Two new world handball champions were crowned in Minnesota as Cork’s Killian Carroll and Limerick’s Martina McMahon won the respective open singles divisions.
Carroll turned in a magnificent display to see off Galway’s Martin Mulkerrins in the final, while McMahon beat Cork’s Catriona Casey 21-18, 21-12.
Mallow native Carroll, conqueror of Westmeath’s Robbie McCarthy in a tiebreaker in the semi-final, fell 10-1 down in the opening set against the hard-hitting Moycullen man, but turned the tables with a spectacular exhibition of retrieving and precise attacking play.
Carroll caught his opponent at 15 in the first game and closed it out 21-16. In the second, Mulkerrins looked a little jaded at one point but came roaring back and looked set to close it out when he led 18-16.
However, four kills and an ace serve just when they were most needed saw the 24-year-old Mallow man – now based in Boston – close it out on a 21-18 scoreline.
Carroll is the first new world champion to be crowned since Paul Brady in 2003. Cavan’s Brady qualified for the semi-finals here but was forced to withdraw due to a badly sprained ankle sustained during his quarter-final win over Mexican Luis Cordova.
Meanwhile, in the Women’s Open, lefty McMahon confirmed her superiority over Casey, who she beat in the All-Ireland final in March, with a spectacular display of attacking play.
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