GRADING of players for bowling’s premier championships took place at Ból Chumann’s November’s Executive meeting.
Pending affiliations, the 2023 senior championship will have 12 contesting, with both Fermoy’s Patrick Flood, automatically upgraded as intermediate champion, and the returning Michael Harrington new contenders for the coming year.
Michael Bohane’s shock win last year along with Seamus Sexton’s superb run to the final will serve as an incentive to all contenders that those considered as only having an outside chance at the beginning can well become worthy winners at the end of the day.
Bohane and Sexton lead the way among a host of experienced campaigners, the Murphys (Aidan and David), Martin Coppinger, James O’Donovan, Gary Daly, Arthur McDonagh and Killian Kingston. 2020 intermediate champion John O’Rourke retains his status while the aforementioned Flood and Harrington complete the senior line-up for 2023.
Minor changes were also the order of the day in the intermediate grade with 11 (one less than last year) to contest in 2023. Significantly, taking a step down to junior after over two decades at senior and intermediate is the 2003 county senior winner Edmund Sexton. Also, down to junior is 2009 intermediate champion Willie O’Donovan. Currently Mayo based, O’Donovan will contest in the East Cork junior A championship. Replacing them are John Creedon returning to intermediate for a second stint following his All-Ireland junior A championship victory and the up-and-coming Clon exponent Wayne Parkes, deemed more than a match for most at intermediate level.
The evenly balanced line-up has last year’s runner-up Donal O’Riordan competing with fellow townsman, Tim Young, City’s Wayne Calnan, Bandon’s Brian Wilmot and Glanworth’s 2019 All-Ireland junior A winner Billy McAuliffe. Raymond Ryan is in the mix along with 2020 junior A county winner Andrew O’Callaghan. Eamonn Bowen, down from senior, John Creedon and Parkes complete the list.
