Handball: McCarthy secures ninth All-Ireland softball title in style

Robbie McCarthy Jnr romped to his ninth All-Ireland senior softball (60x30) title in St Coman’s Handball Club, Roscommon on Saturday, beating Meath man and All-Ireland final debutant Gary McConnell.

The players were locked at nine apiece in the first game before McCarthy turned on the style to pull away and win 21-10. His class came to the fore in the second game, which he won 21-3.

“Yeah, I’m feeling really good after that. Training went really well over the last couple of months for this, and I still feel pretty good, and pretty strong,” McCarthy told GAAHandball.ie afterwards.

“Gary started really strong, hitting the ball really hard and well. That’s Gary.

“Gary and I have trained really hard together over the years. I’ve trained a lot in Kells with the boys, and we know each other’s game very well.

“I still think Gary is going to be the next one to take over in 60x30 as it stands, and he’ll be back again very soon.”

McCarthy would not be drawn on whether or not he would return in 2023 to seek his tenth softball crown.

“I don’t know whether I will or won’t be back. I’ll have to sit down with my wife and family and see if we can adapt to training over the few months,” he said.

Meanwhile, another Westmeath man, Multyfarnham’s Mick Naughton, became the EMAS (Masters) All-Ireland Softball champion by defeating Mayo’s Tom Sweeney on a scoreline of 21-8, 21-9.