By Emer Bermingham

THE Irish mounted games team will be hoping to repeat their successes at the Mounted Games European Championships earlier this month at the World Championships, which takes place at Saint Denis Le Ferment, France next week, August 20th-24th.

The team includes Alan Keoghan, a 22-year-old engineer from Ballyjamesduff. Keoghan is the reigning European Champion and began competing in mounted games with the Meath Pony Club, going on to win both junior and senior championships with the club. He competes on his Arab/Connemara mare, Nessa, who he produced himself.

The O’Connor family have three family members on the squad. Craig O’Connor (23) has just completed his degree in chemical and bioprocess engineering in UCC. He is no stranger to the World Championships, having formed part of the World Team Championships in 2010 in Geneva and second in Denmark in 2011.

Twenty-year-old Kate O’Connor, who is studying physiotherapy in the University of Limerick, has ridden for an English team called Bedfordshire, with whom she won the British Team Junior (under 17) Championships and was second twice in the Junior World Pairs Championship. She also put in a great European Championships performance.

Jake O’Connor (22) is from Naas, Co Kildare and is a cousin of Kate and Craig. He is in his final year at DIT Bolton Street where he studies building services engineering.

Jake first represented Ireland in 2009 in Southampton, where they were fourth, and again in 2010, when they won the World Championships in Geneva. The following year they were runners-up in Denmark and third in Wales in 2012.

In 2013 he won the British Team championships as a member of the Bedfordshire team and also won the British individual Championships and last month he finished fourth in the World Individual Championships.

Jamie Reavey (17) is from Newbliss, Co Monaghan and has just completed his Leaving Cert. In 2011, he joined the Mounted Games Association and has been on the Bedfordshire Gold team, in England, for the last two years. In only his first year competing at open level, he has qualified for the Irish team.