All-Ireland Success for DCU Handballers

DCU handball team

I.T. Tralee hosted the All-Ireland Universities and Colleges Handball Championships over the weekend of Feb 8-10th and once again, the DCU Handball team had a very successful tournament. DCU was well represented by 15 players in the various grades but it was Blanchardstown man Eoin Kennedy who grabbed the highlights with a comprehensive 31-13 win over DIT's Dessie Keegan in the Men's Open Singles final. On his way to the final, he defeated opponents from Athlone I.T, I.T Tralee and Queen's University. Kennedy was the clear favourite after having captured the same title last year before going on to win the Men's Open Singles title at the International Collegiate Championships in Minneapolis, USA in February 2001. Unfortunately, due to college commitments in Austria, Kennedy can't make the journey next week to defend his title at the forthcoming championships in Texas, USA. Kennedy's success was not DCU's only triumph with Kilkenny's Grainne Hughes, a fresher accounting and finance student taking top honours in the Ladie's 'B' singles competition. Her success is even more remarkable in that she is the first ever ladies representative from DCU! In the final she defeated Maynooth's Michelle Healy.

In the team events, DCU narrowly failed to reach the Men's team final for the third successive year when they lost out to a very strong Queen's team in the semi-final. DCU's two 'B' teams were also beaten by teams from the University of Limerick and DIT. Next year's championships are being hosted by Queen's University in Belfast and the DCU team will be hoping to build on this year's success and capture a few more titles.