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Senior Doubles 4-Wall QF Preview

With little over three weeks until finals weekend at Kingscourt, the senior doubles have reached quarter-final stage.

Striking the opening blows in the Ladies Senior Doubles will be Clodagh Nash and Doireann Murphy from Clare and Kildare’s Leah Doyle and Molly Dagg at Cullohill, Co. Laois. An evenly matched contest, the winners can look forward to the daunting task of taking on defending champions and top seeds Catriona Casey and Asiling O’Keefe from Cork.

Next on the bill at Cullohill sees Clare in action again as reigning Senior Doubles champions Diarmaid Nash and Colin Crehan take on the experienced Cork pairing of Tony Healy and Brendan Fleming. After a walkover victory in th previous round, Healy and Fleming come in somewhat under the radar, but what they may lack in competitive action, they more than make up for in experience.

For as successful as they’ve been in their short partnership, Nash and Crehan are something of an odd couple in the court. Incredibly consistent, Nash is the pair’s foundation whereas Crehan provides the explosive element. An incredibly effective dynamic when on song, the Rebels will need to conjure up some of their old magic if they are to dethrone the Banner duo.

Nenagh plays host to an intriguing contest featuring experience galore as Tom Sheridan and Brian Carroll of Meath face Kerry’s Dominic Lynch and Jack O’Shea. Sheridan and Carroll had to fight hard to edge past Vinny Moran and Ian McLoughlin [Mayo] in the previous round, eventually hitting their stride in the third game, but it was a battle that may work in their favour.

The kind of battle that Lynch and O’Shea didn’t have, as they ran out comfortable winners against Ollie and Pat Conway [Galway]. With their championship pedigree, the return of Sheridan and Carroll as a partnership automatically puts them among the championship favourites, but in the battle of Royals versus Kingdom, the men from the South-West have designs on the crown for themselves.

Finally, a double-header in Crinkle kicks off with a family affair as Peter and Patrick Funchion from Kilkenny take on Diarmuid and Martin Mulkerrins of Galway. Beaten semi-finalists last year, the Funchion brothers may well enter as favourites in spite of the fact that their opposition is comprised of a former Senior Singles champion and the reigning U-21 Singles champion.

The Mulkerrins brothers – recipients of a walkover in the round-of-16 – have had enough time to digest their All-Ireland disappointment and joy, and to properly regroup for their assault on the Senior Doubles. Sure to be all-out offensive warfare, this promises to be the match of the round.

The final tie of the weekend sees veteran Dubliners Eoin Kennedy and Carl Browne take on Cork’s Daniel Relihan Michael Hedigan. The Cork pair, fresh off the back of an immensely impressive annihilation of Gavin Buggy and Galen Riordan [Wexford] last week, are looking to underline their senior credentials by taking out the number two seeds.

Kennedy and Browne – Senior Doubles title winners in 2016 – have experience on their side, and they will have to call on every bit of it against a partnership who narrowly lost out in the semi-finals of the Irish World Championship trials last year having just graduated from Intermediate. In a contest this close, sometimes the Ace in the pack has to come up trumps. Even at 40, Kennedy has the ability and reputation to overawe opponents and he could prove to be the decisive factor this weekend.

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Saturday 6th April

Cullohill, Laois, OIC Tony McGuigan (086 8066725) At 4pm

  • LSD QF1: Clare (Clodagh Nash/Doireann Murphy) v Kildare (Leah Doyle/Mollie Dagg)
  • MSD QF1: Clare (Diarmuid Nash/Colin Crehan) v Cork (Brendan Fleming/Tony Healy)

Nenagh, Tipperary OIC Eamonn Spillane (098 4185911) At 5pm

  • MSD QF2: Kerry (Dominic Lynch/Jack O’Shea) v Meath (Brian Carroll/Tom Sheridan)

Crinkle, Offaly OIC Kevin Cooke (087 6423846) At 12noon

  • MSD QF3: Kilkenny (Patrick Funchion/Peter Funchion) v Galway (Martin Mulkerrins/Diarmuid Mulkerrins)
  • MSD QF4: Cork (Daniel Relihan/Michael Hedigan) v Dublin (Eoin Kennedy/Carl Browne)