WHILE THERE ARE a record 1,675 entries in the oneills.com World 4-Wall Championships, which served off on Saturday last at Croke Park and other Leinster venues, the elite Open Singles grades will take centre stage.

The sensational return of five-time world champion Paul Brady to competitive action earlier this year energised the sport and drew sell-out crowds to Croke Park and the Cavanman’s presence in the field, along with the leading Mexican and Canadian players, ensures that the Men’s Open, which served off on Monday, boasts one of the strongest fields assembled in decades.

The Men’s field has been whittled down to 16, with all of the top seeds still standing, although Cork’s Tadhg Carroll came close to a major upset when forcing Mexican star Luis Cordova to a tiebreaker.

The Ladies Open begins today; the field is weakened by the absence of the peerless Catriona Casey of Cork, the most decorated female player in the game, but remains strong. Galway’s Ciana Ní Churraoin and New Yorker Danielle Daskalakis hold the number one and two seeds respectively, with Limerick’s 2018 world champion Martina McMahon and Team Ireland captain Fiona Tully also among the big guns.

Tully (26), a stand-out footballer who represented Roscommon for a number of seasons at senior level, has gate-crashed the elite end of female handball in the last couple of years, finishing runner-up in the All-Ireland Senior Singles, the US Nationals and the World Wallball Championships in 2024 alone.

While that suggests the St Coman’s woman is right in the mix, she has yet to get over the line in a 4-Wall ‘Major’, something that is driving her on this week.

“I have lost a good few finals and it’s tough to take all the time, I guess it does add fuel to the fire for motivation,” she said.

“Losing finals isn’t easy. I kind of came into senior handball with a barrier to break and it has been a tough couple of years, always having to play the top players, and losing has been very tough. Look, they are amazing, Catriona (Casey) and all them, they are so good that I can’t really take it away from them but it has been really tough trying to get close to them.

“You don’t realise how much training you really need to get that good until you are playing them. Losing those finals has gradually motivated me.”

Handball is experiencing a surge at present, with the inaugural World Wallball Championships attracting 900 entries and this event almost doubling it. It has led to a packed schedule, with Tully also competing on the professional circuit in America.

“The 1700 entries is absolutely crazy, it’s unreal to see in what is a minority sport, to see so many playing is absolutely class and to see the Americans coming over. I do think Croke Park will be buzzing with everyone there and then the other venues in Leinster as well will be really good.

“We’ve been playing since last November, the 4-Wall, Wallball… it has been tough to keep going and going but it’s the World Championships, everyone is training hard, you’ve got to just keep going and what keeps you motivated is the title at the end of the day.”

The Open Singles grades continue through to Sunday’s finals, with all matches streamed live on the Spórt TG4 YouTube channel.