There has been no more consistent player in Irish 40x20 handball in the last few years than Clare’s Diarmaid Nash, who has made numerous All-Ireland finals in singles and in the doubles with partner Colin Crehan.
The duo make for an excellent partnership, with Nash’s smooth defensive game and front court fly shots complementing the power and awesome attacking ability of Crehan.
They were made to battle in the semi-final last week against Cork’s David Walsh and Tadhg Carroll but came through it.
“We made maybe hard work of it in ways. We were up 11-1 in the first game, got brought back to 16 all, 18 all, they were up 19-18 maybe. We managed to win the first one and then we were up 14-2 in the second and 20-8 and they brought it back to 11… Guys can go on runs in doubles so you’re never ‘out of there’ but I think we can probably play a bit better,” Nash said.
“It’s great obviously to be back and great to get through… We’ll give it a go. The doubles is pretty 50-50 to be honest so we’ll see.”
Diarmaid was delighted to get a competitive game in the new show court.
“It’s amazing, really cool. I actually train here a lot because I live up here so I’m probably way more used to it than every other player. I just couldn’t understand how we weren’t in here for the last while because in terms of quality, it’s as fast as Kingscourt which I would consider the best court for the last 15, 20 years.
“It’s that fast and it’s just bloody cool. There was one night I was here on my own and I counted 537 seats. Maybe next weekend we might fill it out.
“But it’s just cool. It’s nice to tell people you’re playing handball in Croker. It’s just going to be a big win for handball in general.”
The two-time champions hope to find more consistency as they bid for a hat-trick.
“We’re kind of playing in spurts, we’re playing well for 10 points and then falling back into a lull and then going again for maybe five or six points. It’s not that it’s not there, it’s just that we’re not putting it all together.
“We won two doubles before the pandemic, then we didn’t play for two years, then we lost last year but this year, the way it was ran, we had three weeks to train for it. I felt sorry for myself for a few days after losing the singles final and then got back on the horse.
“I feel like we’re getting into shape and starting to not get in each other’s way as much. We’re playing more like the Americans this year, whoever’s serving plays the left and I think that just gets u both into the game, it’s harder to freeze one of us out of it.
“In general, we both seem to be enjoying it a bit more in there, it’s just to get that sharpness and try to maintain that level for longer periods.
“We’re really up for it and delighted to be back in the final.”
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