Ireland’s Noel O’Callaghan wins the  Mens Open Singles title at the 37th Irish & 16th Ballinrobe Open defeating Irish #1 Mark Murphy (Kilkenny) in a three game Final thriller. It is believed to be O’Callaghans 14th Irish Open title. He also claimed the Mens 40+ title over the weekend defeating Ken Cottrell (Kilkenny).

Erika Manilla (USA) took her first Irish Open title on her first visit to Ireland taking the Womens Open Singles title defeating European Champion Majella Haverty (Castlebar) in two straight games. She also went on to take the Open doubles title with partner Padraic Ryder (Newport).

Over seventy players competed at the 2019 Irish Open this year with matches played in 3 different venues. Thanks to tournament director Michael Kelly and the team in Ballinrobe for hosting this years Irish Open.
A special thank you to the event sponsors; Mayo Sports Partnership, Ballinrobe Sportshub, Lakeside Gym & Fitness, AIB.
Full Results & Draws: R2Sports

The 2019 & 31st IRF World Junior Racquetball Championships comes to an end in San Jose, Costa Rica. Team Ireland were led by National Junior Coach Mick Cunningham (Araglen) and represented by Thea Coleman (Mitchelstown), Sarah Ainsworth (Castlebar), Daniel Hanrahan (Galmoy) and Keelan O'Gorman (Araglen).

Ainsworth & Coleman competed in the Girls 14&U Singles & Doubles. Both players put in some great performances throughout the week and tournament. They represented their country in the highest regard.

A tremendous week for our Boys U14,  Hanrahan &  O'Gorman. They reached the Boys U14&U Doubles final in which they faced a strong Mexican Team  Jorge Gutierrez & Luis Renteria losing 15-6,15-6. A super achievement earning a World Silver Medal in the division.
As the second lowest ranked team in the division they had to overcome Team Canada (#9), Team USA (#1) & Team Colombia (#4) in the semi finals. It was the first time Ireland has reached a world final since Ruth Beecher at the 1998 World Junior Championships took home Gold in Mixed doubles with partner Brett Walters (USA).
It is the first medal in a Boys event in the Junior World Cup divisions (U14,U16,U18) for Team Ireland, having previously won medals in the Girls divisions (Aisling Hickey, singles bronze & doubles bronze, Katie Kenny, doubles bronze) and boys ESpirit Cup (Mike Haverty & Seamus Power, doubles bronze).

Congratulations to all the Team that travelled to Costa Rica and to Coach Mick Cunningham for his fantastic work with the Team in Costa Rica and long before that.

There has been a few important changes made to the Rules & Regulations of the Association most notable is that a C player can now win 3 C&D Singles divisions before being promoted to B.  This rule comes into effect at the 2019 Galway Open next weekend.
Full Copy of the Rules & Regulations HERE
The players promotion rules are as follows:
​3.0 Player Promotions
3.1 The promotion process is confined to singles divisions at sanctioned Open Tournaments. All promotions must be approved by the Seeding committee. The normal process is that when a player wins a division he or she is promoted to the next division. Exceptions are listed below. (see 2.4 & 2.5)
3.2 a Novice player who wins a singles division or an overage singles division at an open tournament is promoted to the D grade and becomes a D player
3.3 a D player who wins a c/d singles division at an open tournament is promoted to the C grade and becomes a C player
3.4 a C player who wins a c/d singles division at an open tournament for the 3rd time is promoted to the B grade and becomes a B player
3.5 a player who wins a B Singles at Open Tournaments which is a division comprised of first round losers from the Open Singles division will not be promoted.
3.6 Players winning promotion are promoted immediately after the tournament is completed.
3.7 Players cannot be promoted during a tournament, only when the tournament has finished will promotions apply.
3.8 A player who wins a division at an Open Tournament which has 6 players or less competing will not be promoted. a. (note 2 - at Open tournaments players are promoted one grade at a time e.g a novice player winning a novice singles is promoted to D, a novice player winning a c/d singles at an Open tournament is promoted to D) b. (note 3 - a C player who wins a c/d singles will become C1, on winning a second c/d singles will become C2 and on winning a  3rd c/d singles he/she will become a B player) c. (note 4 - a player who wins 2 singles divisions at the same Open Tournament will be promoted according to the promotion rules above)
4.0 Player Promotions at National Championships
4.1 A player winning a singles division at National Championships is promoted to the next grade.
a. (note - irrespective of the players current grade, a player winning a singles division at the All Ireland Singles Championships is promoted to the next grade e.g a D player on winning a C Singles All Ireland title will be promoted to the B grade)
4.2 Players are promoted at All Ireland Championships irrespective of the number of players competing in the division that he or she won.

On Saturday 28th September 2019, the Racquetball Association of Ireland celebrated 40 years at the Newpark Hotel.  A great night was had with friends new and old, with great memories shared and fun had.
Our MC for the night was the wonderful Johnny O'Keeney, including an address from our current president Martin Lawless followed by a brief history of racquetball from John Comerford.

Over the 40 years, thirteen men served as president of Racquetball Ireland and these were recognized for their fine service to the sport. They have served the committee in the highest regard. Awards sponsored by Mayo Crystal.

