Irish handballers have good opening rounds

ALL but one of the Irish competitors were victorious on the first day of the Men's and Women's Open events in the World Handball Championships.

Irish victories were recorded for all five preliminary round matches in the Men's Open Singles competition, and Dessie Keegan (Mayo), Dominic Lynch (Kerry), Walter O'Connor (Meath), Steven Palmer (Cork) and Seamus Ó Tuama (Antrim) will all be competing at the Croke Park Handball Centre today.

Anna Wrynn (Kildare) and Julie Long (Dublin) advanced to the next phase of the Women's Open, while Levonah Madden from Canada is the only non-Irish player to advance in Croke Park.

All four ladies quarter-finals will be down for decision tomorrow and fans won't want to miss the 2003 World debut of the Belfast sisters, Fiona Shannon & Sibéal McKenna - Ireland's strongest ever contenders to win Women's Open Singles titles.

Meanwhile, newly crowned Tyrone champions Killyclogher are set to seek a postponement of their Ulster Club Championship first round tie until after manager Peter McGinnity’s return from Australia.

Club chairman Donal McGee has indicated that representations will be made to the Ulster Council in a bid to have the clash with the Armagh champions, due to be played on Sunday week, put back by a week.

McGinnity left for Australia yesterday to link up with the Ireland International Rules squad, just hours after leading Killyclogher to a first ever county title with victory over Ulster champions Errigal Ciaran.

“I would like to think that with the contribution that Peter McGinnity has made to us over the past five or six years, there’s something that could be done to address this problem,” said McGee.

“I think some of our delegates will need to talk with the Ulster Council delegates who are on the Tyrone county board. Hopefully they will have a word in Danny Murphy’s ear, and Danny will decide.

"What difference is another week going to make?”

The Killyclogher chairman said it would be a shame if the former Fermanagh star should miss his side’s Ulster Championship debut after all the work that McGinnity has done with the club.

“He has given those boys belief in themselves, that they can conduct themselves properly on the field and off the field, and they went and proved it with their performance in the county final, indeed right through this year’s championship.”

McGinnity stopped short of calling for a postponement, but made no secret of his desire to see the fixture delayed.

“If it was a player who was involved in the Ulster Club Championship, the match wouldn’t go ahead, there wouldn’t be any question about it. I’m not saying that it should be held up for me, I’ll leave that to the powers that be.”