And then there were eight. After a hectic weekend of action, the field in the O'Neill's Men's Senior Singles Championhip for 2020 has been whittled down to just eight players from seven counties.
Handball's Super 8 are as follows: Robbie McCarthy (Westmeath), Dominick Lynch (Kerry), Charly Shanks (Armagh), Colin Crehan (Clare), Martin Mulkerrins (Galway), Brian Carroll (Meath), Peter Funchion (Kilkenny) and Diarmaid Nash (Clare).
Amazingly, six of the eight have previously won senior medals in either singles or doubles in the small court code, setting the stage for a thrilling quarter-final showdown next weekend. The closest of the last 16 matches was the meeting of Lynch and Patrick Funchion. The Kerry veteran dropped game one 15-21 but came roaring back to take the second 21-16 and closed out the deciding set on a 21-14 scoreline.
Elsewhere, Meath's Brian Carroll showed he has lost none of his craft as he picked up an eye-catching 21-4, 21-15 win over Kildare's Niall O'Connor, who had been showing well on the tournament circuit. The ambidextrous Carroll now plays into Martin Mulkerrins in an attractive match which could well turn into a shootout between two of the more offensive players in the game.
Mulkerrins, for his part, had no problems in easing to a straight games win over experienced Wicklow man Michael Gregan, who had conquered Tyrone's Shane O'Neill the previous afternoon. Of the top eight seeds in the draw, the only one to fall on the opening weekend was seventh-ranked Ger Coonan of Tipperary, who found a hot-shooting Peter Funchion – himself fresh from his 21-3, 21-9 win over Colm Jordan of Westmeath on Saturday – too much to handle as Funchion ran out a 4, 7 winner. Next up for the Kilkenny man is Nash, who swept past Michael Hedigan with the minimum of fuss (21-3, 21-13).
Cork's Hedigan had shown very solid form in turning back former doubles champion Joe McCann of Mayo in the round of 32 but Nash's win was never in doubt the following day.
Two injury withdrawals from Brendan Fleming and Vinnie Moran meant that champion Robbie McCarthy had a walkover in the top half but elsewhere, there were fireworks.
Gavin Buggy may have been giving up well over two decades to Tyrone's former minor and U21 All-Ireland champion Sean Kerr but the experienced Wexford man produced an excellent performance to defeat the Red Hand representative on a 21-20, 21-8 scoreline. However, Buggy came unstuck on Sunday when he fell to fit-again Armagh big gun Shanks, who has been operating a little under the radar of late but was a relatively comfortable 21-10, 21-14 winner.
Elsewhere, Rikki O'Gara of Roscommon went down in a pair of 21-10 games against Clare's Colin Crehan, meaning he and Shanks will meet in Saturday's last-eight clash in what looks, on paper, like a potential classic between two of the most aggressive gunslingers at the elite end of the sport at present.
Meanwhile, in the early rounds of the O'Neill's Ladies Senior Singles, there were wins for Armagh's Megan McCann over Kilkenny's Ciara Mahon (21-12, 21-6) and Westmeath's Aoife McCarthy against Cork's Aishling O'Keeffe (21-5, 21-10). The ladies quarter-final line-up will be completed by Wednesday night with the meetings of Mollie Dagg and Clodagh Nash and Doireann Murphy and Sinead Meagher down for decision.
Weekend Results
Men's Last 32
- Q1: Mayo (Vinnie Moran) W/O Cork (Brendan Fleming) scr
- Q2: Wexford (Gavin Buggy) dft Tyrone (Sean Kerr) 21-20, 21-8
- Q3: Roscommon (Rikki O’Gara) W/O Cork (Daniel Relihan) inj.
- Q4: Wicklow (Michael Gregan) dft Tyrone (Shane O’Neill) 21-6, 21-10
- Q5: Meath (Brian Carroll) W/O Cavan (Paul Brady) inj.
- Q6: Kilkenny (Peter Funchion) dft Westmeath (Colm Jordan) 21-3, 21-9
- Q7: Cork (Michael Hedigan) dft Mayo (Joe McCann) 21-18, 21-12
Men's Last 16
- Q8: Westmeath (Robbie McCarthy) W/O Mayo (Vinnie Moran) inj.
- Q9: Kerry (Dominick Lynch) dft Kilkenny (Patrick Funchion) 15-21, 21-16, 21-14
- Q10: Armagh (Charly Shanks) dft Wexford (Gavin Buggy) 21-10, 21-14
- Q11: Clare (Colin Crehan) dft Roscommon (Rikki O’Gara) 21-10, 21-10
- Q12: Galway (Martin Mulkerrins) dft Wicklow (Michael Gregan) 21-2, 21-11
- Q13: Meath (Brian Carroll) dft Kildare (Niall O’Connor) 21-4, 21-15
- Q14: Kilkenny (Peter Funchion) dft Tipperary (Ger Coonan) 21-7, 21-4
- Q15: Clare (Diarmuid Nash) dft Cork (Michael Hedigan) 21-3, 21-13
Ladies Last 16
- Q1: Armagh (Megan McCann) dft Kilkenny (Ciara Mahon)21-12, 21-6
- Q4: Westmeath (Aoife McCarthy) dft Cork (Aishling O’Keeffe) 21-5, 21-10