 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  Kingscourt’s Sean Gargan will be inducted into the Racquetball Association of Ireland’s Hall of Fame at the Irish & Arklow Open on weekend of 3-5th May.
Sean has made a huge contribution to Irish racquetball over many years and is a former President of the Association. Sean will be presented with the Hall of Fame award at function at the Irish Arklow Open on Saturday evening May 3rd in The Old House. Another former President of the Association, Pat Keane from Touraneena, Co Waterford will also be inducted in the Hall of Fame. A ceremony for Pat will be held in the Autumn. A great weekend of 60x30 racquetball and sportsmanship in Wexford, saw Mark Murphy (Kilkenny) return to take the Men’s Senior title from defending champion Sean O’ Neill (Templeudigan). Niamh Murphy (Templeudigan) defended her Senior title in a close final against her club mate Siobhan Elmes. The Mens B final developed into a great battle with Garry Jordan (Gusserane) just getting over the line in the tiebreaker against Shane Furlong (Templeudigan). In the other Mens finals, there were wins for Don Lawlor (Clogh-Moneenroe) in the C, Jamie Cooney (Gusserane) in D, with David Langton taking the honours in the Novice. The Ladies intermediate turned out to be a very close division of matches, with Hannah Keating (Templeudigan) defeating Elayne Beel (Ballyanne) in the tiebreaker of the final. In an all-Gusserane Ladies Novice final, Pamela Quigley took the gold against Ciara Murphy in another closely fought contest. The Junior grades brought some of the most competitive matches of the weekend, with any of the entries in the Boys U16 capable of pulling through. The title eventually went to Joey Gaffney (Ballyanne) after a close tiebreaker against Nick Whealan (Gusserane). Jack Carroll took home another 60x30 title after defeating Charlie Somers (Gusserane) in the Boys U18 category which was a repeat of 2024 U16 final. The U16 final between Ballyanne Girls, Leah Nolan Breen and Sophie Kehoe produced some of the best quality racquetball of the weekend. With little or no mistakes from either of the Ballyanne players, Leah and Sophie Kehoe forced one another to work hard to earn each point, with Leah eventually taking the title. Thanks to Gusserane, Templeudigan and Ballyanne clubs for their support in running the competition over the weekend. Special thanks to Niamh Murphy, Noel and Michelle Kehoe, Ray Breen, Terry Murphy and Pat Whealan for all their help over the weekend. Full Results Here  Local hero Joe Dillon was crowned National Men’s Singles Champion at the All-Ireland Singles & Doubles Championships played in Kingscourt last weekend.
This was Dillon’s second time winning the title having previously won it back in 2010. This time he defeated Irish racquetball legend, Noel O’Callaghan of Fermoy by 3 games to 1 in the final. Seeded at number 4, prior to the final, he had wins over Dara McNamara(Mitchelstown), and no 1 seed Johnny O’Keeney(Fermoy). In his final match against O'Keeney, a full gallery of local support cheered on Joe to his big victory. Aisling Hickey of Rossmore, Co Tipperary won the Women’s Singles national title, taking her total to 13 All Ireland titles. She defeated number 2 seed, Antonia Neary of Arklow by 3 games to nil. Arklow was the leading club at the Championships with their star player Reece Young winning 2 titles in Men’s B Singles and Men’s C Singles. Great performances by Reece who recently returned from Canada. To add to their haul of medals, Antonia Neary partnered Aisling Hickey to win the Women’s Open Doubles while evergreen veteran Jimmy Gannon teamed up with Colm O’Keefe to win the Men’s Intermediate Doubles. Joseph Farrell was the winner of the Men’s D Singles, well deserved after putting in a great season in 2024/25. Tyler Young won the Men’s Novice B Singles thus completing a great weekend for the Co Wicklow club. In a big 5 game match, the Men’s Open Doubles title was won Johnny O’Keeney(Fermoy) and Joe Devenney(Ballinrobe). They defeated the Fermoy pairing of Noel O’Callaghan and Patrick Hanley by 3 games to 2 in the final match of the day. Conor O’Callaghan(Fermoy) is the Men’s Novice Singles Champion. There was 26 entries in this division, the largest by far in the Championships and it was the Corkman who came through with a 3 – 1 victory over Jay Barnes of Arklow. Castlebar’s