He may have reached this point three times in his career to date, but, ahead of tonight’s World Championships Open Singles final, Paul Brady has declared: “I’m hungrier than ever”.

The eagerly-awaited first round of the men’s Open Singles serves off today at the World Handball Championships in CityWest, with the meeting of Cork’s Tony Healy and rising New York star Tyree Bastidas arguably the tie of the round.

OVER 1,000 competitors from eight countries are gathering in Kilkenny for the 2003 World handball championships which begin this Friday.