Ciana Ní Churraoin of Mícheál Breathnach, Galway, after her victory in the the Open Ladies final during day nine of the O'Neills.com World 4-Wall Championships at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen Marken/Sportsfile
By Paul Fitzpatrick
The road to Croker, regardless of the code, is never a straightforward one. For each milestone along the way, there are a few diversions but perseverance and dedication make for the best travelling companions. Is fada an bóthar, as Seán Óg Ó hAilpín put it in his iconic speech a few years ago...
Galway’s newly-crowned World Open Singles handball champion Ciana Ní Churraoin is proof of that and, as an enthusiastic advocate for the language, would approve of the phrase, too. The 28-year-old Micheál Breathnachs woman has played football and camogie at a high level but having followed her brother, former Galway midfielder Fionntán, to the handball court as a child, she always dreamed of becoming queen of the alley.
Last Sunday, that dream became a reality when Ní Churraoin defeated the great Limerick player Martina McMahon in a tense tiebreaker to bring the biggest prize in the sport back to Connemara.
A sports psychologist by trade – she runs her own business called The Space In Between with her partner Frida, working with sportspeople – Ní Churraoin leaned on her professional expertise in what was a gruelling battle in the final.
“It feels amazing, it’s something that I set out to do many years ago but especially this year, focusing in on the Worlds,” she told GAA.ie.
“I feel like I prepared in every way I possibly could and I guess I feel a lot of pride that that preparation led to the performance I was able to produce all week and then being able to get over the line against such a tough opponent…
“I know it was a great game of handball to watch and it was great to play in there as well so just absolutely delighted.”
After winning the first game, she opened a big lead in the second but McMahon reeled her in, taking the second set 15-14. There was, however, no panic; Ní Churraoin leaned on her own learning, the same principles she imparts to those she coaches.
“It’s definitely a psychological battle at times. For me, I always just try to focus on one point at a time, even one shot at a time. When I’m going to serve, just focus on hitting a good serve. It’s interesting, in an environment like this where there’s a lot more people than what we would be used to, to be honest, you feed off that energy from the crowd.
“Every serve, I’d take a very long, deep breath and just try to focus. ‘Okay, let’s get this serve’… and yeah, I can definitely say there were times that it was challenging because Martina had a nice bit of momentum, she had a very strong serve and she was getting points off that.
“But it was kind of coming and going and I knew that if I could get back in (to serve) that I had every opportunity. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed not to finish it in two because I was very much ahead in the second game and to serve for the championship, had I not won that’s something I probably would have thought about afterwards.
“And then even when I was at 10 (in the tiebreaker up to 11), I think twice I had to go in and serve for the game there as well. But I think that also shows that Martina wasn’t going to let it go easily. It is hard in those moments so to be able to steady down and get over the line is something that I am proud of there too.”
Ciana Ní Churrraoin of Mícheál Breathnach, Galway, in action in the Open Ladies final during day nine of the O'Neills.com World 4-Wall Championships at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen Marken/Sportsfile.
Handball, like boxing, is all about levels. At the elite end, the margins are wafer-thin. An explosive player like McMahon, as she showed earlier in the tournament and at times in the final, has the potential to break opponents with her blistering power and spectacular attacking game. Ní Churraoin, though, is a contemporary from their underage days and was ready and willing to fight fire with fire.
“People definitely talk about Martina’s power and she obviously does have a lot of power, especially when she’s set up on her left hand, you kind of know, right, she’s going ‘bottom brick’ so I need to get in there.
“But, you know, maybe it helps that I grew up playing Martina, she was a year ahead of me so we would have battled a lot at underage as well. She’s beaten me, I’ve beaten her, so I guess maybe that stands to me.
“I never have that thought that someone is superior, I suppose, whereas maybe some of the younger players who haven’t had that opportunity to play Martina growing up, they might think that because she’s been so successful in her senior career as well.”
Since returning from completing a Masters at Mankato University in Minnesota, having been recruited by the handball coach there, she has elevated her game. Post-Covid, Ní Churraoin has won the All-Ireland Senior Singles and Senior Doubles titles (with playing partner Niamh Heffernan from Claregalway) and now, she has added the biggest one of all. How does it feel to have reached that pinnacle?
“Maybe I should just retire,” she laughed. “No I’m joking! It’s great, to be honest, the All-Ireland Senior Singles and the World Championships are the two things that as a 40x20 player, you’re like ‘they are the pinnacle of the sport and I want to win those things’.
“So, to be able now to say that I have won both of them is amazing. If you told me this when I was a 13 or 14-year-old… well, that’s what you dream of doing so, yeah, I’m looking forward to the next tournament already.”
Ciana Ní Churrraoin of Mícheál Breathnach, Galway, centre, with supporters after her victory in the Open Ladies final during day nine of the O'Neills.com World 4-Wall Championships at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen Marken/Sportsfile
Her rise to the top has been mirrored by the game in general. The last year has seen numerous records fall for handball in terms of participation and media coverage; while the final figure has yet to come in, 450,000 people viewed TG4’s coverage online and on television in 2024 prior to the World Championships and that number will likely double when all is tallied.
“It’s pretty evident from this World Championships having close to 2,000 participants and being the biggest standalone 4-wall competition ever that handball is definitely growing and more and more people are participating, competing and also seeing handball.
“And I think that the venue at Croke Park that has been open for the last two years is a great place for us to be able to showcase handball. Growing up in football and hurling, camogie, everyone looks forward to or hopes to be able to play in Croke Park and now that’s the same thing for handball.
“It's an incredible venue and it looks amazing, even on the live stream, and it’s something that you can strive towards, wanting to play the biggest stage at the best venue that there is in handball worldwide I would say.
“This World Championships has shown and many people have mentioned how the media coverage has been better than ever, the support we’re getting from Spórt TG4 and the work that has gone in to set up that collaboration has been immense and it was amazing for me, the days that I wasn’t at the courts, to be able to watch every other game that was happening in Croke Park because of that coverage.
“And that’s something that we wouldn’t have had before so you can definitely see the sport is growing. And I know from my own experience in the last few years, there are so many more opportunities to travel, especially to America and not only compete in tournaments there – which Irish players have been doing for years – but now to go and study.
“I completed a Masters there between 2018 and 2020 and since then there have been probably close to 10 players now who have gone over either for a semester or to do their entire degree there. And then we see Martin Mulkerrins is over there in Texas working and coaching handball as well so there are more and more opportunities and I’m excited to see what more opportunities there are going to be.
“If someone wants to, there are so many opportunities for them to travel, even with wallball, there are so many European competitions now as well, so those are opportunities that maybe 20, 30 years ago didn’t exist.
“It’s definitely a great time to be a handball player and to be involved in handball.”
And a great time to be Ciana Ní Churraoin, too - champion of the world.