Nash sets his sights on oneills.com All-Ireland Senior Singles

By Paul Fitzpatrick

Fifteen years, give or take, at the elite end of any sport will take its toll but the thrill of the chase is hard to relinquish.

In 2022, Diarmaid Nash scaled the mountain, winning that long-awaited All-Ireland Senior Singles crown to add to his many ranking tournaments and his All-Ireland Senior Doubles titles. Four years later, the Clare left-hander is still going, still seeking that second title.

Driving him on, he freely admits, is that so-far elusive second Senior Singles which he hopes will arrive next month – but there is a lot of handball to be played before then, starting with his round of 16 match against Kilkenny’s Shane Dunne this Saturday.

“I definitely still love it,” Nash told gaa.ie.

“Winning the All-Ireland was almost a relief when it happened. Why keep playing? It’s obviously because you want to win more. I play handball for myself really, I do get a lot of enjoyment from playing the tournaments, but then I’m insufferable if I lose. So there’s definitely a massive burning desire to win.

“I play hurling as well (for Scariff) and that’s a team sport, it’s club hurling but it’s senior club and it’s serious. The mental load on my mind is much less than handball. Handball is an individual sport and more personal. If you lose, not your identity that’s hurt but it goes to your core. It goes to your heart.

“To answer the question, yes, I have a massive desire to be a multiple All-Ireland winner. I’m not chasing Brady’s titles or anything like that (laughs) but there are a lot of guys who’ve won one All-Ireland. The list of guys who’ve won more than one is short and I’d like to be on that list. That, I guess, is what’s driving me.”

Nash currently holds the number one spot in GAA Handball’s official rankings, which are based off a circuit of ranking tournaments plus the All-Irelands. An investment analyst by trade, Nash, who turns 35 this year, tends to compete in a lot of weekend tournaments, sharpening his game in intense competitions which see him play up to five matches in 48 hours.

In November, he won the storied Golden Gloves event in Belfast before making the semi-final of the Mick Kerr Memorial in Tyrone and the final of the Southern Classic in Cork.

“Everyone’s different,” he says. “Paul (Brady), Robbie (McCarthy) and others in the past were more choosy and were able to peak when they needed to peak. That’s a skill in itself and I don’t know if I’ve ever mastered that to be honest.

"When I tried to do it, I felt undercooked. When I don’t have tournaments, I sometimes train too much and end up overtrained, so tournaments are a way of regulating me as much as anything.

“I like playing and trying things out. I love these weekend tournaments. I couldn’t think of anything better to do over a weekend. It’s a nice way to spend the time and I just like the game. They suit me and that’s why I do it, but it’s very individual. I like to play myself into form and I need tournaments to do that.”

Last year, in a break from custom, GAA Handball ran the Doubles All-Ireland before the Singles. This time, they’ve gone back to tradition which Nash – who describes doubles as “more attritional, harder on the body” – is happy about.

When the Singles is wrapped up, his focus will turn to doubles with Crehan. But the Singles is the focus after what he admits was an inconsistent 2025.

“I definitely do (have to improve). Last year, physically, I was in good shape but I travelled to two tournaments (in America) and that was probably too much. Travelling across the world takes a lot out of you, I’m not doing that this year. That’s one change I’m making this year.

“Mentally I need to be better prepared, I was under-cooked a bit. I consider myself mentally very strong, but on the day in the quarter-final I let it slip and I couldn’t get it back.

"You’re not going to be amazing every day, but I need to be better at kind of wrestling it back when things are starting to get away from me.”

"He’s not one for looking back too much but when he does, it’s the losses that linger longest. And, presumably, fuel the fire, too.

“I don’t reflect on my career that much, to be honest, not yet anyway - maybe I will when I’m retired. But I definitely think about the losses more – but I’d say that’s fairly normal with most people.

“I mean, I’ve won a lot, but I’ve definitely lost a lot too. I’ve played in seven Nationals finals. I’ve lost four of them, I’ve won three. Essentially I’ve made the Nationals (major tournament before the All-Irelands) final every time it’s been on, apart from the last one which I didn’t play. But I probably think about the four losses more than the three wins.

“Killian (Carroll) beat me in one, Robbie (McCarthy) beat me in two and (Colin) Crehan beat me in one. It’s probably a bit sad that you think more about the losses, but that’s the nature of the game. It’s just life, you know what I mean?

“I’ve started to try and enjoy the wins more. Not celebrating massively more but instead of treating everything as just a stepping stone to the championship.

“There’s no big celebration. It’s more an internal satisfaction. That’s the same in a lot of individual sports, the same happens in tennis and stuff as well. I think I’m trying to enjoy that feeling a bit more.”

Regardless of how it feels, he knows what he wants. The oneills.com All-Ireland Senior Singles is the one he covets.

“Yeah, yeah, definitely,” he answers, without hesitation.

“That’s the goal, every year.”

FIXTURES
Oneills.com All-Ireland 4-Wall Men’s Senior Singles Round of 16

Saturday, February 21st

Dungarvan, Waterford, 12.00pm
Cork (Daniel Relihan) v Wicklow (Michael Gregan)
Kilkenny (Peter Funchion) v Cork (Shane Hedigan)

Crinkle, Offaly, 12.30pm
Clare (Diarmaid Nash) v Kilkenny (Shane Dunne)
Westmeath (Robbie McCarthy) v Clare (Colin Crehan)

St Coman’s, Roscommon, 1.00pm
Cork (David Walsh) v Tyrone (Caolan Daly)
Monaghan (Eoghan McGinnity) v Clare (Colin Corbett)

Wednesday February 25th
Kells, Meath, 8.00pm
Monaghan (Gavin Coyle) v Sligo (Cormac Finn)

Cappagh, Limerick, 7.30pm
Tipperary (Rory Grace) v Cork (Michael Hedigan)