Friday at the 2016 NYAC Race 4 Eight kicked off with the R48 Men’s Pro round of 16 and was followed by the WR48 quarterfinals.
R48 #1 Paul Brady returned to his winning form after dropping his last R48 match in Houston, overcoming an 8-1 first-game deficit to score 29 of the next 30 points to defeat Luis Cordova, 15-8, 15-2. David Fink cooled off sharp-shooting Jonathan Iglesias, picking off the native New Yorker in two games. Killian Carroll overcame a second-game loss against former WPH #1 and come-backing Allan Garner to dominate the tiebreaker and advance to the quarterfinals. Emmett Peixoto ousted his frequent rival Nik Nahorniak in two games, while Daniel Cordova survived a first-game scare against the NYAC’s Stephen Cooney to win in two games. Luis Moreno started slowly against Ireland’s Colin Crehan before finding his range and defeating the R48’s youngest pro in two games, Mando Ortiz also started slowly against a surging Marcos Chavez but ultimately defeated his mentor in three games. Mike Schneider pulled off the upset of the day, defeating the R48 #2 Sean Lenning in two games with sensational serving and variety.
Saturday Quarterfinals: LIVE on ESPN3 & WatchESPN App (All Times Eastern)
9am Brady vs. D. Cordova
945am Moreno vs. Peixoto
10:30am Ortiz vs. Fink
11:15am Schneider vs. Carroll
WR48 #1 Catriona Casey advanced to the WR48 semifinals in just 14 minutes, while Sandy Ng and Tracy Davis battled for nearly two hours in the match of the day. After splitting the first two games, Ng and Davis traded the lead seven times in the tiebreaker before Ng served for the match at 10-9. The pair traded six consecutive side outs with incredible retrieving and shot making before Ng ended the match on her fifth match point.
Saturday’s Women’s Semifinals: (To Air LIVE on ESPN3)
12pm Catriona Casey vs Sandy Ng
1245pm Martina McMahon vs Danielle Daskalakis or Hilary Rushe
WPH will also air select men’s 5th place, 9th place or women’s 5th place playoffs or 3rd place matches from 1:30pm until the men’s Elite Semis @ 445pm.
Log onto wphlive.tv, Like the World Players of Handball on Facebook, or follow the WPH on Twitter @dfwph and @wphlive for all of the updates from the 2016 Race 4 Eight NYAC. The live ESPN3 NYAC broadcast (here) starts on Saturday morning, March 12th at 9 am est.
The World Players of Handball is a non-profit foundation aiming to grow the game of handball through innovation and inspiring the next generation of players through junior clinics with certified WPH coaches, junior tournaments and the Race 4 Eight tour.