One of the most intriguing O'Neill's All-Ireland senior singles handball championships of the past 15 years begins to come to the boil this weekend with the quarter-finals down for decision.
Of the eight men still in the hunt, four - Robbie McCarthy [Westmeath], Charly Shanks [Armagh], Eoin Kennedy [Dublin] and holder Martin Mulkerrins [Galway] - have won the title in the past and that stellar list does not even include the number one seed, Clare left-hander Diarmaid Nash.
The Tuamgraney clubman, a former Banner underage hurler, has been in superb form on the pre-championship tournament circuit, winning two of the four events and losing the others at the final stage in close tiebreakers.
While he claimed his first All-Ireland senior medal when winning the doubles, with Colin Crehan riding shotgun, last season, Nash has yet to get over the line in singles, having been in the final once when he lost to McCarthy in 2014.
"At the start of the year I would have set out to win as many of the tournaments as possible ahead of the championship," he said this week.
"A tournament is always like a month's training so it's great physical prep but I also wanted to be more consistent."
That level of consistency has certainly been established, with the Dublin-based actuary eschewing his traditional defensive, grinding style for a more attack-focused game which has reaped its rewards.
Ironically, Nash meets Kennedy at Crinkle, Co Offaly at 11am on Saturday knowing that he is up against a defensive master. At 40, Kennedy has rolled back the years and a recent tournament victory over Mulkerrins confirmed his status as a genuine contender for the Gael Linn Cup once more.
"I'd like to consider myself intelligent in the court but this guy is next level," said Nash of Saturday's opponent.
"Every shot he hits has a purpose. We train together a fair bit. He's so good defensively, he's awesome on the roof and negates good serves very well. He's very wily, keeps you constantly moving.
"He's a very, very good player but if you want to win the championship, you have to beat everybody and I think if I play well, I should win."
The action in the O'Neill's senior singles serves off on Saturday morning.
