Martina McMahon is hoping to retain the title.
By Paul Fitzpatrick
Entries for the Irish Softball Nationals are up 32% on last year as the final preparations are put in place for this weekend’s event which will be hosted at Wexford venues.
The courts in use are Kilmyshall (Emerald Masters), Ballymitty (Masters Doubles), Taghmon (Men's C Doubles), New Ross (Men's B Doubles), Templeudigan (Men's B Doubles), Coolgreany (Men's A Doubles), St Mary's (Women's Open) and Castlebridge (Men's Open).
Strong fields have been assembled in most grades, with 71 players in total entered in the Men’s A, B and C Doubles and Men’s Open Singles. There are also 16 Masters players entered across two grades and 11 in the Ladies Open for a total entry of 98 players from around the country.
All grades will be run on a doubles format with the exception of the Men’s and Ladies Opens, which are headed by number one seeds Brian Carroll (Meath) and Mollie Dagg (Kildare) respectively.
Carroll, who defeated Michael Gregan in the 2024 final, will meet the winner of lefties Chris Doyle and David Hope in his quarter-final.
Number two seed is Carroll's Kells clubmate Gary McConnell, who will play the winner of Tommy Hynes and Joe Devereux.
Ciaran Neary of Kilkenny faces Limerick's Evan Murphy while youngsters Anthony Clifford of Kilkenny and Cormac Finn from Sligo also clash, with the winners of those ties meeting in the last eight.
Number three seed is Galway's Diarmuid Mulkerrins, last year's Intermediate Singles champion and Senior Singles finalist, who will take on the winner of former Senior Doubles champion Gavin Buggy from the host club and 2018 Intermediate Singles champion Brian Mahon from Kilkenny.
Interestingly, there are five left-handers entered in the 13-man field.
Another citeog, Limerick's Martina McMahon, is seeded number three in the Ladies Open as she looks to retain her title in this competition. The Broadford star defeated Ciara Mahon in the decider last year.
McMahon will take on the winner of Tyrone's Clare Conway and Wexford's Jodie Keeling, who is currently studying on a handball scholarship at Lake Forest College outside Chicago.
Kilkenny women Ciara Mahon and Noelle Dowling meet in the last 16 with the winner taking on former Senior Singles finalist Cuileann Bourke from Mayo.
In the top half of the draw, Dagg meets the winner of Kilkenny's Aoife Holden and Clare's Leah Minogue, with Westmeath's Aoife McCarthy meeting Cork star Aishling O'Keeffe in the remaining quarter-final.
The semi-finals and finals will be streamed live on the Spórt TG4 YouTube channel on Sunday.