2003 Handball World Championships Following are the 2003 World Handball Champions. Congratulations to all who participated! World Champions: One-Wall Men's Open Singles: Herman Mendez, USA Men's Open Doubles: Mendez/Willie Polanco, USA Women's Open Singles: Anna Calderon, USA Women's Open Doubles: Calderon/Melody Ruiz, USA Masters Singles: Paul Williams, USA Masters Doubles: Chris Roberts/Vern Roberts, USA Golden Singles: Dennis Uffer, USA B Singles: Iker Exteberria (Basque) B Doubles: Ander Martin/Mikel Gonzalez (Basque Country) One-Wall Juniors Girls' 13-and-under: Sharon Twomey (Ireland) Girls' 15-and-under: Marie Terese O'Neill, Ireland Girls' 19-and-under: Na Liu, USA Boys' 13-and-under: Evan Brown, USA Boys' 15-and-under: Darragh Daly (Tyrone) Boys' 17-and-under: Gary McCrory (Tyrone) Boys' 19-and-under: Victor LoPierre (USA) Four-Wall Open Singles: Paul Brady, Ire. Open Doubles: Brady/Michael Finnegan, Ire. A Singles: Michael Gregan, Ire. A Doubles: Barry Goff/Ray Cunningham, Ire. B Singles: Pat O'Donnell, Ire. B Doubles: Oliver Conway/Pat Conway, Ire. C Singles: Tom Connors, Ire. C Doubles: Finbar Rafferty/Alan O'Dwyer, Ire. 40 Singles: Dan Armijo, USA 40 B Singles: Gerard Walsh (Roscommon) 40 Doubles: Chris Roberts/Vern Roberts, USA 40 B Doubles: John Carroll/Stephen Carroll (Kildare) 45 Singles: Tim Sterrett, USA 45 Doubles: Roger Berry/Rick Anderson, USA 50 Singles: Roger Berry, USA 50 B Singles: Seamus Hussey, Ire. 50 Doubles: Mike Bock/Kelly Russell, USA 50 B Doubles: Chris Kilday/Scott Datton (USA) 55 Singles: Ernie Virgili, USA 55 Doubles: Mike Kelly/Alan Sherrill, USA 60 Singles: Vic DiLuzio, Australia 60 Doubles: Bill Flowers/Gary Rohrer, USA 60 B Singles: John Lenoir, USA 60 B Doubles: George Kelley/Sanford Robbins (USA) 65 Singles: Jim Economides, USA 65 Doubles: Ed Grossenbacher/Mike Driscoll, USA 70 Singles: Kevan DelGrande, USA 70 Doubles: DelGrande/Pat O'Keefe, USA/Ire. Women's Events: Open Singles: Fiona Shannon, Ire. Open Doubles: Lisa Gilmore/Jessica Gawley, Can. B Singles: Stefanie Vanderpool, USA B Doubles: Angela Lyons/Sarah Corely (Kildare/Mayo) C Singles: Angela Lyons (Kildare) 50 Singles: Debbie Forrester, USA Four-Wall Juniors Boys' 13-and-under Singles: Seamus O'Carroll (Limerick) Boys' 13-and-under Doubles: Fergal Collins/Seamus/O'Carroll, (Limerick) Boys' 15-and-under Singles: Richard Hogan, Kilkenny Boys' 15-and-under Doubles: Paddy Berry/Martin Doran, (Wexford) Boys' 17-and-under Singles: Robbie McCarthy, (Westmeath) Boys' 17-and-under Doubles: John O'Shaughnessy/Robert McCarthy (Westmeath) Boys' 19-and-under Singles: Noel McHugh (Galway) Boys' 19-and-under Doubles: Noel McHugh/Johnny Willoughby, (Galway/Wicklow) Girls' 13-and-under Singles: Sharon Twomey (Kerry) Girls' 13-and-under Doubles: Shauna Hilley/Stephanie Makos (Wicklow/USA) Girls' 15-and-under Singles: Aisling Reilly (Antrim) Girls' 15-and-under Doubles: Karen Lawlor/Sharon Twomey (Kerry) Girls' 17-and-under Singles: Eimear Ni Fhailiun (Kildare) Girls' 17-and-under Doubles: Sinead Gallogly/Eimear Ni Fhailluin (Kildare) Girls' 19-and-under Singles: Maria Daly Girls' 19-and-under Doubles: Maria Daly/Joy Smith (Kerry/Meath) WORLD HANDBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS Saturday   Dublin, IRELAND - Irish fans were delighted on Friday night as Fiona Shannon and Paul Brady won the coveted Men’s and Women’s singles titles. Shannon was the first to win by defeating Lisa Fraser, the current USHA and Canadian champ, in two games. It was a reversal of the USHA final in June. Fiona had the very difficult task of beating two former World Champions in Anna Christoff (semis) and then Fraser. Shannon had control of the tough glass court and put Fraser into trouble with drive serves to the right and connected on many kills down the darker sidewall. Brady edged Tony Healy for the World title in a tiebreaker. But that was just the beginning of the drama. Inside the massive Croke Park stadium, the packed house (300 spectators) created excitement as well as humid conditions. With TV cameras rolling the court was dried between the first and second games. Healy had rallied at the end of the first game to keep Brady on the court, eventually tallying 15 after being down 11-0. Healy held the momentum into the second game despite the long break. After a rally, most of which were long and arduous, Brady -- who was also playing doubles while Healy was only in singles – fell in a heap with leg cramps. After taking his three one-minute timeouts and unable to continue, Healy offered his three one-minute timeouts