Tully’s belief earns her shot at glory

Fiona Tully is just one win away from securing the biggest prize in the Irish handball calendar.

The St. Coman’s handballer faces six-time champion, Catriona Casey, in the 4-Wall All-Ireland Senior Singles Handball Championship final this Saturday (today), which will be held in Croke Park.

Not alone is the title on the line but also a place on the Irish team for the World 4-Wall Championships.

Tully faces a tall order as she meets the greatest female handballer of all time, who will be aiming to atone for defeat in last year’s final to Galway’s Ciana Ní Churraoin.

However, the Kilbride ladies’ footballer believes Ní Churraoin’s win in last year’s 4-Wall final has given her the motivation and belief to take the next step.

“Myself and Ciana would have been in the same boat. She hadn’t won it before last year. Ciana beat me 20 and 14 in last year’s semi-final so I knew I was close. I was delighted for her but to see her win spurs you on. It showed Catriona can be beaten and I guess it opened a can of worms,” she told the Roscommon Herald.

Tully has battled hard to reach the national decider, winning her quarter and semi-final within 24 hours of each other.

She admits that she was under the weather on the weekend of the knockout games as she came through a tiebreaker against the talented Mollie Dagg before defeating former All-Ireland champion Martina McMahon 21-16, 21-20, to qualify for the showpiece event.

“It was a very tough weekend. On Saturday, I played a tiebreaker. Mollie is very good. She is very fit, so there was a lot of running in that match. Then, on Sunday, I was a little bit more tired, but you have to dig in. I was a bit sick at the weekend, so it was tough. Against Martina, it was just relief when I came through.” 

The Roscommon woman feels Casey’s tactical understanding of the game makes her a formidable foe but Tully has the necessary belief to challenge the Cork maestro.

“She is a very defensive player. She never misses, while she is technically very smart. Some players might go in and feel it is the same thing all over again when Catriona gets in control but, for the last while, I have gone in there and believed. Hopefully something good comes out of that,” she concluded.

Tully’s final gets underway at 1 p.m. in GAA headquarters this afternoon.