Brady aims for back-to-back world titles

Cavan man Paul Brady is well used to blazing a trail in the handball world, but he could notch another milestone at the 2006 Waterford World Handball Championships in Edmonton next month.

The 26-year-old was on hand at Croke Park today to help launch the Irish team's bid for glory at the Championships.

The event in Canada, which gets under way on August 4, will see upwards of 400 players from Ireland, including a large underage contingent, taking part.

Fresh from retaining his four-wall Open singles and doubles crowns at the US Championships earlier this month, Brady will now bid to become the first man to bag back-to-back World singles titles.

Nicknamed 'the Gunner', Brady said: "It's just a case of getting myself right for Edmonton now. All the physical training has been done at this stage so it's down to the fine-tuning and mental preparation.

"The Worlds only come around every three years and I was fortunate enough to win it last time when it was on Irish soil.

"Winning it again is a big motivation for me - it would be a very special moment in my career," said the Mullahoran star, who also plays for the Cavan senior footballers.

Corkman Tony Healy and Dublin's Eoin Kennedy are sure to prove stern opposition for Brady, but not just in the singles competition.

Healy, who tested Brady to the hilt in the recent US semi-finals, and Kennedy partner up for the doubles - an event in which Brady and his Kingscourt club mate Michael Finnegan will hope to hold sway.

Sisters Sibeal McKenna and Fiona Shannon, who hail from Antrim, and Kerry's Maria Daly are also expected to do well in the women's Open singles.

Shannon, who won the Irish title this year beating Daly, is the reigning World champion. She beat Canadian Lisa Fraser Gilmore in the 2003 final.