Conor McElduff and Catriona Casey, both leading Irish players, triumphantly advanced towards the quarter-finals of the Men’s and Ladies Open Singles respectively at the World Wallball Championships held at the University of Limerick and sponsored by oneills.com.
McElduff of Tyrone emerged victorious, scoring 21-11, 21-18 against Mohamad Mansi, a Palestinian based in New York. Although put to the test by the left-handed Mansi in the second match, McElduff successfully sustained his calm to progress into the last-eight fixtures against Louth’s Ben Devlin.
Previous All-Ireland senior finalist, Ben Devlin from Drogheda, defeated veteran American, Vlad Klym with an impressive score of 21-18, 21-16.
In the Ladies Open, Casey effortlessly dominated over Nancy Dong with a two-game triumph. Additional victories were also tasted by Irish women Martina McMahon (Limerick), Ciara Mahon (Kilkenny), Eilise McCrory (Tyrone) and Aoife McCarthy (Westmeath), marking an impressive day for the Irish ladies.
Unfortunately, the morning did not yield the same luck for young Sligo enthusiast Cormac Finn, who was politely mourning the loss of his grandfather Padraig. Despite an emotional victory against Basque’s Mikel Beldarrain in a nail-biting 11-10 tiebreaker in the round of 16, Finn fell short against decorated American player Tywan Cook with scores of 21-20, 21-20.
In another matchup, leading UK player Luke Thomson made light work of American rival Arthur Sayed, winning straight games (21-13, 21-11). Fiachra Ó Dúill, a young talent from Armagh, also played an excellent game but ultimately lost a tiebreaker to American Julio Carlos.
The quarter-finals are set to take place on Wednesday.
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