The National Handball Centre in Croke Park is the venue for Saturday's oneills.com All-Ireland 4-Wall senior doubles semi-finals.
In the men’s draw, holders Peter and Patrick Funchion bid to move a step closer to retaining the title they captured last year, a landmark success which marked the first Kilkenny victory in the grade in 27 years.
The Kells brothers were impressive again on their way to the last four, accounting for Mayo’s Paddy Murphy and Dessie Keegan (21-6, 21-19) before easing past Eoghan McGinnity, a former two-time minor champion, and Ramunas Ramanauskas in the quarter-final (21-8, 21-9).
They now face one of the stories of this year’s championship in Antrim’s Jordan O’Neill and Mark Rainey.
Former intermediate champions, O’Neill and Rainey have become the first Antrim pairing in over 20 years to reach a senior doubles semi-final and arrive in Croke Park with momentum after a standout tie-break victory over Mallow duo Tadhg O’Neill and David Walsh.
The other men’s semi-final pits Clare’s Diarmaid Nash and Colin Crehan, one of the most decorated partnerships still in contention, against Cork’s former winners Daniel Relihan (pictured below) and Michael Hedigan in what promises to be a high-quality rematch of the 2024 final.
Nash and Crehan are three-time champions and have also been beaten in two finals. They advanced with composed wins over Galway’s Oisín Ó Cualáin and Conor Noone, 21-8, 21-10, before accounting for Wicklow’s Michael Gregan and Jerome Willoughby, 21-13, 21-6.
In the ladies championship, Galway’s Ciana Ní Churraoin and Niamh Heffernan enter as strong favourites to retain their title.
Representing the Michael Breathnachs and Claregalway clubs respectively, the reigning champions have established themselves as the leading pairing in the game and will be expected to bring their trademark control and power to bear again.
Their opponents are Cork’s Carmel Kelleher and Aishling O’Keeffe, a vastly experienced doubles operator who won 17 senior All-Ireland medals alongside Catriona Casey across both 40x20 and 60x30.
The second ladies semi-final sees sisters Mollie and Hannah Dagg from Leixlip take on Clare duo Caitríona Millane and Leah Minogue.
Dagg has emerged as one of the leading senior players while Hannah, a stand-out underage player, is stepping up to the top level.
Action throws in at 2pm at Croke Park, with the matches streamed live on the Spórt TG4 YouTube channel.
