At Saturday nights O’Neills All-Ireland 4-Wall Doubles Finals in Kingscourt, there was joy for the reigning champions Cork & Clare in the Ladies & Men’s Senior Finals respectively.
Catriona Casey & Aishling O’Keeffe justified their favourites tag as the now 5 time champions defeated Roscommon sisters Fiona & Siobhan Tully in two games. A tit for tat opening ten minutes saw the game tied at 4-4 before the Cork duo stole a march and dominated with a 21-6 win. The second match saw some great play from both sides, but again the experience and quality of Cork saw them prevail 21-12 in an entertaining tussle.
Next up was the Men’s Final, and another sibling pairing of Martin & Diarmuid Mulkerrins were bidding to become only the second set of brothers to win a Senior 4-Wall Doubles title (following the Kirby brothers of Clare) since 1979. Standing in their way however was a formidable pairing of Diarmaid Nash & Colin Crehan, who on paper and on court look like they could be a dominant duo for the short term future at least.
The Galway lads however were not here to make up the numbers and lead 15-6 in the opener. But Clare wound them back in slowly and eventually tied level at 16-16, before sealing an opening win of 21-17.
That loss could have disheartened the Mulkerrins’, but they responded well and again raced into a 9-3 lead in the second. But it was not to be as the more experienced Doubles duo in Nash & Crehan drew level at 9-9 before eventually winning out 21-12.
In the Girls Minor Final, Kildare’s Leah Doyle & Abby Tarrant took the honours after a tough battle with Mayo’s Claire Reynolds & Cuilleann Bourke, winning 21-18, 21-8. That win sealed a Minor Slam for Doyle for the second successive year.
The Boys Minor Final was a marathon, as Monaghan’s Eoghan McGinnity & Konrad Kowal defeated Kilkenny’s Jack Holden & Jack Doyle 9-21, 21-16, 21-17. The win sealed the Minor Slam for McGinnity, and notably saw Konrad become the first Polish native to win an All-Ireland title.
Lithuanian native Ramunas Ramuskas was the first and only other non-Irish native to win an All-Ireland title, when he claimed the U17 Singles title in 2013.
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Results:
- Men's: Clare (Diarmuid Nash/Colin Crehan) dft Galway (Martin & Diarmuid Mulkerrins) 21-17, 21-12
- Ladies: Cork (Catriona Casey/Aisling O’Keeffe) dft Roscommon (Fiona & Siobhan Tully) 21-6, 21-13
- Boys Minor: Monaghan (Eoghan McGinnity/Konrad Kowal) dft Kilkenny (Jack Holden/Jack Doyle) 9-21, 21-16, 21-17
- Girls Minor: Kildare (Leah Doyle/Abby Tarrant) dft Mayo (Claire Reynolds/Cuileann Burke) 21-18, 21-8
Other Grades:
- U21D Galway (Diarmuid Mulkerrins/Cian Ó Chonghaille) dft Kilkenny (Eoin Brennan/Connor Murphy) 21-9, 21-4
- Intermediate: Wexford (Galen Riordan/Peter Hughes) dft Tyrone (Ryan Mullan/Gary McCrory) 21-5, 21-4
- Junior: Antrim (Jordan O'Neill/Mark Rainey) dft Clare (Fergal Coughlan Jnr/Ciaran Malone) 20-21, 21-18, 21-18
- JBD Tipperary (Aidan O’Flaherty/Liam Bradshaw) dft Roscommon (Gordon Nolan/Michael Egan) 21-14, 7-21, 21-4
- 35+: Mayo (Joe McCann/Joe Dowling) dft Wexford (Gavin Buggy/Paddy Haughton) 21-8, 7-21, 21-13
- 35+B: Antrim (Kevin & Fionntan Gamble) dft Kilkenny (Diarmuid Burke/Anthony Martin) 21-14, 21-11
- 40+: Antrim (Sean Devine/Seamus O'Tuama) dft Kerry (Dominick Lynch/John Joe Quirke) 21-20, 21-13
- 40+ B: Tipperary (Brian O’Brien/John Kennedy) dft Down (Jim Cunningham/Tony O'Connor) 21-6, 21-12
- 45+: Offaly (Conor O'Brien/Sean Ryan) dft Tyrone (Chris Curran/Finbar Fullen) 21-11, 21-17
- 45+B: Galway (Graham Casburn/Morgan Duggan) dft Tipperary (Joseph Ryan/Finbar Ryan) 21-18, 19-21, 21-12
- 50+: Antrim (Paddy Crothers/John McGarry) dft Meath (Tom Sheridan/Jimmy Reilly) 21-9, 21-8
- 50+ B: Limerick (John Ryan/Denis McCarthy) dft Antrim (Paddy Nicholl/Kieran Cooper) 21-9, 21-10
- 55+: Cork (John Herlihy/John Hedigan) dft Antrim (Donal Armstrong/Stephen Brady) 8-21, 21-11, 21-14
- 55+ B: Limerick (Donal Hayes/Tim O’Shea) dft Galway (Pierce Lalor/Brendan McNeela) 21-10, 21-3
- 60+: Wexford (Michael Rossiter/Benny Doyle) dft Antrim (Thomas Maguire/Tony Caddell) 21-15, 19-21, 21-17
- 60+ B: Limerick (Jimmy Fanning/Jack Dillon) dft Antrim (John McManus/Roy McCoy) 21-7, 21-6
- Ladies Intermediate: Clare (Doireann Murphy/Clodagh Nash) dft Kildare (Hannah Dagg/Mollie Dagg) 21-3, 21-6
- Ladies Junior: Galway (Aisling Ní Mhaoileáin/Eimear Ní Bhiadha) dft Wexford (Marguerite Gore/Cora Doyle) 21-8, 21-20
- Ladies Junior B: Tyrone (Michelle Warren/Michaela McCartan) dft Tipperary (Eleanor Percy/Sile Spain) 16-21, 21-10, 21-20