so the Brady could try to continue. After six minutes, Brady stepped back on the court and went through the motions for the remainder of the second game. Most spectators felt the tiebreaker would be no more than a formality of Healy tallying 11 more points, especially when Brady hobbled back onto the court. Though Brady continued to hobble during play, he made the shots to take an early lead and the pressure mounted on Healy. With the fans urging Brady on, he held on to take the title. Doubles play on Saturday saw Brady recuperate enough to win his semifinal with Michael Finnegan over Eoin Kennedy and Dessie Keegan while doubles specialists Thom Sheridan and Walter O’Connor defeated the USA’s Norm Dunne and Marcos Chavez in two games. In the final, Brady and Finnegan won the first game rallied from a 17-8 deficit in the second game to earn the win and the slam for the remarkable Brady. Fraser earned a bit of revenge when she and Jessica Gawley edged Shannon who teamed with her sister Sibeal McKenna. Fraser and Gawley were down 8-3 and 9-5 before rallying for the win. Other final results are posted at www.handball.ie. WORLD HANDBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS - Friday   Dublin, IRELAND - Paul Brady will square off against Tony Healy tonight in the Men’s Open singles final. Lisa Fraser will play Fiona Shannon for the Women’s Open title. From Kilkenny: The USHA Masters singles title went to Dan Armijo over Peter Service. Jim Economides beat Ed Grossenbacher for the 65 singles. Kevan DelGrande slammed in the 70 singles and doubles with Paddy O’Keefe of Ireland. DelGrande defeated Jerry Cronin in the singles and had a “walkover” (forfeit) in doubles. Vern and Chris Roberts defeated Paul Williams and Mike McGovern to add the four-wall title to their earlier one-wall win. Aussie Vic DiLuzio defeated Dennis Moser for the 60-plus world title. Gary Rohrer and Bill Flowers earned the Super doubles championship over John Bailey and Jim Ward. Rumor has it that Ernie Virgili defeated Alan Sherrill for the 55-plus title, but be sure to check the Irish site later. In the Junior Boys events, Lattof YMCA’s Suhn Lee won the first and held a 19-15 edge over Richard Hogan of the host county of Kilkenny but the Irish lad got red hot to win 21-19 and 11-0. Stephanie Makos of Lattof teamed with Shauna Hilley to win the Girls 13-and-under doubles. PRESS RELEASE WORLD HANDBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS Thursday Dublin, IRELAND -  The next Men’s World Singles Four-Wall Champion will be an Irishman. All four semifinalists are Irish as Tony Healy will meet Ciaran Curran while Paul Brady faces off against Eoin Kennedy. From Kilkenny: The USHA Masters singles champ, Peter Service of Toronto, will meet touring pro Dan Armijo of Albuquerque for the World Masters title. Canadian Merv Deckert and Rick Christian of California dueled in the quarterfinals of the doubles with Merv taking the win and then they met again in the semifinals of the Golden singles. The singles result is yet to come into headquarters. In the 55-plus, Ernie Virgili will meet newcomer to the 55s, Alan Sherrill for the title on Friday. In the Junior Boys events, Lattof YMCA’s Suhn Lee is the only American to advance to the semis of the 15-and-under. Doubles action will be getting down to the semis on Thursday. Upsets included U.S. 45-plus champ Dave Steinberg, who lost to Kevin Geraghty, 11-10 in a quarterfinal tiebreaker. Follow the results at www.handball.ie  PRESS RELEASE WORLD HANDBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS from TUESDAY Oct. 22 Mixed blessings were in store for the Irish players in the Men’s Open Singles on Tuesday with 5 players advancing to the quarterfinals while Norm Dunne and Marcos Chavez further the US cause and Danny Bell keeps Canadian hopes alive at the expense of the defeated Irish representatives.   