Brady battles to US Open victory

CAVAN’S Paul Brady collected a cheque for $25,000 (€17,637) after winning the US Open of Handball in California on Sunday night.

Trailing Seattle’s Sean Lenning 10-7 in the final tiebreaker, the Irish man rallied for an 11-10 win to take victory.

Said Brady: “He (Lenning) keeps coming back at you and I know we’ll have many more great matches in the future. It was a really hard battle in there and I’m just glad I came out on top in the end.”

Lenning showed plenty stamina but the sheer athleticism of the Cavan footballer was the telling factor.

The American worked the right side on the serve throughout and commanded the first game winning 21-13.

Brady fought back strongly in the second to win 21-5. Lenning held a lead throughout the tiebreaker, starting with a 4-0 advantage and then 9-4 on his short swing kills but Brady kept battling back. From 10-7, Brady refused to grant Lenning another clear opportunity to score the match point, keeping the American on the run and off balance. In dramatic fashion, Brady took the next four points to retain his US Open title and bag the prize money.

Cork’s Tony Healy, who lost out to Brady in the semi-final, will have to be content with his third place finish after he defeated Californian, Naty Alvarado Junior in the play-offs. In the pro doubles, champs Vince Munoz and Marcos Chavez dashed Irish hopes of a final appearance when they defeated Mayo handballer, Dessie Keegan and Galway’s Noel McHugh, 21-13, 21-18 in the semi-final. Munoz and Chavez went on to take the final honours.

US Open of Handball Singles Final: Paul Brady (Cavan, Ireland) df Sean Lenning (Seattle, USA), (13), 5, 10.

Third Place Play-off: Tony Healy (Cork, Ireland) df Naty Alvarado Jr. (California, USA), 17, 9.

Pro Doubles Semi-Final: Marco Chavez/Vince Munoz (California, USA) d. Dessie Keegan/Noel McHugh (Mayo and Galway, Ireland), 13, 18