Irish Handball Returns: Men's Senior 60x30 Preview
The road to 60x30 softball glory begins in earnest this weekend as the Men's Senior Singles Championship gets underway. Spread across four venues in Offaly, Roscommon and Tipperary, the round of 16 brings together our finest athletic talents in a true celebration of native sport and community spirit.
Fahy, Offaly: The Champion Returns
The headline attraction sees defending champion Gary McConnell begin his title defence against Tipperary's Jerome Cahill. McConnell, representing Meath, enters the championship in formidable form after recently capturing the Irish Nationals title in Wexford. As the number one seed, he is the man everyone must beat. The Royal County star has long been one of the game's premier softball operators and will take confidence from last year's breakthrough success.
Cahill, however, is no ordinary first-round opponent. One of Tipperary's finest sporting talents, he was named U20 Hurler of the Year in 2019 and possesses the athleticism and competitiveness to trouble anyone. While McConnell starts as favourite, Cahill has enough quality to make life uncomfortable for the reigning champion.
St Coman's, Roscommon: Homecomings and Hurlers
At St Coman's in Roscommon, decorated doubles specialist Brian Carroll faces Mayo's Chris Doolin. Carroll is one of the most accomplished doubles players of all-time, but he has also enjoyed notable success in singles competition, reaching the latter stages of this championship on several occasions and previously claiming the Nationals title.
Doolin's return has added another quality player to the senior ranks. Having spent time in Australia, he returns to the championship scene with a reputation forged in the famous St Coman's club, one of the traditional powerhouses of softball handball. It is always a boost to the native game when our diaspora return home to compete on the national stage.
The second match in Roscommon may well produce one of the games of the round as Sligo's Cormac Finn takes on Kilkenny's Jack Holden. Finn showed good form in reaching the recent Nationals final. While he is still eligible for the Intermediate grade, he is ranked among the top group of seniors. Standing in his way is Holden, a former intermediate doubles champion and an outstanding dual talent who has also excelled as a hurler, winning an All-Ireland Intermediate club title with Thomastown two years ago.
Ballina: Experience Meets Ambition
Ballina hosts two intriguing ties. Limerick's Evan Murphy meets Kilkenny left-hander Ciaran Neary in what many expect to be a closely fought encounter. Murphy, from the Broadford club, has been steadily improving and will fancy his chances. Lefty Neary, meanwhile, enjoyed an excellent run in the nationals and his consistent, hard-hitting style presents a tricky challenge for opponents.
Also in Ballina, Wexford's Gavin Buggy faces Cork's Gearoid Healy. Former senior doubles medallist Buggy is one of the game's most experienced campaigners and remains fiercely competitive, while Liscarroll's Healy, who plays all codes of handball, will hope to earn what would be a breakthrough win.
Crinkle, Co Offaly: Legends and Rising Stars
Crinkle hosts two matches featuring players from opposite ends of the experience spectrum. Robbie McCarthy, one of the greatest handballers ever to play the game, begins against young Cork player Hayden Supple. McCarthy's legacy is secure. He intimated last year that he was retiring, but his appetite for success remains undiminished and he is back for more.
Having already secured the 40x20 senior singles title this year, 'the Mullingar Maestro' will be determined to reclaim the softball crown he surrendered to McConnell in last year's final.
The second Crinkle tie sees Kilkenny's Kyle Jordan take on Tipperary's Ger Coonan. Coonan remains one of the hardest hitters in the game and brings decades of experience to the court. Jordan, meanwhile, is widely regarded as one of the brightest young talents in handball. The Kilkenny man won a ranking tournament in 4-wall last season and also captured the prestigious US Collegiate title. On his day he is capable of producing spectacular handball, and many observers view him as a future senior champion.
Croke Park and the Nationals
One first-round match has already been completed, with Wexford's Mark Doyle defeating Kilkenny's Brian Mahon 21-13, 21-11 at Croke Park on Thursday night. Doyle's victory sends him through to a quarter-final meeting with either Carroll or Doolin. It continues the momentum built by one of the sport's most exciting emerging players, whose return from the United States is a significant boost for the domestic scene.
McConnell, as stated, won the Open Singles at the Nationals in Wexford last weekend, defeating Finn 15-8 before the Sligoman forfeited game two.
In the women's game, Limerick's Martina McMahon retained the Ladies Open crown with a 15-6, 15-7 final win over Kildare's Mollie Dagg, showcasing the immense strength and depth of our female athletes on the national stage.