Barry Owens of Edinburgh-based Dunedin Connollys finished runner-up to London’s Fionn O’Suilleabhain at the inaugural one wall handball Scottish Championship in Easterhouse, Glasgow.
The sport is also known as Gaelic handball and requires players to hit a ball with a hand or fist against a wall in such a way as to make the shot one which the opposition cannot return. It is similar to Basque pelota and a distant relative of squash.
It is one of four sports organised under the umbrella of the Gaelic Athletic Association.
Handball is played in a court, or “alley” originally measuring 60 by 30 feet with a 30-foot front wall off which the ball must be struck. A smaller alley was introduced in 1969 and is now considered standard for the international version but both alleys are still used in the Gaelic game.
The objective is to be the first to score a set total of points. Points are only scored by the person serving the ball and players take turns at hitting before the ball bounces twice.
Pictured, left to right, are Fionn, Oliver O’Sullivan of Longford who took the B title and Barry.
