Martin Mulkerrins from Maigh Cuilinn has firmly claimed his place as one of the best handballers in the World after claiming the men’s singles title this weekend at the 74th US Handball Association Championships held in Springfield, Missouri.
In what was being billed as the showdown of the year, the top WPH pros from the R48 tour were all there, including Luis Cordova, World Champion Paul Brady, GAA Handball #1 seed David Walsh, Ray Ure and Leo Canales.
After four rounds of keenly contested matches, the Moycullen Ace prevailed to claim his second USHA Nationals title.
The Irish contenders, Brady and Walsh, bowed out at the quarter-final stage, an emphatically dominant Mulkerrins accounting for Walsh in two straight sets, 21-11, 21-10, while Brady was defeated 11-5 in a tiebreaker by Canales, setting up a semi-final clash with Mulkerrins.
On the other side, Cordova and Ure navigated their way to the other semi-final.
In Saturday's semi-final, Mulkerrins took control from the start, never allowing Canales to settle and ran out a convincing winner, 21-13, 21-6.
Ray Ure, the #4 seed, caused an upset, defeating Cordova in a tie breaker, 11-5.
In Sunday's final, the Moycullen man drew on all his experience to vary and control the pace of the game, mixing power spin serves with high lob serves while executing flat roll outs from front court and deep court positions.
Mulkerrins, who had not dropped a game in the entire tournament,t dictated matters from the start to finish. He never looked to be in trouble and claimed his second USHA Nationals title on 21-10, 21-14 scoreline.
