The astounding success of Robert McCarthy Jnr proved the highlight of another eventful year for Westmeath handball. Robert McCarthy Jnr provided further evidence of why he is regarded as the top young handballer in the country by winning a string of prestigious titles over the past 12 months. The gifted youngster from Lynn Heights in Mullingar literally swept all before him in 2003 and he has carried that excellent form into the early part of 2004. Given his current rate of improvement, McCarthy could go on to become one of the giants of world handball. McCarthy couldn't have asked for a better start to 2003 when he returned home from Chicago as USHA 15-and-under singles and doubles champion. In the singles final, he defeated the much-fancied American Carlos Lemus 21-4, 21-6 before teaming up Wicklow's Jerome Willoughby to add the doubles title. Further success followed for McCarthy when, representing Mullingar Community College, he became the first Westmeath winner of the All-Ireland Colleges senior singles title. He subsequently captured the Irish national 15-and-under singles title in the 40x20 and followed that up with victories in the 17-and-under Munster and Ulster Opens. In the Ulster final, he took the scalp of All-Ireland minor champion, Meath's Brian Carroll. McCarthy added the Irish 15-and-under One Wall title before turning his attention to the 60x30 court. Again, he was in unstoppable form, winning the All-Ireland under 16 singles and All-Ireland minor hardball titles. Those triumphs ensured that McCarthy entered the World Championships in a confident frame of mind and he didn't disappoint. Despite giving most of his opponents 18 to 20 months in age, he emerged victorious in the 17-and-under singles and doubles competitions. In the singles final, he again got the better of Brian Carroll 21-13, 21-16. There was no stopping Robert either in the doubles final when he teamed up with Delvin's John O'Shaughnessy to defeat the Brian Carroll/Ger Coonan partnership. Carroll and Coonan, who had earlier in the year met in the All-Ireland minor final, won the first game 21-16, but the Westmeath pair fought back to win the second game 21-13. The third and deciding game was a real thriller with McCarthy and O'Shaughnessy winning 11-6 in a tie breaker. Such was the tension that John's father PJ decided against watching the tie breaker! The following weekend, McCarthy again faced his great rival Carroll in the Irish trials for the USHA national juniors four-wall championships which took place in Medesto, California over the Christmas period. And after nearly two hours on the court, it was the Mullingar youngster won triumphed 11-6 in a tie-breaker. This proved to be a dress-rehearsal for the USHA 17-and-under final which McCarthy eventually won 21-18 to 21-17. The match started with both players being tentative, playing conservative handball. Points were hard to come by with long volleys and both players digging, shooting, passing and chasing the ball around the court. The rhythm of the match became that of point followed by sideout, followed by point, followed by sideout, with neither player able to establish much of a lead or any momentum. But in the end, McCarthy was able to score more points faster. In the semi-final, McCarthy had faced an equally strong opponent in American Bryer Bidegain. The Irish champion won the first game 21-5, but Bidegain bounced back to win the second game 21-20. However, McCarthy won the third game 11-4 to seal his place in the final. 2004 has brought further honours for McCarthy and his doubles partner John O'Shaughnessy. The talented pair added the Leinster and All-Ireland 40x20 minor doubles titles to their long list of achievements in March and April. In the All-Ireland final at Croke Park, they chalked up an impressive 21-6, 21-16 win over Patrick Hurney and John Kindregan of Waterford. McCarthy was also crowned All-Ireland 40x20 minor singles champion and in doing so, brought the title back to Westmeath for the first time. He defeated Tipperary's Ger Coonan 21-10, 21-15 in the final at O'Loughlin Gaels in Kilkenny. Another highlight from the past year were the All-Ireland Feile finals which were jointly hosted by Westmeath, Meath and Kildare. The Mullingar club, who played host to eight teams from all over Ireland, entered the Feile for the first time. Their team comprised Natasha McCarthy, Kathy Dale, Aoife McCarthy, Kathy McCarthy and Racheal Heffernan. In conjunction with local GAA clubs Mullingar Shamrocks, St. Oliver Plunkett's and Cullion, Mullingar handball club organised a disco for the young players which proved to be a major success. The Mullingar club wishes to thank the following for hosting the various Feile teams - Cyril and Carmel McCarthy, Richie and Martina Heffernan, Robbie and Tina McCarthy, Fiona McCarthy and Massimo Lingi. Tweet

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