Catriona Casey Aims to become first female to qualify for male pro handball tournament from the February 10, 2015 Irish Times
WPH Press
The WPH has proudly presented the WPH Sunday Stats since the start of 2020, highlighting the Race 4 Eight’s and Icebreaker’s greatest champions and stats, longest winning streaks, greatest accomplishments, tournament directors, nicknames, obscure stats, handball’s origins and history, handball champions featured in national publications, and so much more. This Sunday we will revisit an article from the February 10, 2015 edition of the Irish Times, profiling Catriona Casey’s attempt to qualify on the Race 4 Eight tour at the 2015 Del Grande Dealer Group San Francisco R48.
Read Catriona Casey Aims to become first female to qualify for male pro handball tournament from the February 10, 2015 Irish Times HERE
“I expect that qualifying will be very tough,” said the 20-year-old UL student. “While I have some experience in sparring with male pros, I know competitive action is a completely different ball game. I do hope to give a good account of myself – I’m not there to waste anyone’s time. The women’s competition is obviously my main priority. If I thought playing both would compromise my efforts in the women’s bracket in any way I wouldn’t do it.”
Casey dropped her first round qualifier match at the 2015 Del Grande Dealer Group San Francisco Race 4 Eight but bounced back to dominate the WR48 bracket, making history by winning the final without dropping a point in either game. Casey continued to play in the R48 Men’s Qualifiers, defeating then R48 #18 Loren Collado in the semifinals of the 17th place playoffs at the R48 NYAC several years later.
Casey is one of the game’s superstars and has been sorely missed during the pandemic. The sport certainly hopes to see the 20-time WR48 champion back on the courts in 2022 and beyond.
Read Catriona Casey Aims to become first female to qualify for male pro handball tournament from the February 10, 2015 Irish Times HERE
David Fink
WPH Historian