Excellence at handball was rightly recognised

There was just one winner in June of the monthly Mayo Young Sports Stars Awards as a Claremorris man excelled in the handball alleys.

Indeed it was another hugely successful year for Patrick Murphy, who claimed yet another world title and a national junior title.

The 20-year-old Athlone IT sports science student continued to rise through the ranks at home and abroad in 2019.

Patrick achieved A status in the US by taking gold in the men's B doubles grade at the US adult nationals in June. That competition took place in Fountain Valley, South Los Angeles.

He had previously arrived home from Portland, Oregan, on New Year's Day 2019 with a gold and silver from his age category at the US Junior Nationals.

In August and September, Murphy had a string of wins against fancied opposition en route to the junior softball title he won at Tuamgraney, Co. Clare. Patrick became just the third Mayo man in 80+ years to win what is considered historically one of the toughest grades in the sport.

It was a great year of competition for Patrick, who competed and adapted to a number of different codes of handball. He was also presented with the Gold Sports Scholarship Award from Athlone Institute of Technology on his return to college in September.