HANNAH Sexton didn’t realise that pulling out of her senior championship score in June 2023 would mark the start of the most frustrating spell of her road bowling career.

Reigning Munster champion after a dream debut season at senior level the previous year, the Timoleague thrower was primed to push on.

But after a few practice throws one Friday evening, Hannah woke the next morning to find her right shoulder – her powerful bowling shoulder – completely locked.

‘There was no movement whatsoever, and that didn’t go away for a long time,’ the 23-year-old says.

It forced her to initially postpone her Munster senior women’s championship semi-final against Geraldine Curtin. One week later, with her shoulder still locked, Hannah relinquished her crown. Her troubles were only beginning.

‘It was a serious shoulder injury. It was from over-bowling, I was told – I hadn’t heard that one before,’ Hannah says, the irony not lost on a bowler with a knack for winning the game’s biggest prizes, from underage to senior.

She returned to action for the European Bowling Championships in Germany in May 2024. That was a target met, and she felt she performed well, but Hannah knew she wasn’t yet at the level she needed to be. Still, she battled her way through to the Munster final, but couldn’t match Geraldine Curtin in Castletownkenneigh.

Sisters Hannah and Laura after their Muster senior and junior double. (Photo: Paul Stack)

‘I wasn’t able to practice as much as I should have been,’ Hannah explains.

‘Even in the championship last year (2024), I was lucky to get to the Munster final because I was just going from score to score and no practice in between. That’s unheard of in our house – we more or less practice every single day.

‘It was a tough two years. A killer, because bowling is our life at home. I went from bowling all the time and having such good years in 2021 (Munster intermediate winner) and ’22 (Munster senior champ) to then having to pull out of championships and competitions two years in a row.

‘I was on painkillers for every score, and after the 2024 Munster final I pulled out of every tournament. I said to my dad that I needed to get this sorted. I went full throttle into rehab to fix the shoulder.’

Hannah linked up with Dr Edel Fanning, a shoulder rehabilitation specialist from Dublin, to get to the root of her shoulder woes. Dr Fanning’s role in this comeback story is key – she researched road bowling to understand what the West Cork woman needed to climb back to the top. Hat-tip also to physiotherapist Neil Burrell from Clonakilty. This was an injury that had developed over time. Wear and tear.

‘I am very hyper-mobile, but I can lock up and seize up so fast after a score. It’s just the way I am,’ Hannah says.

‘We thought I might need surgery because the pain stretched from my neck down to the front and back of my shoulder, even under my armpit. It was a lot of rehab – start from scratch again, build it up.

‘It’s something I have to manage. I’d notice that if I wasn’t throwing for a few weeks, I’d feel my shoulder getting very tight. I need to keep active to keep the swing in it.’

Now the good news: Hannah is bowling pain-free. Victory in itself. But there’s a steeliness and competitiveness that has always underlined her trophy-laden rise. In the summer of 2021, Hannah won All-Ireland U18 and Munster intermediate titles within a five-week period despite a cruciate tear in her left knee. Tough stuff.

Feeling good again, Hannah noticed ‘massive improvements’. Her speed and strength are back, in contrast to the frustrating days she bowled when injured – there were tell-tale signs, like how she was pulling left and wasn't able to hit the ‘sop’ like usual. In the groove again this past year, she powered her way back to the Munster final and proved too strong for Hannah Cronin in Bauravilla. A super summer Saturday that will live long in Sexton family folklore.

On the same day Hannah wrestled back the Munster crown, her younger sister Laura (18) captured the junior title. What’s rare is wonderful – two sisters conquering their home patch, one straight after the other.

‘We had an unbelievable day,’ Hannah smiles.

‘I was throwing out, and Laura was throwing back in. It was the first-ever junior championship that had an All-Ireland, and Laura went on and won that too. It was a brilliant year in our house.

‘We were so lucky that my brother Seán, who’s in Australia, flew in the day before. It was almost the full house, we had one sister missing. Everyone was on the road, all of our supporters who are brilliant.

‘Bringing two Munster titles back to Timoleague on the same day was brilliant. It’ll never be done again.’

That’s the stuff of legend right there. A tale to tell, and that matters. Hannah feels blessed with her team of supporters, and loves listening to yarns from the past. Now, the Sexton sisters have made their own: the day they conquered Munster, together.

‘One of my road showers, Harry Jennings, and the late Denis Collins are two really influential bowlers I have worked with over the years. Hearing their stories leaves you thinking “oh my God, how do I get to that level of bowling”. What they saw with Mick Barry over the years. The stories,’ Hannah says, and the hope is there are more great days to come that will, in time, become stories for future generations.

A sure-fire way for any top women’s bowler to guarantee their place amongst the greats is if they can end the dominance of the brilliant Armagh juggernaut Kelly Mallon. When she beat Hannah in the All-Ireland final at Keady-Tassagh in August, she captured her 12th All-Ireland senior bowling title.

‘I knew I was a massive underdog against Kelly,’ Hannah admits.

‘I had a target in my head that I didn’t want her to pull away from me too much and I wanted to stay in contention as long as I could. And I did, I kept it a bowl of odds for the majority of the score. I didn’t want it to run away, and it didn’t, but I was bowling against an exceptional bowler.

‘It’s a different level of bowing with Kelly, it’s above what we’re doing down here. She is a once-in-a-generation bowler. She is unbelievable. You just need to recognise how good Kelly is.’

The hope is to close the gap, and Hannah’s working hard. Two days after the loss to Mallon, Hannah was back in the gym. More strength, more speed. Building towards 2026. And always willing to go the extra mile that’s needed – the Tuesday after Hannah and Laura won Munster titles, they travelled from Timoleague to Armagh to practice on the road that would host the All-Ireland. Commitment.

On her lunch breaks at O’Connor Pyne and Co Accountants in Ballincollig – where she’s studying and working towards her chartered accountancy exams – Hannah will try to bowl. Practice, practice, practice. More stories waiting to be written.