’18 Canadian National Handball Championships
Lavel, Quebec, Can, WPH Press, 5/19/18– Quebec, Canada’s Tennis 13 Fitness proudly played host to the 2018 Canadian National Handball Championships on the third week of May, featuring more than 80 players from across Canada, the U.S., and Ireland.
Men’s 4-Wall Singles
The Men’s Open 4-Wall singles field featured defending Canadian National singles champion and R48 #16 Dave Munson, R48 #13 Stephen Cooney, current Irish national singles champion and R48 #14 Diarmaid Nash, Canada’s top-ranked R48 star Ryan Bowler, Canada’s sensational junior prodigy Ivan Burgos, and Canadian living legends Danny Bell and Tyler Hamel.
Diarmaid Nash entered the 2018 Canadian National Handball Championships on the heels of a ninth place finish at the R48 Player’s Championship two weeks ago, winning three consecutive matches after his opening round exit against Daniel Cordova. “D” continued his hot hand in Quebec, withstanding a relentless attack of dump kills and back wall kills against Canadian legend Danny Bell in the quarterfinals.
D faced Irish compatriot Stephen Cooney in the semifinals, renewing a rivalry from their junior days. “Honestly, I cannot remember the last time Stephen and I played, it had to have been in the juniors,” revealed Nash. D played flawlessly against the expressive fist-shot artist, leading 20-5, 20-16 before the “Coon Dogg” reeled off five consecutive points to force a tiebreaker. D was unfazed, quickly taking control of the tiebreaker and not allowing the Coon Dogg on the scoreboard.
Dave Munson played exceptional ball in his title defense, ousting two of Canada’s top stars in the quarterfinals and semifinals to book his spot in his third consecutive Canadian National final. “Dave was just playing too tough,” stated Munson’s semifinal victim Ryan Bowler. “He was making his shots and I couldn’t do much to stop him.”
Nash was seeking his first Canadian National Handball Championship and was sharp from the outset in the final, taking game one, 21-8. Munson started hot in game two, but was unable to continue his strong form, as D climbed back into the game and ran away with the game in the second half. “Nash was able to run down shots when he needed to and got his serve going, dominating with aces and the serve and shoot game,” reported Ryan Bowler.
Men’s Open Round of 16
Dave Munson bye
John Audet def Chris Simmons 21-9, 21-4
Tyler Hamel def Mathieu Pelletier 21-1, 21-6
Ryan Bowler def Raphael Santerre 21-10, 21-5
Stephen Cooney bye
Jerome Santerre def Ivan Burgos 21-20, 21-19
Danny Bell def Brad Warren 21-4, 21-6
Diarmaid Nash bye
Men’s Open Singles Quarterfinals
Munson def Audet 21-8, 21-9
Bowler def Hamel 21-10, 14-21, 11-0
Cooney def J. Santerre 21-10, 21-7
Nash def Bell 21-3, 21-17
Men’s Open Singles Semifinals
Munson def Bowler 21-14, 21-9
Nash def Cooney 21-5, 20-21, 11-0
Final: Nash def Munson 21-8, 21-9
Women’s 4-Wall Open Singles Round Robin
The Women’s 4-Wall singles field featured former Women’s Race 4 Eight top 10 star Maria Dugas, future Canadian women’s star Leslie Amminson, rising U.S. WR48 star Carly Munson, and Canada’s Jenine Wilson.
Former WR48 star and international handball superstar Maria Dugas dominated the women’s singles round robin, never allowing more the 13 points in six games and outscoring her three opponents by a combined score of 126-30. Dugas is one of just four women to have scored double figures against WR48 #1 Catriona Casey in a WR48 event and demonstrated her outstanding power game in overwhelming the Canadian Nationals women’s field.
Round Robin Results
Maria Dugas def Jenine Wilson 21-3, 21-3
Carly Munson def Leslie Amminson 18-21, 21-3, 11-7
Dugas def Munson 21-2, 21-13
Amminson def Wilson 21-9, 21-10
Munson def Wilson 21-8, 21-8
Dugas def Amminson 21-4, 21-5
Men’s Open Doubles
Diarmaid Nash teamed with Stephen Cooney to slam the Canadians, ousting Canada’s top two doubles teams en route to the title.
Semifinals
Munson/Cooney def Bell/Gingras 21-18, 21-3
Burgos/Audet def Bowler/Kopchuk 21-14, 21-14
Final: Munson/Cooney def Burgos/Audet 21-5, 21-13
Men’s 1-Wall
Canadian treasure Ryan Bowler defended his Canadian Nationals 1-Wall singles title, defeating Roman Froget in the semifinals and Montreal’s Benat Urrutia in the final.
Semifinals
Bowler def Froget 25-15
Urrutia def J. Santerre 25-20
Final: Bowler def Urrutia 25-20
Doubles Final: Audet/Kopchuk def Hamel/Jennings (The Champs) 25-15
To view the draws and results from all divisions at the 2018 Canadian National Handball Championships, go here
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer