All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2002

Infobox Hurling All-Ireland


year=2002
munster=Waterford
leinster=Kilkenny
ulster=Antrim
connacht=
matches=32
poty=Henry Shefflin
team=Kilkenny
titles=27th
captain=Andy Comerford
manager=Brian Cody

The Guinness All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2002 began in May and ended on September 8, 2002 when the All-Ireland Hurling Final was won by Kilkenny who beat Clare by 2-20 to 0-19.

Format

The 2002 championship saw even further modification to the Qualifier system that was introduced in 1997. While up to this point it was only the defeated Munster and Leinster finalists who were allowed have another chance to play in the All-Ireland series of games. The new All-Ireland Qualifier system worked as follows:

*Provincial Championships: The Leinster, Munster and Ulster championships were played off as usual. The respective Munster and Leinster champions automatically qualify for the All-Ireland semi-final while the Ulster champions qualify for the All-Ireland quarter-final. Following the completion of the provincial championships the qualifier system comes into effect:

*Round 1: This round will feature 8 teams involving those beaten at the first round stage in the provincial championships. An open draw will be made to decide which teams play each other.

*Round 2: This round will involve the four winners of Round 1 plus the two beaten provincial finalists from Munster and Leinster. Another open draw will be made to decide the fixtures.

*Quarter-Finals: Two quarter-finals will be played between the three winners of Round 2 plus the Ulster Champions.

*Semi-Finals: These two games will involve the two winners of the quarter-finals plus the two Leinster and Munster champions.

All-Ireland Final

The new Qualifier system threw up an interesting pairing in the All-Ireland final. It was the Leinster champions Kilkenny versus Clare, who were knocked out of the provincial championship in the very first round. Kilkenny had the upper hand for the whole game as D.J. Carey and Henry Shefflin scored goals for Kilkenny. Clare narrowed Kilkenny's lead in the second half, however, they missed two goal chances. Kilkenny won the title for the 27th time.

Provincial Hurling Championship Results

*Munster: Waterford 2-23 : 3-12 Tipperary
*Leinster: Kilkenny 2-19 : 0-12 Wexford
*Ulster: Antrim 3-16 : 1-18 Down

All-Ireland Hurling Qualifier Results

All-Ireland Hurling Championship Results

See also