Roscommon's Fiona Tully claimed the oneills.com All-Ireland Ladies 4-Wall Senior Singles title for the first time on Saturday while Westmeath's Robbie McCarthy secured his eighth title at the National Handball Centre, Croke Park.
McCarthy was in superb form as he defeated Clare’s Diarmaid Nash 21-19, 21-7, with Tully seeing off Galway’s world champion Ciana Ní Churraoin 21-17, 21-14.
McCarthy looked comfortable in game one, serving powerfully and taking his chances up front, before Nash found his range and threatened to take the opener, leading 19-18. The Mullingar man, though, found another gear and closed it out with a pass shot down the left which Nash protested should have been called a replay.
The second game was one-way traffic as McCarthy got on top early and drove on. McCarthy had intimated he was retiring after the Senior Softball Singles final last August but had a change of heart and played as well as ever here.
"I'd say there's a lot of people raging I did come back but it's their fault, a couple of people brought me back to be honest and I just want to say thanks to them people, they know who they are," said McCarthy.
"It feels great to be back and pick up another one. I'm just playing for fun now, no pressure, I'm just enjoying myself and it seems to be working. I really appreciate everything everyone did for me this year.
"I'm not going to say whether I will or whether I won't (continue to play) because I made that mistake already.
"I'm just going to play and enjoy myself and if I feel like I'm able to compete and stick with the younger lads, I'm happy. Just enjoying myself and still being around the game is really nice."
Tully, meanwhile, brought the Ladies Senior Singles title back to the famous St Coman’s club in Roscommon Town for the first time after the first ever all-Connacht Ladies decider.
Both players looked nervous early on but Tully was able to push on at key moments, including impressively serving three successive aces in one blistering spell in the second game.
"I don't know if I thought it was ever going to happen. I'm delighted, finally getting over the line in a big final," she said.
"If you had told me last October that I would win two of the big events this year, the Nationals and the All-Ireland, I really don't think that I would have believed you.
"Last October, it was so tough to get back into the court. But I got a lot of help from people around me, I haven't done this by myself throughout the years."
The former Roscommon footballer’s journey to the top wasn’t easy, she said.
"I think I came up to senior when I was 19, Aisling Reilly, Catriona Casey, Martina McMahon were all there... Ciana had been out for a bit because of injury and then she came back. I wasn't training as I should have been but because I had won stuff when I was younger, I thought 'oh, the jump up won't be too bad’. But oh God, it was a lot.
"I got 21-0 losses off them all, I played in the Golden Gloves and the two games lasted 11 minutes, it was bad…
"Last year in Clare, Ciana beat me to single figures. But this year I enjoyed my handball a lot more and I think that kind of paid off.
"This was the fourth time we played this year, she had beaten me in two tiebreakers - I won the first game in both and it was 11-all in the second before she took off and then won the tiebreaker - so I knew I couldn't let it go to a tiebreaker today if I won the first game.
"I'm pretty delighted with how I figured out the game today and happy with how I played."
