Nash has to dig deep to claim national title

The 2013 adult Irish nationals have concluded at venues throughout Ulster, with the open titles going to Diarmaid Nash of Clare and Antrim’s Aisling Reilly. Following a packed weekend of action, it was semi-finals and finals day on Sunday and a feast of handball was in store for enthusiasts at the Ulster venues.

The men’s open final saw Diarmaid Nash take on Meath’s Brian Carroll. Neither man had won the title before.
Both had some eyecatching victories in the lead up to the final. Carroll had overcome Martin Mulkerrins, Galway, who had dethroned number one seed Robbie McCarthy of Westmeath in a titanic semi-final earlier on in the day.
He started off the brighter of the two and showed no signs of tiredness as he displayed a full array of shots to take the first game 21-15.

The second game saw Nash, who had earlier seen off number two seed Michael Finnegan, come out fighting and despite Carroll taking a 9-6 lead, the Clare man dug deep to reel off the scores. He displayed some terrific shooting to claim the second on a 21-11 scoreline and send the game into a tiebreak.

The tiebreak saw Nash assume control and take a 5-3 lead. After an exchange of serves he then extended his advantage to 7-3 and looked to be in control.

Carroll, to his credit, produced some sublime shots to regain serve but just couldn’t make it count and Nash proceeded to close the game out 11-3 and capture his first national title, to the delight of his supporters in the large crowd present.

This is a remarkable achievement for the Tuamgraney clubman, who was runner-up to Robbie McCarthy in 2011.
Nash now sets his sights on the USHA Nationals in June and will be hoping to make his mark there also.

Also in action in Kingscourt was Fergal Coughlan, Clooney-Quin, who competed in the Masters A Division. He lost out in a close semi-final against Egin Jensen of Dublin, 21-17, 21-14.