The oneills.com All-Ireland 4-Wall Senior Singles Championship is coming to the boil, with the four semi-finals in the Men’s and Ladies grades down for decision this Saturday, writes Paul Fitzpatrick.
A mouth-watering programme of matches at the National Handball Centre on Saturday, starting at 10am, sees eight of the elite players in the country face off in the hope of sealing their place in the finals, which will take place at HQ on May 10.
First up at 10am is the meeting of Limerick’s Martina McMahon and Kildare youngster Mollie Dagg. The Broadford woman has won every major singles honour in the game in all codes as well as adding the Open Doubles crown alongside Aoife McCarthy at the World Championships last October.
McMahon, who has recovered from a career-threatening back injury, had a comfortable 21-5, 21-2 win over Clare’s Caitriona Millane last time out and comes into the match in fine form.
Dagg, however, has established herself as one of the rising stars of the ladies game. The Leixlip right-hander forced Fiona Tully to a tiebreaker in the quarter-final last year and has two impressive wins in the competition to date, defeating Clare’s Leah Minogue and Kilkenny’s Amy Brennan, two top young players, both in straight games.
The second of the ladies semi-finals sees Roscommon’s Tully take on world champion Ciana Ní Churraoin of Galway in what looks like potentially an outstanding match.
Tully has re-dedicated herself to handball in recent seasons, having previously divided her time when lining out with the Roscommon senior footballers, and her results have improved as she has consistently been in the last four and last two of almost every major singles competition at home and abroad.
Ní Churraoin, though, is no stranger to the big stage. She also has been troubled by a back injury and took time off after winning the Open Singles at the Worlds in November. She recently made the final of a tournament in Los Angeles, losing to McMahon, and won the Senior Doubles.
Ní Churraoin, from the Micheál Breathnachs club, defeated her doubles partner, Niamh Heffernan, 21-16, 21-6 in the quarter-final while Tully played superbly to defeat Tyrone’s Eilise McCrory (21-5, 21-7) in her last outing.
The first of the Men’s Senior Singles semi-finals pits Meath’s Gary McConnell against Cork’s David Walsh, with both men aiming to secure a first Senior Singles final appearance in the 40x20 court.
Kells clubman McConnell has vast experience, having won Senior Doubles titles in both courts and played in the singles final in softball, and having taken the scalp of one of the leading elite players of the last 12 years, Diarmaid Nash, in the quarter-final, the powerful right-hander will come into the game in a confident frame of mind.
Mallow’s Walsh, however, has broken into the elite in the last 12 months. He had a fantastic run to the semi-final of the World Championships and subsequently won both the Golden Gloves and the Southern Classic to earn the number one ranking for the first time.
His power, spectacular hops and deadly left side-arm make him a very dangerous opponent and an intriguing match is in store between two hard hitters with contrasting styles.
At 2.30pm, world champion Paul Brady will face All-Ireland champion Robbie McCarthy in a highly-anticipated rematch of last year’s final. On that occasion, Brady won the first game and was leading in the second before withdrawing due to injury.
The pair have not met since; in the interim, McCarthy won the Senior Singles in the ‘big alley’ and had a terrific victory in the Open Doubles alongside Joe McCann in the Worlds while Brady became the oldest man to win the World Open Singles at the same event.
Brady defeated Sligo’s Cormac Finn (21-4, 21-9) and Kildare lefty Kevin Diggins (21-4, 21-5) to reach this stage, with Mullingar’s McCarthy had two good wins against former minor champion Eoghan McGinnity (21-3, 21-5) and recently-crowned Senior Doubles champion Peter Funchion of Kilkenny (21-2, 21-16).
The event will be streamed live on the Spórt TG4 YouTube channel.
Watch some of the quarter-final action here: