All four provincial senior doubles champions will contest this season's GAA Handball All Ireland semi-finals, following Meath's third game victory over Armagh on Monday.
In the new-look championship format, Meath's Brian Carroll and Tom Sheridan made sure of their last four spot with a 21-8 win in the third game of their rescheduled quarter-final contest against Armagh's James Doyle and Charly Shanks.
The pairings had initially met over two weeks ago but the tie was abandoned due to a wet court with the score standing at 12-10 in favour of Armagh in the second game, with Meath having won the opener 21-17.
Having lost the All Ireland Senior Singles decider to Paul Brady on Saturday evening, Charly Shanks was back in Kingscourt just 48 hours later and, along with Doyle, got the re-fixed tie off to a great start as they won 21-15.
However, the experienced Royal County duo eventually came through with that 21-8 win in the third. That result sets up an enticing semi-final head to head on Saturday evening next in Abbeylara (Longford), as Meath take on Cavan's Paul Brady and Michael Finnegan.
‘It was real battle against Charly and James, but we’re expecting an even tougher outing against Cavan this weekend,’ said Carroll.
‘Paul and Michael are one of the best doubles combinations in the world, but we’ve put in a big effort this year and hopefully things go well for us on the day.’
The second semi-final will draw a large crowd to Moycullen (Galway) as reigning champions, Mayo’s Dessie Keegan and Joe McCann face rising Limerick stars, Seamus O'Carroll and CJ Fitzpatrick, with the Treaty men also having the All-Ireland Intermediate Doubles final on their agenda in the weeks ahead.
Also in action this weekend are the top four ladies in the country as they battle it out in the All-Ireland semi-finals.
Number one seed, Aisling Reilly (Antrim) takes on Kildare’s Anna Spence in Kingscourt (Cavan), while Kerry’s Maria Daly and Marianna Rushe (Roscommon) go head-to-head for the second weekend in succession at the Crinkle venue in Offaly.
Both games will be keenly contested with a place in next week’s All-Ireland Senior Singles Final on the line.