Fiona Kyne won the Women’s Novice Singles by defeating Sophie O’Flynn of Fermoy in the final by 3 games to 0. Women’s C Singles Champion is Cara Delaney(Galmoy) while Abbie O’Meara(Fermoy) is the D Singles All Ireland Champion. Cara teamed up with Caylee Hogan of Mitchelstown to win a second gold medal in the Intermediate doubles. There was a Men's Novice Doubles division and a well deserved victory went to Clogh/Moneenroe team of Dan Coogan and Shane Brennan. The Women's Novice Doubles Champions are Mary Hogan(Mitchelstown) and Sophie O'Flynn(Fermoy) were successful. In total, 75 racquetball athletes competed the various divisions at the 2025 All Ireland Championships with 114 matches played in courts in Kingscourt, Cavan, Corduff and Bawn. Full Results can be found here. A fantastic weekend of racquetball wrapped up in Germany with 55 entries from 5 nations and some truly top-class matches. Team Ireland delivered an outstanding performance, competing in 7 grades, winning 5 gold medals, and featuring in 4 all-Irish finals. Highlights from the event: - Men’s Open Doubles: Keelan O’Gorman and Darragh McNamara defeated Germany’s Martin Klippel and Oliver Bertels in a thrilling tie-breaker. - Men’s B: Joseph Farrell claimed victory over Conor O’Callaghan in a hard-fought tie-breaker. - Men’s C: *Brendan Delaney overcame Colm Noonan in an all-Irish final. - Men’s Open Singles: Germany’s Marcel Linesman defeated Keelan O’Gorman. - Mixed Doubles: Abbie O’Meara and Darragh McNamara defeated Conor O’Callaghan and Ber O Callaghan 3-1 in a great match-up. - Women’s Doubles: Cara Delaney and Caylee Hogan clinched the win in a nail-biting tie-breaker against Abbie and Leah O’Meara. - Women’s Open Singles: Mexico’s Carolina Luque took the title over Caylee Hogan. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to our German hosts for their warm hospitality, superb event organization, and for creating such a welcoming atmosphere. The camaraderie and sportsmanship across all nations made for a memorable weekend. Massive congratulations to all our Irish players—your effort, spirit, and success have made us incredibly proud!  Players promoted after the 2024 All Ireland Singles & Doubles Championships are permitted to revert back one grade for the 2025 Championships and for only the 2025 All Ireland Championships.
Novice players who were promoted after the 2024 All Ireland Singles & Doubles Championships are permitted to revert back for Novice Doubles for the 2025 Championships but can only play with another Novice player. List of players who can revert back one grade.
 Fermoy’s Johnny O’Keeney reversed the form book when Noel O’Callaghan who defeated him at the Kilkenny Open three weeks ago. O’Keeney recorded at 3 games to 1 victory over his clubmate and the former multiple All Ireland champion.
After missing a few open tournaments due to injury, Aisling Hickey bounced back with a win over Elaine Murphy in an all Tipperary women’s open singles final. In the end, the Rossmore athlete has 3-0 victory over her Templederry rival. Open doubles title went to Johnny O’Keeney and Joe Devenney(Ballinrobe) in the Men’s Doubles final while Ciara Noonan (Fermoy) and Aisling Hickey won the Women’s Open doubles. Fifty eight athletes competed in the this year’s Castlebar Open with 104 matches played over the weekend in courts at Castlebar, Ballinrobe & Carnacon. For details results & drawsheets go to: www.r2sports.com/tourney/home.asp?TID=48296 Full Results  We are delighted to announce our Player of the Month for February 2025… drumroll please…. 🥁
Our Player of the Month for February is Johnny O’Keeney from Fermoy Racquetball Club 👏🏻 A man that will be a stranger to no one on the International Racquetball circuit, Johnny boasts an illustrious record from his years of competing in Ireland and indeed across the world 🌎 Johnny has represented Ireland at both junior & senior levels at European & World Championships and is sure to be seen in the majority of Open finals throughout the year in our domestic competitions 🏆 Johnny has also heavily contributed to the junior development of Racquetball in Ireland, giving both his expertise and time to train juniors and travel to competitions with them 🤝🏻 A very deserving winner of Player of the Month for February, Congrats Johnny from all of us in the RAI |
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