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Tennis star Carr looking ahead to a big year

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By Gerard Mulreaney ( @gerard_sports ) Ireland’s Simon Carr heads into the 2020 tennis season with great confidence after having what he described as ‘a breakthrough year’ in 2019. He secured his first ITF title in Tunisia in April, beating Christian Lindell of Sweden in straight sets, 6-1 6-3. Then, in July he helped Ireland to promotion into Group 3 of the Davis Cup, winning 4 out of his 5 matches.  Just before Christmas Carr (pictured above) finished of the year by reaching the semi-finals of the ITF tournament in Heraklion, Greece. He beat Ryan Nijboer, Jakub Paul and Stuart Parker on the way to the semis, eventually losing to 17-year-old Russian Alibek Kachmazov 7-5 6-3. When I spoke to him over the festive season, he was recharging his batteries as he looks to get himself further up the rankings in 2020. He was happy enough with the way 2019 went: “Yeah 2019 was a good year. It was a bit of a breakthrough year for me, winning my first futures title in singles,
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Jockey Kelly off the mark with a winner at Thurles

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By Gerard Mulreaney ( @gerardmulreaney ) When the Padraig Roche trained Open To The World won the Molony Cup Handicap Chase at Thurles last Friday, it gave 18 year old jockey Aidan Kelly from Monasterevin in Kildare his first winner.  Kelly didn’t realise he won until travelling head lad Pascal came out with a big smile on his face. He said: “I was delighted when I figured out that I had won. It’s great to have gotten a winner here in Ireland as it’s so hard to get rides.” Victory never really looked likely as Kelly, claiming 7lbs, was struggling in the final half mile. However, having ridden the mare ten times he thought he could get more out of her in the final stages: “Throughout the race the mare never really travelled well for me, but after riding her so many times I knew her inside out and thought she might pick up a bit of prize-money.  “I wasn’t expecting her to go out and win in the end. Jumping the last she had gotten in tight and I thought my chance of win
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Treacy moving up to D1 level as career progression continues

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By Gerard Mulreaney ( @gerardmulreaney ) When Matt Treacy first picked up a basketball he fell in love with the game.  Growing up in Glasnevin, Dublin, Treacy played ball for Tolka Rovers, even though he lived much closer to St Vincent’s basketball club. At just five years of age, and with no family connection to the game, he joined the newly formed Tharren Reid basketball academy on Tuesday’s, just for something to do, and he’s never looked back since. “What is love? Love is playing every game like it's your last.”  ―   Micheal Jordan In the middle of November Treacy announced on social media that he will join Division 1 school Bryant University for his Junior year, joining his fellow-countryman Aidan Harris Igiehon (Louisville) at the D1 level. Treacy says he can’t wait to get up there: “I’m really looking forward to getting up there next season. They really provided everything that I was looking for from a D1 school for next year. Their style of play,
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Irish star Bulman set for his biggest task to date

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By Gerard Mulreaney ( @gerardmulreaney ) Ireland’s newest Snooker star Ross Bulman got his first professional win at the recent Northern Ireland Open, and now is set to face his idol in the UK Championships next week. The 18-year-old from Youghal will walk out at the Barbican Centre in York on Thursday to play Ronnie O’Sullivan, a player he calls, ‘The best player to ever hold a que.’ “Playing Ronnie O’Sullivan is a huge one for me, probably the best opportunity of my lifetime,” said Bulman. In the Northern Ireland Open in Belfast Bulman beat China’s Zhang Jiankang 4-1 in the first round, before succumbing 4-2 to world number fifteen Joe Perry. He was happy to finally get that first pro win: “Getting my first win was probably the best thing ever. I’ve been waiting on that for almost seven months, so it was good to get it there. “It was a very tough game, I could’ve been 3-1 up, with a small bit of luck on my side. However, I was happy enough with 4-2 in the end a
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Littler delighted after Ireland qualify for Rugby League World Cup

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By Gerard Mulreaney ( @gerardmulreaney ) Ireland head coach Stuart Littler is ‘buzzing’ following his sides qualification for the 2021 Rugby League world cup in England, after they topped their qualifying group. Ireland beat both Spain and Italy, but Italy’s win over Spain had already guaranteed Ireland’s qualification ahead of their clash, but Ireland still proceeded to beat the Italians 25-4 in Santry. Littler was happy they achieved what they set out to do: “The game between Italy and Spain happened, and Italy gained the win which meant we had qualified. Objective one was complete. “I told the players when we met, objective one was to qualify for the World Cup. Objective two was to win the group and get the higher seed going into the world cup. We’re building something now, over the next two years to get to that world cup.” “I’m absolutely buzzing, it’s a massive achievement. It’s more about the team than myself. I’ve got a great staff behind me. They do a lot
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Warriors coach McGregor delighted as debutants shine

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By Gerard Mulreaney ( @gerardmulreaney ) The North-West Warriors enjoyed a relatively successful week in the Test Triangle Inter Pros last week. First they beat the Northern Knights in the IP50 before then posting an opening day score of 234/7 in the Championship game, also against the Knights, at North Down Cricket Club.  Both games were unfortunately rain-affected, but it didn’t take away from some thrilling action on the field.   Warriors head coach Ian McGregor initially thought his side came up short in their batting total in their IP 50 clash, only for his side to show great character by limiting the Knights in their reply.   “Obviously anytime you manage to get a win on the board you’ve got to be delighted. We felt during the innings break that, given the surface, we were perhaps 30-40 runs short of what would have been a very competitive total. Ultimately, a superb bowling and fielding display managed to get us across the line.   Huge credit must go to our young b
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Interview with Irish Olympic Handball captain Alexander Kulesh

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By Gerard Mulreaney ( @gerardmulreaney ) The Irish Olympic Men’s handball team will be participating in the 3rd edition of the IHF (International Handball Federation) Emerging Nations Championship, which will be held in the Georgian capital Tblisi, from the 8th to the 16th of June. This is the third time that Ireland will participate in the competition, having finished 13th in 2015 and 12th in 2017. When the draw was made Ireland were drawn in Group B, along with the hosts Georgia, Bulgaria, Malta, USA and Nigeria.   When Irish people think of handball as a sport they conjure up images of two players running around a 40x20 alley hitting a small ball off a wall, however on this occasion it’s Olympic handball that we’re talking about. Olympic Handball is played by two teams of seven players who pass the ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the goal of the other team. A standard match consists of two periods of 30 minutes, and the team that scores most g
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