Meath's Tom Sheridan, one of the most decorated players in the game of handball, has been announced as the Irish Squad Manager for a six-player team set to travel to the Open D'Italia in Nizza Monferrato, Italy at the end of the month. Sheridan is a member of the Kells Club in Meath, and collected his ninth All-Ireland Senior Doubles crown last September, when he paired up with Brian Carroll to overcome Mayo duo, Dessie Keegan and Joe McCann. Spearheading the Irish challenge in Italy in two weeks time will be current World Champion, Cavan's Paul Brady. The Breffni handballer will pair up with another top athlete in Dublin's Eoin Kennedy, who collected his sixth All-Ireland Senior Singles title in September. Armagh aces, Charly Shanks and James Doyle also secured their places on the Irish squad last month, when they came through their respective trial semi-finals, and they will be hoping to make amends for a poor showing at the Basque International Tournament in 2007. On the Ladies front, two of the most promising young players in the game, Down's Lorraine Havern and Roscommon's Marianna Rushe will fly the flag for the Irish team. Havern will make her debut on the international stage, while Rushe has represented the country on a number of occasions and will be hoping that this experience stands to her in Italy. Meanwhile on the domestic scene, rising young Limerick star, C. J. Fitzpatrick collected the Boys Senior Singles title at the All-Ireland Colleges Championships in Thurles on Sunday. Fitzpatrick, representing Hazelwood College, Limerick, defeated St Nathy's Stephen Cooney (Mayo), in a thrilling final. Fitzpatrick took the first game 21-17, but Cooney fought back with determination to take the second 21-8. In the tiebreaker, Fitzpatrick pulled out all of the stops to take the game 21-14 to top of another fantastic year for the Broadford starlet. Tweet

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