The 2016 Irish Nationals take place this weekend in West Belfast, as victory for Charly Shanks & Catriona Casey will see them become the new Irish #1's.
With current number one Robbie McCarthy unable to attend due to his Naval commitments, Lurgan's Shanks takes the top seed, with Galway's Martin Mulkerrin's his biggest threat on the opposite half of the draw. Both men met in March's All-Ireland Senior Singles SF in Kingscourt where Mulkerrins blitzed Shanks in the opener 21-7 with his explosive, high tempo game.
Shanks fought against the tide and steadied the ship in the second before overcoming an 11-1 deficit in the third to seal the win as Mulkerrins couldn't keep up his blistering pace towards the latter stages. This weekend's matches are 2x15 with tiebreaker to 11, so it may suit Mulkerrin's game, although despite this Shanks will start as pre tournament favourite. On paper this looks likely to be Sunday's Final unless the likes of Owen McKenna, Darragh Daly, Rikki O'Gara or Ger Coonan can spring a surprise in the shorter game format.
In the Ladies Open, Aisling Reilly & current All-Ireland champion Catriona Casey will again enter as favourites, but based on their previous few meetings, it is simply impossible to have a clear favourite given the pendulum nature their rivalry provides. The grade is spilt into two groups of three, with the top two players advancing to the SF's on Sunday morning.
This format should enable Martina McMahon & Ciana Ni Churraoin a crack at both top seeds in either the group stages or the SF's. Both players have come close to breaking the top two's strangle hold previously, and certainly have the game to trouble them on their day.
Note: Draws updated Friday 29/4/16
