Cormac Smyth had a fantastic win in the semi final of the Intermediate singles when he gunned down Kildare man Darragh Ward on a 21-9, 21-2 score line last week in what has been one of Smyth’s most impressive performances in the big court in recent seasons.
Peter Hughes had a very impressive win in the quarter final of the Junior singles as he beat Daniel Fenlon from Carlow in a dominant display and the final score line of 21-10, 21-11 is an indication that Hughes is playing some very good handball in the big court this year.
Darren O’Toole from Coolgeraney was a surprisingly easy loser to Jerome Willoughby in another quarter- final in the same grade as the Wicklow native sprung a major performance on O’Toole who could not find any answer and crashed out disappointingly on a 21-17, 21-9 score line.
The semi final line ups for the Junior Doubles have a very strong purple and gold shade on them with Eugene Kelly/Jason Murphy and Paul Lambert/Peter Hughes winning the quarter finals this week to join David Redmond/Darren O’Toole in the semi- finals.
Jason Murphy and Eugene Kelly last year’s provincial champions continued their dominance in the province in this grade with a 21-17,21-14 win over Offaly brothers Conor and Noel O’Brien and will now meet David Redmond and Darren O’Toole this Friday night in St Mary’s in an eagerly awaited semi- final, while Paul Lambert and Peter Hughes had to pull out everything they had in the tank to see off James Gregan and Jerome Willoughby from Wicklow on a 19-21, 21-3, 21-20 score line and will face a huge task in the next round against Michael O’Brien and David Hope from Offaly.
Masters B doubles was also a successful hunting ground for the model county handball force last week as two pairings advanced to the next rounds. Ricky Barron and Tom Connors played immaculate handball to defeat Glen Kelly and David Curry from Wicklow on a 21-3, 21-5 score, while Shane Rossiter and Jimmy Moran had to battle through a very good game to see of the challenge of Billy O’Keefe and Tom O’Keefe from Kilkenny on a 16-21, 21-10, 21-16 score.
Jimmy Purcell and Eammon Purcell from Kilkenny put paid to the chances of Frank Maddock and Nicky Curran in the Silver Masters B doubles as the marble county men won through on a 21-16, 21-10 score line.
Tony Breen set up another clash with his good rival John Rossiter in the final of the Emerald masters singles as Breen defeated Seán Ryan from Carlow in last week’s semi- final. The Templeudigan man advanced to the decider in the grade with a strong performance and won through 21-13, 21-11 to set up a mouth watering final showdown.
