Kilkenny's Patrick Funchion was the only surprise winner when he ousted Meath's Doubles supremo Brian Carroll in Saturday's tiebreak at Leixlip HC, as the 2017 O'Neill's 40x20 Championship begins to heat up.
Saturday saw the Round of 16 draw to a conclusion as we now prepare for Saturdays QF's. Top seed Charly Shanks was comfortable in seeing off Paul Moran 21-3, 21-8 to edge closer to yet another final. He will face another experienced campaigner in Mayo's Joe McCann who rallied from 18-9 down in the third to defeat talented young Clare man Colin Crehan.
After losing the opener 21-16 to Funchion, Brian Carroll bounced back to force the third 21-15. But the momentum shifted again as the Kells (KK) man took the upper hand and sealed the win 21-09. He will now face Cork's Brendan Fleming who ousted Antrim's Owen McKenna in two games.
Martin Mulkerrins is going to have a big say in the outcome of this years Championship, and he again looked impressive in seeing off Rikki O'Gara 21-7, 21-10 to set up a mouth atering QF showdown with Clare's former Finalist Diarmuid Nash on Saturday, after Nash took out Tadgh Carroll 21-16, 21-10.
With reigning champion Robbie McCarthy receiving a w/o from Peter Funchion, the last QF berth was being battled for by Eoin Kennedy & Michael Gregan. The Wicklow man took a tight opener 21-17 before Dublin's Kennedy responded 21-16. Unfortunately though the game did not get the ending it deserved as Kennedy was forced to withdraw injured whilst trailing 9-5 in the third game.
In the Ladies Championship there was no real surprises as Catriona Casey, Martina McMahon & Ciana Ni Churraoin all recorded solid victories, however Roscommon teenager Fiona Tully claimed a good win over #5 ranked Ciara Mahon to set up a SF with reigning champ Casey.
Next up is the Men's QF's this coming Saturday 28th Feb, whilst the Ladies are not on the road again until SF's Day on March 4th.
#RoadToKingscourt
Men's Last 16 Results:
- 1: Armagh (Charly Shanks) dft Kildare (Paul Moran) 21-3, 21-8
- 2: Mayo (Joe McCann) dft Clare (Colin Crehan) 21-16, 17-21, 21-18
- 3: Kilkenny (Patrick Funchion) dft Meath (Brian Carroll) 21-16, 15-21, 21-11
- 4: Cork (Brendan Fleming) dft Antrim (Owen McKenna) 21-14, 21-15
- 5: Galway (Martin Mulkerrins) dft Roscommon (Rikki O’Gara) 21-7, 21-13
- 6: Clare (Diarmuid Nash) dft Cork (Tadgh Carroll) 21-16, 21-10
- 7: Wicklow (Michael Gregan) dft Dublin (Eoin Kennedy) 21-17, 16-21, 9-5 Kennedy ret. inj.
- 8: Westmeath (Robbie McCarthy) W/O Kilkenny (Peter Funchion) scr.
Ladies QF Results:
- QF1: Cork (Catriona Casey) dft Down (Lorraine Havern) 21-5, 21-5
- QF2: Roscommon (Fiona Tully) dft Kilkenny (Ciara Mahon) 21-7, 21-18
- QF3: Galway (Ciana Ni Churraoin) dft Mayo (Pauline Gallagher) 21-5, 21-5
- QF4: Limerick (Martina McMahon) dft Kerry (Ashley Prendiville) 21-2, 21-11
