Paul Fitzpatrick
First of all comes the back story. It's already being spoken about as possibly the greatest game of ladies handball ever played.
On St Patrick’s Day last, Limerick left-hander Martina McMahon ascended to the hotly-contested throne as queen of Irish handball when she defeated reigning champion Cathriona Casey of Cork in an amazing O'Neill's All-Ireland Senior Singles final.
And the Broadford native did it the hard way, losing the opener against the supremely-talented Casey and falling 10-1 down in the second before storming back to win 21-19 and force a third game.
The deciding set ebbed and flowed but McMahon came up with the big shots when they were needed most, pulling off two spectacular kills to close it out 21-20, the closest possible result in a handball match.
McMahon's two-handed offense wowed the packed house at Kingscourt, Co Cavan. It was commonly agreed that Casey and world champion Aisling Reilly from Antrim had dragged the ladies game to a new level but McMahon has gate-crashed the party in recent seasons and her success in that final really underpinned her arrival at the very top.
She admitted afterwards that she was "quivering" with nerves as she prepared to serve for the match for the third time but she eyed up the "bottom brick" she said, and just went for it. And the rest is history.
Six months later, here we are again - different ball, different court, same magnificent female players.
There have been rivalries in ladies handball but the most recent one may just be the most intense of the lot. A few years back, it was Reilly and Casey who seemed to meet in almost every final – Casey remains a permanent fixture but, over the last seasons, McMahon has emerged to assert herself as a superpower of the game.
She backed up that with victory over the Ballydesmond woman in the final of the World Open Singles (four-wall) in Minneapolis last month. Whether or not the guard has changed permanently, this evening’s Senior Softball Singles final will probably tell us.
Both players eased through their quarter-finals, giving up only 19 points between them (Casey defeated Leah Doyle 21-2, 21-6 with McMahon seeing off Aoife Holden 21-2, 21-9) and the semi-finals were also saw the duo record straight games wins over Aishling O’Keeffe and Ciara Mahon respectively.
It will be fascinating to see how today’s match goes. Casey’s comments in 2016, when she came back from losing the previous August’s Worlds to defeat McMahon in the All-Ireland 40x20 semi-final and Reilly in the final, are illuminating in hindsight.
“The All-Ireland was my main focus for this year,” she told The Irish Times. “Losses drive everyone on. Over the last two and a half, three years, Aisling and I played an awful lot. In terms of preparing myself, there’s no point in over thinking it, going back over previous games, you have to learn from them but you can’t get too emotional about it either. You have to focus.”
Today, in the red corner, that focus is on McMahon, a player who has forgotten how to lose and is on a glorious run. Her attacking game contrasts with Casey’s methodical approach which could potentially produce another epic.
A thriller awaits.
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HEAD TO HEAD
Recent results between Catriona Casey and Martina McMahon
- 2018 World Open Singles final: McMahon dft Casey 21-18, 21-12
- 2018 All-Ireland 40x20 SS final: McMahon dft Casey 12-21, 21-19, 21-20
- 2018 She’s Ace final: Casey dft McMahon 15-11, 15-6
- 2017 All-Ireland 60x30 SS final: Casey dft McMahon 21-9, 21-19
- 2017 US Nationals Open Singles final: Casey dft McMahon
- 2017 Irish 60x30 Nationals: Casey dft McMahon 6-15, 15-6, 11-10
- 2017 All-Ireland 40x20 SS final: Casey dft McMahon 21-5, 21-4
- 2017 40x20 Nationals final: Casey dft McMahon 15-1, 15-3
- 2017 She’s Ace final: McMahon dft Casey 15-11, 10-15, 11-8
- 2016 All-Ireland 60X30 SS final: McMahon dft Casey 21-10, 14-21, 21-10
- 2016 All-Ireland 40x20 SS semi-final: Casey dft McMahon 21-15, 21-12