McElduff wins fifth Irish National Handball title

THIS week nine years ago Conor McElduff was a promising teenage handballer making his big breakthrough on the national stage with an eye-catching triumph in the 19 and under singles grade at the Irish wallball nationals in Breaffy.

It was a sign of things to come for the next decade.

A year later he took the mens open division by storm at the popular County Mayo venue and made history in becoming the first Tyrone player to win an official elite senior singles title in any handball code.

It was a huge coup at the time and unprecedented success beckoned.

It hasn’t been a totally smooth journey for Conor since then with injury disrupting many of his plans along the way and covid ensuring the Irish nationals and all the international one wall events didn’t happen from 2019 until this year.

But the outrageous Tyrone talent is back where he belongs and has just created another new record by lifting the Irish Nationals mens open title for a fifth time, defeating his own Breacach clubmate Sean Kerr in the national decider on Sunday.

“It felt amazing to be playing on home soil again and to lift the Irish nationals trophy,” stated Conor following his latest title success in Kilglass, County Roscommon.

“I got to see lots of old friends over the weekend too and it was brilliant to see the handball community back for what was always regarded as the biggest event of the year.

“Winning one open title was always a dream for me but to have now won it more times than anybody is an achievement that I’m very proud of”, he stated, “and to break the record after such a long break makes this even more special.

“2022 has been the perfect return I was hoping for,” reflected Conor. “I always set out goals at the start of each year and at the top of the list was to return to the European number 1 spot, which meant I needed to beat the number 1 seed in both the Dutch and UK Opens, so winning those two events has made it a comeback to remember.”

Unfortunately Conor has had some injury problems again this year but he was able to get through last weekend”s exertions despite carrying a knee problem.

It means he will have to wait to fulfil his dream of playing in the legendary ‘King of the Court’ event in New York at the end of July, a competition that no Irish player has ever been strong enough to even attempt. However, Conor realises that these setbacks will happen and he’s also had things put into perspective recently.

“After being out of action for so long due to injury I’m extremely grateful and cherish every single time I can train or compete now as our county has just lost an amazing hurling talent in Damien Casey,” he stated.

“I didn’t know him personally but I knew he was a very special talent, so that puts things in perspective for me, and makes you feel grateful for the smallest things.

“On behalf of the handballing community we were very sad to hear about his loss,” Conor stressed.

“Unfortunately due to injury I’ve had to postpone my trip to New York this summer, so that’s why I had to reset my sights on reclaiming the throne in Ireland. Meeting Sean, my first cousin, in the final was a proud and yet weird experience, as I’d be cheering him on if I wasn’t playing myself.

“With a lot of tournaments all over Europe to attend each month from September I’m now just concentrating on the rehab on my knee over the summer, and maybe playing a few local tournaments like the Lough Showdown to keep me on my toes.

“However I really want to go out and win in New York, and operating at about 70% of my best means it is not feasible to make the trip this summer, so it will have to wait.

“I was recovering from surgery on my lower back when covid first arrived so I didn’t mind the break as it allowed me to come back slowly without everyone else racing ahead. Then obviously watching games and seeing others lifting titles, it felt like my name was being forgotten about and that has been a real driving force in my motivation to come back and defend my status as World Champion,” Conor emphasised. With the last world championships cancelled in 2021 due to covid, Conor still holds the mens open title from Minnesota in 2018 and returning to play in America is something he’s excited about.

“I’ve got a few big titles left that I want to win before it’s all said and done. It’s obviously no secret that winning a big one wall title in New York would be a crazy feat considering no one in Ireland has ever really competed on that stage.

“In 40×20 I have a few goals too, it won’t be my main code for the next few years but I’ll compete in the senior championship next year and play a few pro stops in America and see how I get on.

“The beauty of this game is you can always improve. I’m only after coming away from Roscommon at the weekend and while I was delighted with the win I’m already dissecting each game and seeing what I could have done better and just figuring out ways to improve.

“I know there’s still a lot more to come from me,” concluded the record breaking Irish one wall champion and European number one. And that looks guaranteed.