:quality(75))
By Paul Fitzpatrick
The Irish Wallball Nationals take centre stage in Co Galway this weekend, with the country’s leading players heading west for the Men’s and Ladies Open competitions.
A relatively small but high-quality Men’s Open field has a distinctly northern flavour, with Ulster players occupying the top four seeded positions.
Tyrone’s Conor McElduff, the most accomplished male wallball player Ireland has produced, is the number one seed and will begin his challenge against the winner of Conor Hession from Galway and Adam Dorris of Armagh, the C Singles champion at the 2024 Worlds.
Another Tyrone man, Sean Kerr, takes on Cork’s Sam Dunning in his opening match, with the winner advancing to a quarter-final against yet another from the Red Hand county, second seed Paul Donnelly.
Cavan’s Ben Devlin is seeded fourth and arrives in Galway in good form, fresh from capturing the All-Ireland Junior Softball Singles title. Devlin awaits the winner of what promises to be a hard-hitting encounter between Kilkenny’s John Doheny and Conor McLean of Eugene Quinn’s in Armagh.
Elsewhere, rising Cork star Cian Dunning faces Mayo’s Chris Gavaghan, with the winner progressing to meet Armagh’s Fiachra Ó Dúill. Both Dunning and Ó Dúill are rated among the outstanding young wallball players in the country, with Whitegate’s Ó Dúill already having taken the prized scalp of McElduff in the All-Ireland final last year.
All Men’s Open matches will be played in Corrundulla, with the semi-finals and final scheduled for Sunday.
The Ladies Open also contains an intriguing field, headed by newly-crowned All-Ireland Wallball Senior Singles champion Eilise McCrory.
McCrory is the number one seed and awaits the winner of the first-round clash between Roscommon’s Alanna Coggeran and former World U19 finalist Ava Sweeney from Galway.
Cailiosa Ní Dhúill takes on experienced Westmeath right-hander Aoife McCarthy for the right to face McCrory in the quarter-finals.
One of the most interesting early matches sees former Wallball Senior medallist and reigning 4-Wall champion Fiona Tully meet Clare Conway. Conway has already demonstrated her ability to trouble the leading players this season, defeating McCrory at the Lough Showdown, and will be a dangerous opponent but Tully is favourite.
At the other end of the draw, number two seed Martina McMahon, who has won every Major in the game, faces a potentially tricky route. She will meet either reigning World A Singles champion Caitlin Conway or world 4-wall champion Ciana Ní Churraoin in the quarter-final.
Ní Churraoin has recent form against the Limerick star, having defeated McMahon in the semi-final of the Team Ireland trials for the World Championships, adding further intrigue to that section of the draw.
The Ladies Open semi-finals and final will also be decided on Sunday.
While the elite competitions will be centred on Corrundulla, there will also be action in Tourmakeady and Claregalway across a busy weekend of wallball.
The largest field of all comes in the Boys 13&U grade, where 27 young players will take their chance.
Draws and results available on knowthescore.ie. The first matches serve off this evening (Friday).
Men's and Ladies Open Semi-Finals and Finals will be streamed by Sport TG4 at: https://youtube.com/live/Z8K3Ib0WLQk?feature=share