A huge weekend of action at the National Handball Centre, Croke Park serves off tomorrow morning (Saturday) with the All-Ireland 4-Wall juvenile (U14 to U17 inclusive, singles and doubles, boys and girls) semi-finals down for decision.
On Sunday, the juvenile All-Ireland finals will be played along with the oneills.com All-Ireland 4-Wall Senior Doubles semi-finals.
First up at 11am on the show court is the meeting of Galway’s Ciana Ní Churaoin and Niamh Heffernan and the Wexford/Wicklow pairing of Holly Hynes and Patricia Byrne.
The Micheál Breathnachs/Calregalway pair, who won their first Senior Doubles title last year having lost the final in an 11-10 tiebreaker in 2023, will start as favourites to return to another final.
Also vying for a place in the Senior Doubles final are Kilkenny and Tyrone. For the Cats, Ciara Mahon and Amy Brennan, who lost the Senior Softball Doubles final in a tiebreaker, will be hoping to secure their place in another decider; they will meet the lefty-righty partnership of Eilise McCrory and Aoife Kelly in what has the makings of an intriguing clash.
The oneills.com Men’s Senior Doubles semi-finals line-up features four experienced pairings. First up is the meeting of defending champions Daniel Relihan and Michael Hedigan from the Liscarroll club in Cork, who meet Westmeath pair Robbie McCarthy and Colm Jordan.
The Rebels won this title for the first time last year, defeating Clare in an 11-10 tiebreaker, but had a walkover in the quarter-final this time round as Tipperary conceded. Relihan’s shot-making and Hedigan’s superb right-side play make them a formidable partnership but there will be nothing easy against the decorated McCarthy and his partner Jordan, a native of Fermoy.
The last of the semi-finals features two pairs from Kells – one in Kilkenny and the other in Meath. Patrick and Peter Funchion, in black and amber, have consistently been among the leading sides in senior handball for the guts of a decade now and have a great understanding.
In the green corner, however, wait one of the strongest doubles teams to emerge in recent seasons in Brian Carroll and Gary McConnell. They have won multiple Senior Doubles titles across both 4-wall and softball and would dearly love to return to another final; an excellent contest seems in store.
All senior matches will be streamed live on the Spórt TG4 YouTube channel.
Admission will be charged both days, tickets are priced at €10 for adults per day, and €5 for OAPs and students per day, weekend pass for Adults will be €15, U16s will have free admission. Please note that each player will be given access their own pass plus two guest passes free of charge, which can be downloaded from the links below. Admission may be paid on the door on both days also, preferrably by card but cash will be accepted.
Tickets for Saturday are available here.
Tickets for Sunday are available here.
Juvenile fixtures here .