The 2024 World Wallball Championships took place in the University of Limerick with Laois taking home three gold medals and one silver.
Elizabeth Pearson earned a phenomenal two world titles, winning gold in both the Ladies ‘C’ Plate competition and the Ladies ‘C’ Doubles competition.
Andrew Dowling and Tomás Lennon also won gold, winning the Men’s ‘C’ Doubles Plate, while Kevin Brennan claimed silver in the Men’s 50+ Doubles.
Close to 900 competitors from around the world taking part in a very memorable championship.
Elizabeth Pearson (Clough-Ballacolla)
In the Ladies ‘C’ Singles, Elizabeth Pearson narrowly lost out in her Last 32 encounter against Carrie Berne of Naomh Eanna on a tie-breaker.
With this loss, Pearson moved into the Plate competition, where she defeated Linda Seoighe of Inis Mór in the quarter-finals and Mairead Roberts of Naomh Eanna’s in the semi-final,
Pearson faced another strong Naomh Eanna opponent, Kerrie McKeague in the final.
Pearson displayed incredible confidence to produce a scintillating performance and record a hugely impressive 21-7 victory, capturing a thoroughly deserved World Championship gold medal.
Playing alongside her doubles partner, Chloe Philpott of Clare, Pearson went in search of glory in the Ladies ‘C’ Doubles.
The Laois/Clare partnership powered their way through to the semi-final where they overcame Cork to set up the gold-medal match against Monaghan Harps.
The Ulster pairing were highly competitive throughout but Pearson and Philpott held the upper hand, capturing the Ladies ‘C’ Doubles World Wallball Championship gold medals 21-14, 21-15.
This was a thrilling end to the week for Pearson and a richly deserved reward for the dedication and the many hours training undertook in the build up to these championships.
Andrew Dowling and Tómas Lennon (St Brigid’s Monavea)
In the Men’s ‘C’ Doubles, Monavea’s Andrew Dowling and Tómas Lennon lost in their opening round encounter against Sandy O’Callaghan and Liam O’Flatherty of Inis Mór.
In the Plate competition, the Laois pair recorded an excellent victory over Cork in the quarter-final before beating Slovak Shamrocks in the semi-finals.
Now through to the Men’s C World Wallball Championship Plate Final, they faced Jamie Murray of Kilglass and Joe Gallagher of Abbeyknockmoy.
In what was a hotly anticipated showdown, Dowling and Lennon won 21-14 to capture the Men’s ‘C’ Doubles Plate gold medals.
This was a fantastic achievement by two great servants of Laois handball who have represented the county with distinction for many years.
Kevin Brennan (Clough-Ballacolla)
Also in the Men’s ‘C’ competition, Kevin Brennan entered at the Last 32 stage, defeating Liam O’Flaherty of Inis Mor, but lost out in the next round on a tie-breaker to Evan Enright of Boherbue.
Brennan’s championships did not finish here though as he entered into the Men’s 50+ Doubles with playing partner Graham Casburn (Galway).
The Laois/Galway partnership recorded a breathtaking victory in their opening round game by defeating Team USA pair Freddy Buddy and New York handball legend Paul Williams in two straight games.
This victory saw them progress to the Men’s 50+ Doubles World Wall Championship semi-final where they would face another American paring in New York’s Jared Vale and Marc Cipruit.
The New York duo proved a step too far for the Irish, however, and despite a tremendous effort they narrowly lost out in two straight games.
Emmet Quinlan (Clough-Ballacolla)
In the Men’s ‘C’ Singles, Emmet Quinlan was agonisingly defeated in his Last 32 encounter after a thrilling tie-breaker against Joe Gallagher of Abbeyknockmoy.
Quinlan bounce back to win his opening Men’s ‘C’ Plate game, but he unfortunately bowed out at the Quarter-Final stage, losing out to Rhys Cunningham of Downpatrick.
Tadhg Hennessy (Cullohill)
In the Boys U-13 competition, Tadhg Hennessy lost out in his Last 64 encounter to Lukas Kolimar of St Patrick’s Handball Club, Cavan.
The Cullohill handballer gave a very good performance but was unfortunate to come up against a strong opponent.
In the Boys U-13 Doubles, Tadhg partnered with Cathal Barron (Kilkenny).
The Laois/Kilkenny partnership played some very good handball in each of their games and were eventually beaten in the Plate semi-final by a skilful pairing from Wexford.
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