The World Players of Handball foundation enjoyed an incredible 2015, complete with more than 750 junior handball clinics, numerous junior handball competitions and a number of incredible matches. Choosing just 10 top moments was nearly impossible. Enjoy moment’s seven and eight from 2015!
7. WPH Race 4 Eight Tucson Memorial “Cuevas Tiebreaker”
The World Players of Handball’s Race 4 Eight Tucson Memorial/Junior WPH Benefit honored the members of the worldwide handball community that we have sadly lost throughout the years and produced one of the most touching tributes to one of the most beloved members of the Tucson handball community. Tucson Memorial R48 finalists Sean Lenning and Mando Ortiz played a “Cuevas Tiebreaker” after completing their two-game final. “If you played in Tucson and lost the first two games, you’d always play a third game, known as the “Cuevas tiebreaker,” revealed WPH board member and ambassador Doug Clark. “We were fortunate that Sean and Mando were willing to honor Al Cuevas and the other members of the handball community that we’ve lost and give the crowd a great show.” Lenning and Ortiz entered 2015’s Top 10 for the second time with the “Cuevas Tiebreaker,” which was also the second Race final the pair played against one another in 2015
Full a full recap on the “Cuevas Tiebreaker,” click here
8. Simple Green U.S Open Men’s Semifinals: Paul Brady vs. Sean Lenning and Luis Moreno vs. Robbie McCarthy
The 2015 Simple Green U.S. Open Race 4 Eight V Stop #1 produced two scintillating tiebreakers featuring the top three R48 stars and a former WPH Player’s Champion and current World Doubles Champion.
Luis Moreno and Robbie McCarthy renewed a rivalry that started as teenagers in the junior divisions and continued on the world stage, with Moreno defeating McCarthy at the 2012 World Handball Championships on McCarthy’s home soil and McCarthy defeating Moreno in successive matches at the NYAC and the WPH Player’s Championship on the Race 3 Eight III tour. Moreno and McCarthy matched one another shot-for-shot for nearly three hours until finally reaching 8-8 in the tiebreaker in the thrilling semifinal at the 2015 Simple Green U.S. Open. Moreno was able to cross the line with three consecutive points to win one of the best matches in R48 history.
Brady and Lenning continued a Simple Green U.S. Open rivalry that produced two of the best matches in the history of the illustrious event, an 11-10 Brady tiebreaker win in the finals of the 2007 Simple Green U.S. Open and an 11-9 Brady tiebreaker win in the semifinals of the 2012 Simple Green U.S. Open. Brady and Lenning did not disappoint in their 2015 Simple Green U.S. Open clash, as the two R48 giants battled under the brightest lights in the sport. Lenning surged to a one-game lead and a 15-14 in game two against the 5-time defending world champion and stood just six points from upsetting the king of the sport. With the sold out Simple Green U.S. Open gallery on the edge of their seats, Brady proved why he is the best player in the world, scoring 18 of the next 20 points of the match to narrowly escape defeat against Lenning for the third time a the Simple Green U.S. Open.
For a full recap on the matches, click here>
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer