There are not many people in any sport who can claim to have brought two World Championships to their home club and town, but for Sean Gargan this is true.
In 2008. when the European Racquetball Federation failed to secure Paris for the WorldRacquetball Championships Sean stepped in and proposed Kingscourt as an alternative venueto host the Championships. Twenty-eight countries and over 200 athletes were welcomed toKingscourt in August 2008. It was a major success for all three federations, InternationalRacquetball Federation, European Racquetball Federation and the Racquetball Association of
Ireland.
Not content with just one world Championships, Sean and Kingscourt also hosted the World Seniors Doubles Championships in 2010. While not as large as the 2008 event, it was just assuccessful with athletes from Europe , and North, South and Central America competing.
Those two major achievements did not just define Sean's abilities, he was also President of the Racquetball Association of Ireland from 2007 – 2009. He has been actively involved in junior coaching over the years and coached Irish Junior teams at two World Junior Championships in the USA. He has been involved in administration from a very young age and can relay the story of how he became Secretary of Kingscourt Handball Club at the age of 15!
Sean is still very involved in racquetball as an administrator, he is Chairman of Kingscourt Racquetball Club, and Tournament Director for the annual Kingscourt & Ulster Open
racquetball tournament.
It gives us great pleasure to welcome Sean into the Association Hall of Fame.

We are delighted to announce our player of the month for March 2025  ….Joseph Farrell from Arklow Racquetball Club!
Joseph started playing Racquetball in May 2023 following in his family’s footsteps. He played in local and provincial tournaments for the first year and as it became apparent that he had some skills, he began travelling to Provincial, National and Open tournaments, where he dominated in the Under 16 and 17 categories U16 Junior All Ireland Doubles in wexford with Conor O’Callaghan November 2024  U17 Junior All Ireland Unevens in Fermoy November 2024  U17 Junior Irish Open in Fermoy March 2025 
He also tried his hand at the Men’s events and has already advanced through 2 grades to become a C player 
Mens Novice at the Fermoy Open October 2024  Mens CD at the Kilkenny Open March 2025 
With this criteria he was selected to travel to and compete in the German Open as part of an Elite squad of juniors and was successful in winning the Men’s B Division 
His latest win and the cherry on top of Racquetball the cake was a Gold in the All Ireland Mens D singles in Kingscourt 
Looking forward to seeing Joseph in action again at the Irish Open in May 
Congrats Joseph from all of us here in the RAI 

The 42nd Irish and 39th Arklow Open took place over the May Bank Holiday weekend, from the 2nd to the 5th of May 2025. Matches were held across Coral Leisure Centre Arklow, St. Joseph’s in Wexford, and Coolgreaney, drawing top players from across Ireland and abroad for a packed four days of world-class racquetball.
Costa Rica’s Andres Acuna claimed the Men’s Pro/Open Singles title with a 3-1 win over Mexico’s Jaime Martell in a high-paced and tactical final. In the Women’s Pro/Open Singles, Maria Renee Rodriguez of Guatemala displayed her international pedigree with a dominant 3-0 victory against Aisling Hickey of Rossmore.
In Men’s Doubles, Andres teamed up with Sergio Acuna to secure the Pro/Open title by walkover against Irish duo Adam Neary (Arklow) and Mark Murphy (Kilkenny). On the women’s side, Antonia Neary (Arklow) and Aisling Hickey (Rossmore) earned a memorable 3-1 win against Rodriguez and Mexico’s Carolina Luque in a crowd-pleasing final.
In the Pro/Open A Plate, Joe Dillon (Kingscourt) defeated Keelan O’Gorman (Araglen) 3-0, while the B Plate saw Sean Lyng (Horeswood) take down Arklow’s Scott Young in four games. Katie Kenny (Castlebar) powered through the Women’s Pro/Open A Plate with a commanding 3-0 win over Cara Delaney (Galmoy).
Local players performed strongly across the divisions. Paddy Dodd (Arklow) took the Men’s C/D Singles title with a 3-0 win over James Bolger (Clogh). In the Women’s C/D final, Abbie O’Meara (Fermoy) showed strong form with a 3-0 victory over Niamh Murphy (Templeudigan). The Men’s Novice title went to Philly Molloy (St. James), who defeated Tyler Young (Clogh) 3-1, and in the Novice Plate, Ryan Lawlor (Clogh) outlasted Po Wickham (Davidstown) in another 3-1 match. Sophie O’Flynn (Fermoy) was awarded the Women’s Novice title by walkover against Mary Hogan (Mitchelstown).
Doubles action added excitement and close finishes. In Men’s C/D, Leigh O’Brien (Horeswood) and Ken Cottrell (Kilkenny) held their nerve to edge out Don Lawlor and Billy Walsh (Clogh/Kilkenny) 3-2. The Women’s C/D final went the full distance as well, with Ciara Noonan and Abbie O’Meara (Fermoy) winning 3-2 over Sophie O’Flynn and Hannah Noonan (Fermoy).
Ryan Lawlor (Clogh) added a second title to his weekend by winning the Boys’ 18 and Under Singles, defeating Josh Lawlor (Clogh) 3-1. In the age-grade men’s singles, Mick Cunningham (Araglen) beat Davin Roche (Arklow) 3-0 in the 40+ final, Noel O’Callaghan (Fermoy) bested Joe Farrell (Arklow) 3-0 in the 50+, and Jimmy Gannon (Arklow) secured a 3-1 win over Billy Walsh (O'Loughlins) in the 60+ final.
Reece Young was awarded Sports Person of the Tournament for his exemplary spirit, performance, and sportsmanship. The Racquetball Association of Ireland thanks all players, volunteers, clubs, referees, and supporters who made this celebration of Irish and international racquetball a resounding success.

Full Results Here