THE stage is set for the semi-finals of the men’s and ladies open singles grades at the oneills.com World 4-Wall Handball Championships following a highly dramatic day of action in the National Handball Centre at Croke Park yesterday.
The match of the day was the meeting of 2018 world champion Killian Carroll and 2022 All-Ireland senior singles winner Diarmaid Nash.
Clareman Nash came out shooting and stunned Mallow native Carroll, who is based in Boston, winning the first game 15-1.
Carroll forced a tie-breaker with a 15-8 win in the second set but Nash’s precision kills made the difference as he ran out an 11-8 winner in the third after an epic encounter.
Nash will now meet 25-year-old Mallow man David Walsh, who produced a stunning upset against Team Ireland captain Robbie McCarthy in the final match of the day, winning 8-15, 15-8, 11-9.
Number one seed Martin Mulkerrins was in awesome form as he dispatched Kilkenny’s Peter Funchion, who had upset top Mexican Daniel Cordova on Wednesday, 15-8, 15-0.
The Moycullen right-hander will face five-times world champion Paul Brady of Cavan in Saturday’s semi-final after the former Breffni footballer defeated Daniel Relihan 15-5, 15-6.
“The earlier rounds are about getting through them, the business end starts now from this point. I feel good, there is no stiffness, I feel fresh enough. I now have 48 hours until I play again on Saturday,” Brady said.
“It’s all business now at this point, you can’t let up. You’ve got to be at your best from now on. A lot of those lads have come of age, they’re all at their peaks. They’re 31, 28… Plus they’ve started to win a lot more tournaments that I haven’t been playing in in the last five or six years actively so they are a lot more confident.
“I’ve got to rewind the clock and hit the levels I was hitting 10 years ago, that’s just the way it is at this point.”
Mulkerrins, meanwhile, was glad to have calibrated his game in a doubles match alongside partner Killian Carroll on Wednesday evening which allowed him more practice on the tricky exhibition court at Croke Park.
“You don’t want too much court time obviously but I was glad we got a doubles game yesterday, it was another opportunity to play on the glass court. It gave a bit of extra time to tidy up a few things and it all came together there this morning,” he said.
“When I started playing handball, Paul was the guy and he’s obviously still there, he’s that good. It’s a dream for me to be here, this is where I want to be and what I have been preparing for. To be in Croke Park in handball’s centenary year, with a sell-out crowd, playing Paul Brady, it’s a fantastic occasion, great for the sport and I’m really looking forward to it.”
In the ladies singles, Galway’s Niamh Heffernan produced a shock when she defeated Tyrone star Eilise McCrory (15-4, 15-8).
Elsewhere, Galway’s Ciana Ní Churraoin ran out an easy straight-games winner over American Mikaila Esser, with Team Ireland captain Fiona Tully defeating Mollie Dagg 15-5, 15-6 and Martina McMahon of Limerick an impressive 15-8, 15-1 victor over New York’s Danielle Daskalakis.
In the men’s open doubles quarter-finals, Mulkerrins and Carroll take on Americans Sam Esser and Braulio Ruiz on Friday, with McCarthy and Joe McCann facing the Canada-USA pairing of Ivan Burgos and Ray Ure.
In a battle of the brothers’, Patrick and Peter Funchion meet Luis and Daniel Cordova, while Nash and Colin Crehan are up against Abraham Montijo and Leo Canales.
