Portillo and Ros Crowned Irish Open Champions for 2024

This weekend, we celebrated the 41st Irish & 38th Arklow Open, sponsored by Gearbox Racquetball and Bostik, at the Arklow Coral Leisure Centre. The event saw an impressive turnout with 97 athletes from six different nations competing.

The Men's Pro singles final featured a thrilling rematch between Andres Acuna (Costa Rica) and Eduardo 'Lalo' Portillo (Mexico). This year, Lalo emerged victorious. Not content with just one title, Lalo also teamed up with Sean Lyng to win the Pro Doubles Title. Lyng demonstrated his exceptional skills, securing the Pro Doubles Title for the second consecutive year.

The women's competition was fiercely contested, with the Irish women surprising the Pros by taking games off them and pushing matches to tie-breakers. Naomi Ros (USA) claimed the Ladies Open Title in a spectacular five-game match against Aisling Hickey. 

In the Pro Women's Doubles Final, the stage was set for an all-Dovetail showdown, with Maria Paz Riquelme (Colombia) and Cristina Amaya (Colombia) emerging victorious over Naomi Ros (USA) and Montserrat Torres (USA) in a commanding three-game sweep.

Among the standout performers, Johnny O'Keeney (Fermoy) claimed the Men's A title, while Antonia Neary (Arklow) secured victory in the Ladies A category. Keelan O'Gorman (Araglin) clinched the Men's B Title, and Leigh O'Brien (Horsewood) triumphed in the Men's CD Singles. Don Lawlor and Podge O'Dowd (Clogh) proudly claimed the CD Doubles Title. The Women's CD category witnessed intense competition, with Ciara Noonan (Fermoy) seizing both the Singles and Doubles Titles alongside her partner Abbie O'Meara (Fermoy). In the Under 18 event, Arklow's Joseph Farrell emerged triumphant in a thrilling final against Clogh's Jack Carroll.

A heartfelt thank you extends to tournament director Adam Neary, the Arklow Racquetball Club committee, the generous sponsors, the five hosting venues, Team Dovetail, and our dedicated RAI executive committee.

The success of such an event is a testament to the collective effort and commitment of all involved, and for that, we are truly grateful.
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All Results can be found here.