"I’m just delighted to have two gold medals" - Irish handball double world champion

 

This is a similar ecstasy to one she experienced after the 2012 games when she won her first title. But this time, the Antrim born 26 year-old had a few extra pounds of weight in her carry-on luggage coming home, in the form of a second gold medal in the Women’s Doubles category.

 

"It was a huge relief at the time but I’ve had a few days to reflect on it and I’m just delighted to have two gold medals. I’m just taking it one tournament at a time but I am hungry for more. When I came home from Canada, somebody congratulated me on my two for two and my response was I’ll see you in three years’ time for number three."

 

The fantasy finish however, almost didn’t happen for Aisling Reilly when she found herself a game down in the final match and her world dominance in jeopardy. Her struggle was further compounded by an eye injury which forced her into an eleven minute recess and a feeling of déjà vu.

 

"My opponent Catriona got the ball perfectly with her left hand and it hit me on the eye. It started swelling up so we had to take a break for about 11 minutes.

 

"It was tough come back from a game behind. I was getting flashbacks of the final in 2012 when the exact same thing happened and I lost the first game. But I won it on that occasion so I still believed that it was more than possible to go on and win it. I’d been there before so I knew I could do it again."

 

Although relieved and satisfied with retaining her World crown, Aisling Reilly had little time to dwell on her accomplishment with the Doubles Final starting just 45 minutes after the Singles. The gruelling succession of games before that brought her physical limits to almost crumbling point.

 

"At that stage, my body was screaming a bit and the injury from the singles final didn’t help matters either. But I knew we had a good chance of winning it. My partner Martina and I won the trials back in April so we knew we were in with a shout but there was seven games in five days so it was always going to be a tough ask."

 

Aisling progressed as far as the Semi-Final of the Doubles in the 2012 games and was unsure about whether to renew that search for a victory in 2015. But despite the tricky path to glory, Aisling hurdled every obstacle to deliver the dream result, thanks to some careful planning and a deep resolve.

 

"I wanted to focus primarily on the singles competition and I only decided back in December that I would play doubles. We knew the schedule was going to be difficult be managed to balance it out and I held out throughout the seven games so I’m just delighted to come back with two gold medals."

 

International handball colleague and now five time World Champion Paul Brady may well have completed his last World tournament. Aisling Reilly insists that the Cavan man has set the standard for all Handball athletes and if she maintains her stunning form, we could be looking at a similar record when the time comes for her to write her final chapter.

 

"He’s definitely going to be missed in the next World Championships. He set such high standards for us. He has 10 All-Ireland singles, 10 doubles and five world championships, which we’ll probably never see the likes of again. If I’m still playing when I’m 35, it’ll be a massive bonus. But for now I’m just taking it one tournament at a time."