Walsh feeling no pressure ahead of home-town event
Mallow and Cork handballer, David Walsh.
By Paul Fitzpatrick
Home-town favourite David Walsh has his sights set further down the road but, for now, the focus is on this weekend’s Southern Classic, which is being hosted by his own club Mallow and neighbours Liscarroll.
Both clubs have produced a number of leading senior players; Walsh reached his maiden All-Ireland senior final last year, Liscarroll were the All-Ireland inter-club champions while clubmen Daniel Relihan and Michael Hedigan have won senior titles in two codes in recent seasons.
As number one seed, however, Walsh will be expected to go particularly well at this tournament. He reached the final of the Irish Nationals in Kilkenny before Christmas and the semi-final of the Golden Gloves in Belfast but he skipped the Kerr Memorial in Tyrone and the sense is that the 27-year-old is timing his run.
“The goal of course is to peak for championship, I’m hoping my training pays off and I can play my best handball when the time comes and give a good account of myself again this year,” Walsh told GAA.ie
“When it comes to the Classic, I don’t put any pressure on myself, I think everyone loves playing in their home court and it’s always an enjoyable weekend. I think we’re very fortunate in Cork to have so many top players, I’m lucky to have great support from everyone in Cork so it’s brilliant to compete at home.”
The tournament has attracted a 24-strong line-up for the Men's Open Singles, which is an official GAA Handball ranking event.
Walsh is top seed; Clare's Diarmaid Nash is number two, with Robbie McCarthy of Westmeath, returning to action having indicated last summer that he was retiring, seeded three and Daniel Relihan of Liscarroll in at four.
Filling slots five to eight in the seedings are Monaghan's Gavin Coyle, Cork duo Michael Hedigan and Brendan Fleming and Kerry veteran Dominic Lynch.
Having lost out in a tiebreaker against Paul Brady in last year’s All-Ireland final at Croke Park, Walsh has experienced the big stage and hopes to be ready if he can get back there.
"In relation to the final, it’s been spoken about a lot over the last number of months. I’ve had some time to reflect on the season as a whole, I’ve gained a lot of experience over the last 12 months or so but what’s done is done now and the main thing for me is to continue to work hard and hopefully the rest will look after itself,” he said.
Meanwhile, the groundbreaking 'She’s Ace' female-only tournament will take place in Co Galway this weekend, with a packed field of juvenile, elite and recreational players for what is one of the feelgood events on the handball calendar.
