The second Men’s semi-final saw Martin Mulkerrins advance to his second Senior Softball Singles final with a 21-9, 21-10 win over Meath’s Brian Carroll in a high-quality match, writes Paul Fitzpatrick.
Having only recently returned from the United States, where he is based and where he won the US Nationals and World Invitational in the 40x20 court, Mulkerrins jumped straight back into the ‘big alley’ and has picked up two excellent wins over Gary McConnell and now Carroll.
Displaying outstanding conditioning, the Moycullen man held off the Kells speedster, whose all-out attacking approach meant he was dangerous in every rally.
“I’m delighted to be back in the big court. The entries came out at the end of April, early May and Diarmuid (his brother) got on to me about it and to be honest I didn’t really look at the calendar, I just entered it.
“I think I missed a year when I was in Texas in 2013 and when I was in New Zealand in 2016 but any year I am at home, I have always supported and played the big alley every year. I think it’s a great game and it needs support.
“I was only back less than a week before I played Gary but the last few months in Texas and lots of tournaments have accounted for some of the court time that I missed out on (in 60x30) and the conditioning. I’m delighted to be back in the final, I hadn’t played since I played Robbie in the 2020 final. It’s great.”
Martin has been putting in plenty of time in the court since returning from winning the US Nationals/World Invitational in Minneapolis but has a bit to go in terms of his shot-making, he said.
“I’ve been in the court most days since I came back, even if it’s only for 20 minutes, just getting that time in the court and working on the touch. I could see openings down the left today but just that lack of court time and not knowing the pace of it, I over-cooked a few but it’s good to see that today because I still have time to work on it now in the next week.”
Based in Texas, he played 19 tournaments since last August and feels he is in very good shape physically.
“I must say it’s probably the closest I have been to the shape I was in in 2018 when I won the 40x20 senior and was in the Worlds final against Killian. In 2019 I wasn’t in bad shape but I just wasn’t the same. In 2018, I was doing a Masters and being a student gave me more time to train.
“During Covid, the type of work I was doing was very intense, a lot of sitting, a lot of driving and I think I lost a bit of condition. After that big alley final in 2020, there were eight or nine months with no handball and no real light at the end of the tunnel.
“We had some tough stuff at home, my cousin passed away and we were very close to them, she was only 19. I suppose the motivation was a little bit low but things started opening up again and I think this nine months has definitely got me back as close to it as possible. Yeah, feeling good.”
Winning a Senior Softball Singles just weeks after that superb victory in the States would be an unprecedented achievement.
“I suppose it would be unique, I know it’s a cliché but I honestly am taking it a year at a time, I didn’t look past Gary and I didn’t look past Brian. Robbie has won nine Senior Singles, he’s an incredible player in here (in 60x30), he’s the guy to beat and looked very comfortable there earlier as well.
“As fit as I am, he knows how to use this court as well as anybody. I think my shots will have to tighten up over the next few days but look, I love being in finals. That’s why I entered it, I said I wanted to support it but anything I enter, I’m there to try and win it as well.”
View fixtures here.