, a double gold medalist at the world championships.
Carrickmore’s Ciara Mullan, who partnered Coleman successfully in the world under-11 one wall doubles final, will form a strong partnership with Michaela McCartan from Breacach in the under-13 doubles decider, which will also be a tough one against Armagh. Ciara is in great form for this game after teaming up with Cormac Munroe to win the national Gael Linn title a few weeks back.
Tyrone will expect to figure prominently in all of the under-12 and under-13 finals and the chances of success in the boys under-14 grades are also good as Turlough Clarke from Breacach meets Monaghan’s Oran Kernan in what should be a great singles final, and Carrickmore’s Ciaran Cuddy and Conor Kelly take on Armagh in the doubles.
Tyrone will have no involvement in the girls under-14 matches but Elise McCrory will be a serious title contender in the under-15 girls singles final. Elise recently played alongside Aoife Kelly as they won the All-Ireland colleges junior doubles title and Aoife, who captured the All-Ireland under-16 doubles title last year, will go for the under-16 Ulster singles crown this Saturday but has the outstanding talent of four times world gold medalist Niamh Coleman from Armagh to contend with. This has the potential to be the match of the entire day.
Aoife’s two Loughmacrory clubmates, Sinead Donnelly and Aoibhinn McAnespie, will take part in their first Ulster championship final and they will also have Armagh as opponents.
Tyrone will not feature in the under-15 or under-17 boys finals but will have a strong chance of glory in the under-16 doubles final as Breacach pair, Sean Kerr and Jack Campbell, two players who had brilliant campaigns at national level in 2013, confront Monaghan.
Overall, Tyrone will be represented in seven boys Ulster finals and seven girls matches; a total of 14 provincial final appearances for the county.

The full fixture list for Saturday’s Ulster juvenile final programme in Kingscourt is as follows…

BOYS ULSTER JUVENILE 40X20 CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS (Courts 1 and 2)…
10.30 U12 Boys Singles – Lorcan McBride (Tyr) v Eoghan McGinnity (Mon)
10.30 U12 Boys Doubles – Dara Curran / Cahir Munroe (Tyr) v Jakub Szkup / Konrad Konal (Mon)
11.15 U13 Boys Singles – Cormac Munroe (Tyr) v Justas Dambinskas (Mon)
11.15 U13 Boys Doubles – Anton Fox / Darragh Canavan (Tyr) v Cailean Myles / Hubert Sheinbach (Mon)
12.00 U14 Boys Singles – Turlough Clarke (Tyr) v Oran Kernan (Mon)
12.00 U14 Boys Doubles – Ciaran Cuddy / Conor Kelly (Tyr) v Shea Donnelly / Sean Reilly (Arm)
12.45 U15 Boys Singles – Conor Leonard (Mon) v Jordan Murtagh (Arm)
12.45 U15 Boys Doubles – Stephen Smith / Thomas Donohoe (Cav) v Martin Mullen / James McCague (Mon)
1.30 U16 Boys Singles – Gavin Coyle (Mon) v Brian McAnenly (Arm)
1.30 U16 Boys Doubles – Sean Kerr / Jack Campbell (Tyr) v Gary Treanor / Conor Mohan (Mon)
2.30 U17 Boys Singles – Ramunas Ramanauskas (Mon) v Cormac Muldoor (Don)
2.30 U17 Boys Doubles – Gary McElroy / Conal McKenna (Mon) v Declan Fitzsimmons / Tom Burns (Dow)

GIRLS ULSTER JUVENILE 40X20 CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS (Court 3)…
10.30 U12 Girls Singles – Elizabeth McGarvey (Tyr) v Grace Shannon (Ant)
11.00 U12 Girls Doubles – Mairead Fox / Caitlin Conway (Tyr) v Rachel McKeown / Eilish Murphy (Dow)
11.30 U13 Girls Singles – Dearbhla Coleman (Arm) v Emer Kerr (Tyr)
12.00 U13 Girls Doubles – Michaela McCartan / Ciara Mullan (Tyr) v Meabh McCambridge / Beth Doris (Arm)
12.30 U14 Girls Singles – Megan McCann (Arm) v Lucy McDonnell (Mon)
1.00 U14 Girls Doubles – Ella Beatty / Rachel McGeown (Arm) v Emma Shannon / Cara Doyle (Ant)
1.30 U15 Girls Singles – Eilise McCrory (Tyr) v Kelly McCracken (Der)
2.00 U15 Girls Doubles – Meabh McMahon / Dearbhla Cooney (Arm) v Sinead Donnelly / Aoibhinn McAnespie (Tyr)
2.30 U16 Girls Singles – Niamh Coleman (Arm) v Aoife Kelly (Tyr)
3.00 U16 Girls Doubles – Aoife McConville / Alana Doran (Arm) v Anna McElroy / Emer Loane (Der)
3.30 U17 Girls Singles – Casey Treanor (Mon) v Aisling Fagan (Arm)
U17 Girls Doubles result – Majella Bradley / Paula McGrory (Don) beat Seona McCracken / Amy McKee (Der) 21-1, 21-7