2002 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The 2002 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 116th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The draws for the respective provincial championships took place on 27 October 2001. The championship ran from 27 April to 8 September 2002.
Tipperary entered the championship as the defending champions, however, they were beaten by Kilkenny in the [|All-Ireland semi-final].
The All-Ireland final was played on 8 September 2002 at Croke Park in Dublin, between Kilkenny and Clare, in what was their fourth championship meeting overall but their first All-Ireland final meeting in 70 years. Kilkenny won the match by 2–20 to 0–19 to claim their 27th All-Ireland title overall and a first title in two years.
Tipperary's Eoin Kelly was the championship's [|top scorer] with 2–39.

Teams

General information

Twenty one counties will compete in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship: one team in the Connacht Senior Hurling Championship, ten teams in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, five teams in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship and five teams in the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship.

County	Last provincial title	Last championship title	Position in 2001 Championship
Antrim	1999	–	Semi-finals
Carlow	–	–	Second preliminary round
Clare	1998	1997	Semi-finals
Cork	2000	1999	Quarter-finals
Derry	2001	–	Quarter-finals
Down	1997	–	Runners-up
Dublin	1961	1938	Quarter-finals
Galway	1999	1988	Runners-up
Kildare	–	–	Second preliminary round
Kilkenny	2001	2000	Semi-finals
Laois	1949	1915	Semi-finals
Limerick	1996	1973	Quarter-finals
London	–	1901	Semi-finals
Meath	–	–	First round
New York	–	–	Quarter-finals
Offaly	1995	1998	Semi-finals
Tipperary	2001	2001	Champions
Waterford	1963	1959	Semi-finals
Westmeath	–	–	First preliminary round
Wexford	1997	1996	Semi-finals
Wicklow	–	–	First preliminary round

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.

[Leinster Senior Hurling Championship]

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[Munster Senior Hurling Championship]

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[Ulster Senior Hurling Championship]

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All-Ireland Qualifiers

Round 1

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Round 2

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All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Note: * = Provincial Champion

All-Ireland quarter-finals

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All-Ireland semi-finals

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All-Ireland Final

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Championship statistics

Top scorers

;Overall

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Eoin Kelly	Tipperary	2–39	45	6	7.50
2	Henry Shefflin	Kilkenny	1–33	36	4	9.00
3	Nicky Horan	Meath	4–20	32	4	8.00
4	Liam Watson	Antrim	4–17	29	3	9.66
5	Paul Flynn	Waterford	2–22	28	3	9.33
6	Paul Codd	Wexford	2–20	26	3	8.66
7	Paul Braniff	Down	1–19	22	5	4.40
8	Niall Gilligan	Clare	3–12	21	6	3.50
9	Kevin Flynn	Dublin	1–17	20	4	5.00
10	Seánie McMahon	Clare	0–17	17	6	2.83
10	Jamesie O'Connor	Clare	0–17	17	6	2.83

;In a single game

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	Nicky Horan	Meath	1–11	14	Laois
2	Aidan Delargy	Antrim	2-07	13	New York
2	Paul Codd	Wexford	0–13	13	Kilkenny
4	Andrew Mitchell	Westmeath	1-09	12	Kildare
4	Kevin Flynn	Dublin	0–12	12	Meath
4	Paul Flynn	Waterford	0–12	12	Cork
4	Eoin Kelly	Tipperary	0–12	12	Limerick
8	Liam Watson	Antrim	3-02	11	New York
8	Fergal Healy	Galway	3-02	11	Down
8	Nicky Horan	Meath	2-05	11	Dublin
8	Eoin Kelly	Tipperary	1-08	11	Clare
8	Henry Shefflin	Kilkenny	0–11	11	Offaly