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No major upsets in opening round of O’Neill’s Senior Singles

There were no major upsets in the opening round of the O'Neill's All-Ireland 40x20 Senior Singles Championship as all of the fancied entrants advanced to the round of 16 at the weekend, writes Paul Fitzpatrick.

Tipperary's Ger Coonan ran out an easy 21-7, 21-2 winner over Galway's Pat Conway, with Kilkenny's Patrick Funchion showing impressive form as he dispatched Tyrone right-hander Shane O'Neill in straight games, 21-5, 21-14.

Elsewhere, in a Munster derby, veteran Kerry lefty Dominick Lynch was an emphatic 21-15, 21-2 victor over Cork's Daniel Relihan, 15 years his junior, while in the tie of the round, Offaly's David Hope came through a two-hour marathon against hard-hitting Roscommon man Riki O'Gara (21-11, 15-21, 21-17).

Meanwhile, Peter Funchion had a walkover against Mayo's Vinny Moran. The action heats up next weekend as the top seeds, including champion Martin Mulkerrins of Galway, enter the fray.

Coonan, who faces former champion Charly Shanks next time out, was delighted to get over the opening hurdle.

"On the day, everything went well for me thankfully. I was fortunate to jump out to big leads in both games which took the pressure off," Coonan, who is based in Dublin, told GAAHandball.ie.

Having been disappointed by his performance against Eoin Kennedy in the Nationals a week earlier, Ger was happy to get back to winning ways at Kilkishen, Co Clare.

"Training is going well, we have a Dublin league going the last few weeks so that’s really helped preparations for the championship, it's hard to beat competitive games to sharpen you up. That said, I have a big test next weekend.

"Charly is a former winner and he’s obviously one of the favourites for the championship again. It’s going to be a huge challenge but I’m looking forward to the game."

Without doubt the closest of the weekend's matches was the meeting of Hope and O'Gara. Fahy clubman Hope, a former multiple county SFC medallist with the famed Rhode club, eventually came through a real slogfest against the durable O'Gara, one of the toughest competitors on the circuit.

"It was a tough energy sapping match, it could have gone either way in fairness," stated Hope.

"The game lasted over two hours, there were an awful lot of rallies in it and nothing came easy, I was just glad to come out the right side of it."

Next up for David, who recently became a father for the second time, is a clash with the in-form Diarmaid Nash.

"Training has been going well of late, I was busy around the Christmas with the baby arriving but I've put in a good six or seven weeks of training since then," he said.

O'NEILL'S MEN'S SENIOR SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

Saturday 23rd February – Last 32

Q1: Offaly (David Hope) dft Roscommon (Rikki O’Gara) 21-11, 15-21, 21-17

Q2: Tipperary (Ger Coonan) dft Galway (Pat Conway) 21-7, 21-2

Q3: Kilkenny (Patrick Funchion) dft Tyrone (Shane O’Neill) 21-5, 21-14

Q4: Antrim (Owen McKenna) W/O Meath (Brian Carroll) inj.

Q5: Kilkenny (Peter Funchion) W/O Mayo (Vinnie Moran) No Show

Q6: Kerry (Dominick Lynch) dft Cork (Daniel Relihan) 21-15, 21-2