Busy Handball weekend beckons at four venues

By Paul Fitzpatrick

The road to 60x30 softball glory begins in earnest this weekend as the Men's Senior Singles Championship gets underway with a highly competitive round of 16 spread across four venues in Offaly, Roscommon and Tipperary.

The headline attraction sees defending champion Gary McConnell begin his title defence against Tipperary's Jerome Cahill in Fahy, Offaly. Meath’s McConnell enters the championship in formidable form after recently capturing the Irish Nationals title in Wexford and as number one seed, is the man everyone must beat. The Meath star has long been one of the game's premier softball operators and will take confidence from last year's breakthrough success.

However, Cahill 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.

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 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.

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 and, 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 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 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 eh was retiring but his appetite for success remains undiminished and he’s 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.

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 and continues the momentum built by one of the sport's most exciting emerging players, whose return from the United States is a boost for the 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.

Limerick’s Martina McMahon retained the Ladies Open crown with a 15-6, 15-7 final win over Kildare’s Mollie Dagg.