Derek Ryan takes a break from the gruelling professional squash circuit to return to Dublin this weekend to play in the National Championships at Fitzwilliam. The world number 18 will be defending the title he won by beating Willie Hosey in last year's final, the fourth national success of his career.
Hosey has also returned home for the championships from Canada and, despite being eligible for the Over-35 section this year, the Carlow man has entered the A section, where he will be seeking his 11th title. Patrick Foster and brothers Chris and Maurice Collins, all of whom represented Ireland in the recent World Team Championships in Malaysia, will be among Ryan and Hosey's leading challengers.
Aisling McArdle, based in Australia, is unable to defend her title, and, in her absence, Belfast's Madeline Perry is top seed. Caroline Coyle and Olivia French are seeded two and three, respectively, with last year's runner-up, Anna McGeever of Sligo, the number four seed.
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/f1b9c8e1-66b0-4f83-ad11-12d4383c8edb.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)