All roads lead to Ulster for Irish handballers this weekend as the province hosts the 15th Annual GAA Handball Nationals, sponsored by Ladbrokes.

Ireland's top players will contest the Men's and Ladies Open grades at the Kingscourt venue in Cavan and the winner in these premier grades will go on to represent Ireland at the US Nationals in Texas next month. Action gets underway in several of the 15 categories today (Friday).

One of the main talking points of the weekend is the return of Cork's Tony Healy as he chases a fourth Men's Open crown; Healy has battled with a pubic bone injury for the past 14 months and has only competed in two events in that time.

"It's great for the game that Tony is back," said Kilkenny handball legend, Michael 'Ducksy' Walsh.

"He's supposed to be playing very well at the moment and I have no doubt that he'll add a lot to the weekend; he's one of the most talented players I've ever seen and it will be interesting to see how he copes over the weekend."

Defending champion, Cavan's Paul Brady, will be hoping to continue his recent good form having won the 40x20 Senior Singles and Doubles titles in the past month. Brady is currently the world number one, having collected his third consecutive World Men's Open title in Portland, Oregon last October.

The attendance of one of America's top handballers, Californian, Emmett Peixoto, will also add to the competition. Peixoto is ranked sixth in the current world pro handball rankings and opens his Irish Nationals campaign against Cork's Colm Jordan.

"As far as I'm concerned, we have the top three players in the world at the moment in Paul Brady, Tony Healy and Eoin Kennedy, and when you have others like Charly Shanks, Robbie McCarthy and Michael Gregan coming through and Emmett Peixoto attending; this year's nationals has the makings of a great tournament," said Walsh.

In the Ladies Open, the newly crowned All-Ireland champion, Maria Daly, will be the one to watch, but Antrim's Aisling Reilly will be hoping to avenge last weekend's defeat. Roscommon's Marianna Rushe and Kerry's Ashley Prendiville are not in to make up the numbers and are certain to put up a fight in a bid to represent Ireland in Austin, Texas.

A huge entry in the GAA Handball Nationals will see an action packed weekend at 17 venues in Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Down, Monaghan and Tyrone, where there is a record number of 342 games scheduled. One thing is for certain, there will be some exciting on court action in Ulster this weekend.

GAA HANDBALL FIXTURES

IRISH NATIONALS
Sponsored by Ladbrokes

Friday, April 30th @ Kingscourt, Cavan
Men's Open
4pm: Paul Brady (Cavan) v Vinnie Moran (Mayo)
4pm: Michael Gregan (Wicklow) v Ricky McCann (Antrim)
5.15pm: Tony Healy (Cork) v Owen McKenna (Antrim)
5.15pm: Brian Carroll (Meath) v Charly Shanks (Armagh)
6.45pm: Emmett Peixoto (USA) v Colm Jordan (Cork)
6.45pm: Michael Finnegan (Cavan) v Dessie Keegan (Mayo)
8pm: Robbie McCarthy (Westmeath) v Ruairí Kelly (Tyrone)
8pm: Stephen Cooney (Mayo) v Eoin Kennedy (Dublin) Tweet

Most Read Stories