A number of athlete and special recognition awards were presented. These included Special Recognition Awards: Joe Devenney (Ballinrobe) Outstanding result in the 2018 World Senior Championships, Eoin Tynan (Fethard) Outstanding Result in the 2018 US Open, Noel O'Callaghan (Fermoy) 24 National Titles. Our Player of the Year Winners included Ken Cottrell (Kilkenny) 40+ Player of the Year, Billy Walsh (Kilkenny) 50+ Player of the Year, Mark Murphy (Kilkenny) Mens Player of the Year, Aisling Hickey (Rossmore) Ladies Player of the Year. A 2019 Special Recognition Award was awarded to Mick Cunningham (Araglen) for his contribution and tremendous work with Junior racquetball.

Araglen Racquetball Club were presented with 2019 Club of the Year. A new award presented by on behalf of Racquetball Ireland in recognizing the hard work at local level, their attendance at RAI tournaments and their work with junior racquetball. Well done to all at Araglen Racquetball Club
Award sponsored by Brendan Carey.

2019 marked the first year of the 2019 Racquetball Association of Ireland to recognize and honor athletes and contributors of the sport who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in competition, or in the development, leadership, and advancement of the sport.
Six inductees were introduced on the night:

• JJ Jennings (Dublin)
• Philip Duignan (Dublin)
• Liam McCarney (Belfast)
• Anthony Butler (Arklow)
• Marie Duignan (Dublin)
• Christy Slattery (Templederry)

Read more about our inductees here.

A final and surprise award was presented by Racquetball Ireland, 2019 Special Contribution Award for Overall Contribution to Irish Racquetball, to longstanding committee member Michael Haverty, who will in 2020 will have served on the Racquetball Ireland board during three decades. Haverty was presented with the award for his knowledge, dedication and contribution to Irish racquetball.

A special thank you to everyone that celebrated 40 years of racquetball and to those that supported our Junior National Racquetball Team.

A big thank you to our sponsors: Martin Lawless & Mayo Crystal, Corragh Trophies, Jimmy Gannon of Arklow Racquetball Club, Brendan Carey of Araglen Racquetball Club & Castlebar Racquetball Club

  The 2019/2020 RAI Personal Accident/Injusry Insurance is now due for the upcoming
  season.

  The 2018/2019 insurance will expire on September 30th 2019, we encourage all players
  to renew their insurance as early as possible.
  The RAI personal accident/injury insurance is compulsory for all players who want to
  compete in RAI sanctioned tournaments.

  For a quick breakdown of the policy benefits, please see here.

2019/2020 Prices:
Affiliated Club Adult Insurance and Membership 2019/20 - €30
Affiliated Club Student Insurance and Membership 2019/20 - €25
Affiliated Club Junior (Under 18) Insurance and Membership 2019/20 - €15
2 Child Affiliated Club Junior (Under 18) Insurance and Membership 2019/20 - €20
3 Child Affiliated Club Junior (Under 18) Insurance and Membership 2019/20 - €25

PURCHASE HERE: https://www.klubfunder.com/…/Racquetball_Associ…/Membership…
More Info & Policy: https://www.racquetball.ie/insurance.html

The 5th Annual Women's Open was due to take place on the 5th of October 2019. Please note that this date has now changed to the new year - Saturday March 21st. Venue TBD.

As always, the Women's Open encourages female players of every level to come along, get involved, play some racquetball and have fun!
We look forward to seeing everyone at this later date.
Any questions, please contact our Women's Officer Katie Kenny.

Majella Haverty is the new European Womens Singles Champion after the completion on the 20th European Championships in Hamburg, Germany. She defeated Antonia Neary of Arklow 15-3, 15-5 in the final. 
Mark Murphy after a slow start in the first game put in a great performce in the 2nd game and tiebreaker but the effort did not succeed as Germany's Marcel Czempisz ran out the winner
Women's Singles Final
M Haverty(IRL) def A Neary(IRL) 15-3, 15-5
Men's Singles Final
M Czempisz(GER) def M Murphy(IRL) 15-1, 14-15, 11-6

Ireland continues to dominate European Women's racquetball with Majella Haverty & Katie Kenny winning the Women's Doubles. They defeated Antonia Neary and Olivia Downey 15-7, 15-4 in the final.

​In the Men's Doubles, Johnny O'Kenny and Mark Murphy were denied the gold by Germany's Joachim Loof and Marcel Czempisz.

​Women's Doubles  Final
Haverty/Kenny(IRL) def Neary/Downey(IRL) 15-7, 15-4
Men's Doubles Final
Czempisz/Loof(GER) def Murphy/O'Keeney(IRL) 15-13, 15-13 

​The 40+ Final at the 20th European Championships was another all Irish contest between Eoin Tynan and Kenny Cottrell but it was Tynan who prevailed in the highly contested match winning by 2 games to 1 in the tie-breaker.

Men's 40+ Singles Final
E Tynan(IRL) def K Cottrell(IRL) 15-13 5-15, 11-6     

Team Ireland have retained both the Men's & Womens Team titles at the 20th European Championships held in Hamburg, Germany.
​Ireland faced hosts Germany in the finals matches to decide the Nations Champions of Europe.
Results
Mens Team
IRL #1 M. Murphy def. GER #1 M. Czempisz 15-4, 5-15, 11-10
IRL #2 E. Tynan def. GER #2 M. Klippel 15-5, 15-9
IRL Doubles Keeney/Cottrell def. GER  Bertels/Schmitz 15-14, 15-8
Women's  Team
IRL #1  M. Haverty def. GER #1 Y. Mesecke 15-2, 15-0
IRL #2 O. Downey def. GER #2 R. Hartmann 15-1, 15-3
IRL Dbls Neary/Kenny V GER Dbls Mesecke/Hartmann