Sport
Slam success for Aoife at Spa handball event

by Con Dennehy
Killarney handball star Aoife Walsh was celebrating at the weekend following her phenomenal success at the inaugural the Spa 1 Wall Slam competition.
The tournament, played at the Spa GAA facility on Saturday, attracted players from Kerry, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Mayo, Roscommon, Galway and Dublin. However, pride of place on the honours list was reserved for Walsh, a member of the Spa Killarney Handball Club.
Having advanced to the finals of the Ladies B competition, she outclassed her opponent, Bríd Horgan (Cork), with a polished display to win the prestigious title on a 21-16 scoreline. The victory establishes Walsh as one of the most promising young players in the county.
Also a winner at the ‘She’s Ace’ tournament in Northern Ireland earlier this year, Walsh can now look forward to an exciting handball season.
“The Spa 1 Wall Slam was an outstanding success,” said Eoin O’Donoghue, Tournament Director and PRO of the Spa/Killarney Handball Club. “We hosted 60 games during the day with the standard of handball at a very high level. There were plate and cup competitions for five grades including Men’s B, Men’s C, Ladies B, Ladies C and Masters 45 plus.”
While the majority of the other titles were won by players from outside Kerry, there was joy for Tommy Quirke (Glenbeigh) in the Men’s B Plate final and for Róisín King (Glenbeigh) in the Ladies C Plate final.
In the Men’s B final, John Joe Quirke (Glenbeigh) lost to Anthony Fitzgerald (Waterford) 21-17; John Coggeran (Roscommon) defeated Kieran O’Brien (Killarney) 21-15 in the Masters final; and in the Ladies C final Barbara Hanley (Galway) defeated Sara Dineen (Killarney) 21-16.