The curtain fell on Paul Brady’s 25-year career at the top of Irish handball and the finale could not have been more dramatic as he overcame injury to see off Cork’s David Walsh in a final which is already being spoken about as one of the greatest ever.
In the end, it came down to a single shot, a 39-foot roll-out which saw Brady – who at 45 was giving away 20 years to his opponent – claim a record-breaking 11th oneills.com All-Ireland Senior Men’s Singles title after a rollercoaster of a match.
“I suppose it was just a primal type shot,” said Brady of his backwall kill which closed out a 21-20, 13-21, 11-9 win.
The Cavan man came up short in the 2024 final on an injury default, which served as extra motivation this time around.
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“Everything went into it, after having to forfeit at that stage last year when I was obviously well in command and knowing it was going to be my last game here, at this level.
“So I thought of that during that period before and I said, ‘right, I’m just gonna go for it here, give everything’. That’s just it, I probably wasn’t doing that in the game generally. That’s a little bit disappointing for me, but that (the final shot) is normally how clinical I would be.”
Brady led most of the way in game one before Walsh came roaring back. Both men had chances to win it but Brady closed it out 21-20.
Ahead 8-1 in the second, he seemed to be cruising to a comfortable victory only to pick up a debilitating quad injury which required a number of injury timeouts. Brady hobbled his way through the remainder of the second game which Walsh won 21-13.
Brady had reached the final 12 months ago and found himself in a near-identical situation when injury struck. On that occasion he was forced to forfeit, but this time he managed to eke out the win.
“The same thing happened last year, so it was just about managing the situation a wee bit better this year,” Brady said.
“I had a shoulder issue coming into it and I didn’t get to play as much as I’d like so I think that kind of contributed to the conditioning aspect of it. It’s obviously very difficult, the atmosphere and the heat on the day, so I’m just happy I was able to get through it.
“I’m very conscious of my self-talk. You’re fighting it because you’re thinking, ‘this is over here, it’s really gone from me, it’s happened again’, and that’s life. And then you’re answering those doubts all the time. So it was just managing my thoughts and my self-talk and not giving in.
“You’re having a battle with yourself and if I can win that battle in those situations, then I’ll win the game.”
The Women’s Senior Singles title went to Limerick’s Martina McMahon for a second time after the Broadford left-hander delivered an outstanding performance to defeat Ciana Ní Churraoin of Galway, 21-5, 21-18.
McMahon previously lost in the World Championships final against the Micheál Breathnachs woman, so this was a doubly sweet victory.
“It’s a long seven years waiting for this. As everyone knows, I was out with injury but at the start of 2025 or the end of 2024. This was one of the goals on my agenda and I’m glad to have achieved it today,” McMahon said.
“I was disappointed over the Worlds, obviously I would have liked to retain that title, but I used it as fuel for the fire for this competition. And when I knew it was the two of us doing battle again today, I was hoping to get one up and I was glad I did.”
