Ciana Ní Churraoin from Galway meets former All-Ireland and world champion Martina McMahon of Limerick.
By Paul Fitzpatrick
All-Ireland Men’s and Ladies Senior Singles Championships are coming to the boil, with quarter-finals and semi-finals down for decision at Croke Park this weekend.
Tomorrow (Saturday) sees seven quarter-finals on the show court at the National Handball Centre in Croke Park – Cork’s Catriona Casey has already advanced to the last four with as win over Clare’s Caitriona Millane – while Sunday will see the field reduced further with the staging of the semi-finals.
The Ladies quarter-finals look finely balanced and provide further evidence of the rising standards and great depth in the ladies’ field in recent seasons. Holder Ciana Ní Churraoin from Galway meets former All-Ireland and world champion Martina McMahon of Limerick.
This could potentially be the game of the day. The in-form Ní Churraoin recently won her first Senior Doubles title while lefty McMahon is a brilliant attacking player who holds wins over all of the world’s best.
Roscommon footballer Fiona Tully takes on Kildare’s Mollie Dagg in the second match on the card, with Tyrone citeog Eilise McCrory facing 22-year-old Galway woman Niamh Heffernan, who partnered Ní Churraoin to glory in the doubles.
Both McCrory and Tully picked up major titles in the wallball code last season and will be hoping to add 4-wall honours this season.
Robbie McCarthy 1
The Men’s quarter-finals feature a stellar line-up, with the field strengthened by the sensational return to action of Paul Brady, who has not entered the All-Irelands since winning his 10th title in 2013.
The former Cavan footballer has been in fine form, notably seeing off Kilkenny’s Peter Funchion last weekend. He will face Tyrone’s wallball king Conor McElduff in the third of the quarter-finals.
First up in the men’s last eight showdowns is the clash of defending champion, the Mullingar maestro Robbie McCarthy, who faces Kilkenny’s Patrick Funchion.
Former winner Diarmaid Nash of Clare meets last year’s Intermediate Singles winner Gavin Coyle from Monaghan while the last of the matches is an all-Cork affair as recently-crowned doubles winner Daniel Relihan (Liscarroll) takes on hard-hitting young Mallow man David Walsh.
Action serves off at 10am on both Saturday and Sunday and the matches will be streamed live on the Sport TG4 Facebook page.