Irish favorite Paul Brady, Cavan, was barely tested in his 21-3, 21-7 victory over Seamus Ó Tuama (Antrim) and the sentiment among the crowd of spectators in Croke Park today was that the tournament is Brady’s to lose. But Eoin Kennedy and Tony Healy, who both advanced with relative ease, will certainly relish the opportunity to push Brady to the limit, as will the American and Canadian hopefuls. Healy was drawn against veteran Irish handballer Walter O’Connor, who produced a gutsy display against the No. 4 seed, but in the end he was no match for the sharper and fitter Healy who won on a score line of 21-10, 21-8. Kennedy’s class and pace withstood the challenge of Shane Conneely (USA) and he took the 21-6, 21-4 victory in stride. Meanwhile, after losing the first game 21-4, a late rally from Michael Finnegan (Cavan) almost pushed his match against Danny Bell (Canada) to a tie-break, but the attempt fell just shy and Bell took the second game 21-20. Steven Palmer played a hard fought first game, but was unable to match the level of Norm Dunne (USA) who took the match at 21-17, 21-5 Unfortunately, Kerry’s Dominick Lynch was unable to take the court today after being forced to retire with an injury in his doubles match last night, thus giving Chavez (USA) a walkovers into the quarters. Dessie Keegan from Mayo was also able to take in the action as a spectator today as the absence of No. 1 seed John Bike (USA) gave him a bye as well. The women take centre stage tomorrow morning with the quarter-finals of the Open Singles beginning at 9:00 a.m. in the Croke Park Handball Centre. Wednesday will be a full day of action in Croke Park with the very best of international handball players, male and female alike, battling to get one step closer to the worlds top prize. The ladies take centre stage in the morning with the quarter-finals of the Open Singles beginning at 9:00 a.m. in the Croke Park Handball Centre, followed by the Men’s Singles quarters and a Women’s Open Doubles contest. Irish contenders make up the majority of remaining players in both events and they certainly have the talent to go all the way! RESULTS: Men’s Open Singles:   Dessie Keegan (Mayo) w/o John Bike (USA) scr. inj. Ciarán Curran (Tyrone) d Chris Tico (USA) 20-21, 21-19, 11-1 Marcos Chavez (USA) w/o Dominick Lynch (Kerry) scr. inj. Tony Healy (Cork) d Walter O’Connor (Meath) 21-8, 21-10 Norm Dunne (USA) d Steven Palmer (Cork) 21-17, 21-5 Eoin Kennedy (Dublin) d Shane Conneely (USA) 21-6, 21-4 Danny Bell (Canada) d Michael Finnegan (Cavan) 21-4, 21-20 Paul Brady (Cavan) d Seamus Ó Tuama (Antrim) 21-3, 21-7 From Kilkenny’s matches: U.S. players are doing well in various singles events. In the 50 B, there are 5 Americans in the quarters and in the 60-plus there are 6 players from the states. However, Vic DiLuzio got some revenge with Dennis Uffer. Uffer defeated DiLuzio in the one-wall and then DiLuzio beat Uffer in the round of 16 of the 40x20. In the 65-plus singles, Americans have secured all 8 spots in the quarterfinals.. In the Junior Boys events, Lattof YMCA’s Suhn Lee is the only American to advance to the semis of the 15-and-under. Doubles action is just getting underway. Upsets included U.S. 45-plus champ Dave Steinberg, who lost to Kevin Geraghty, 11-10 in a quarterfinal tiebreaker . Team USA wins One-Wall Events!   Team USA brought home more one-wall titles on Sunday. Herman Mendez proved the best big-blue player in the world on Sunday when he defeated fellow New Yorker and current USHA national champ Tony Roberts in the title game, 6, 11. Mendez followed that win up with a slam in winning the doubles with Willie Polanco over Roberts and Dave Rojas. Anna Calderon duplicated Mendez’ feat in winning the singles over Lian Chin and then teaming with Melody Ruiz to defeat Chin and Na Liu in a tiebreaker. Victor LoPierre won the 19-and-under juniors over Damian Martin. Paul Williams won the Masters singles over John Brennan. Dennis Uffer was the first to repeat from the last World Championships, winning the 50-plus singles over Bob Winter of Australia.  Brothers Vern and Chris Roberts won the Masters doubles over Kerry Wilde of Wales and Trevor Deegan of Australia. Na Liu defeated Christina Chai for the 19-and-under title. Glanbia's Ger Mullaly and Martin Lawlor of the host committee congratulate Evan Brown of Portland and Caolan Daly of Carrickmore after the 13-and-under one-wall final. The very first final may be hard to beat in terms of suspense and great play. Though Brown towered over his 12-year-old opponent, the Irish lad thrilled his fans with his hustle in the 15-9, 15-13 losing effort. Due to the large number of 13-and-under four-wall entrants, the one-wall final was played on Sat. to allow the four-wall to start Sunday. The other one-wall events are down to the semifinals and will conclude on Sunday. Glanbia, an agri-business company, sponsored the junior events in Kilkenny .  Worlds Four-Wall Action Starts Today (Monday) It's a beautiful day in Ireland today (Monday) as the four-wall matches get underway in the Kilkenny and Dublin regions. Headquarters in Kilkenny is O’Loughlins where hurling filled the field in front of the flags welcoming the competitors in the World Championships.