WPH Press, Salt Lake City, UT, 4/2/22
The WPH Aces Race 4 Eight Player’s Championship returns for the first time in 1,057 days at the Sports Mall in Salt Lake City, UT, as the game’s best R48, WR48, and SR48 pros will travel to The Crossroads of the West for the 2021/22 Race 4 Eight X finale.
In this 2022 WPH Aces Race 4 Eight Player’s Championship Fun Facts & Elite Stats, we will examine a number of Race 4 Eight Fun Facts heading into Salt Lake City, break down the season records from the R48 Elite 8 and WR48 Fab 4, and showcase a number of important pre Salt Lake City links to get you ready for the big one on April 8.
2022 WPH Aces Race 4 Eight Player’s Championship Fun Facts
- Three players enter the 2022 WPH Aces Race 4 Eight Player’s Championship undefeated on the 2021/22 Race 4 Eight season: Killian Carroll (21-0), Catriona Casey (3-0), Danielle Daskalakis (3-0)
- 2022 WPH Aces Race 4 Eight Player’s Championship will be the 70th event in the history of the Race 4 Eight tour
- Including the upcoming 2022 WPH Aces Race 4 Eight Player’s Championship, the Race 4 Eight will have hosted 119 total events: R48 Men’s Pro (70), WR48 (24), SR48 (25),
- Sam Esser is the only player in the R48 Men’s Pro Elite 8 to have not made a semifinal this season (three fifth place finishes, five quarterfinal appearances)
- In two 2021/22 WR48 events, there have been four different finalists (Casey, Daskalakis, Tully, Moler)
- Shorty Ruiz has the most round of 16 losses of any player in the R48 Elite 8 (3)
- Leo Canales is the only player on the 2021/22 R48 X to advance to the round of 8 in all six R48 X events
- After not earning R48 ranking points in his first two R48 X starts, Max Langmack has earned ranking points in his last four R48 X starts (5th, 9th, 7th, 9th), catapulting him into the R48 X top 10
- In six 2021/22 R48 Men’s pro events, there have been two different champions (Carroll, Fink), and six different finalists (Carroll, Fink, Lucho, Danos, Nash, Brady)
- Catriona Casey (21) and Killian Carroll (20) have won the most Race 4 Eight titles
- It has been 888 days since Carroll’s last WPH pro singles loss (November 3, 2019-April 8, 2022), Carroll is 77-6 in games won/lost during 35-match streak with 7 consecutive R48 (4-Wall) titles
- Co-WR48 #1 Danielle Daskalakis rides an 8-Match, 3-tournament winning streak into Salt Lake City – Danielle is 16-3 in games won/lost (84%) during the 8-match streak, 3-0 in tiebreakers, 338-200 points won/lost (63%) during 8-match streak, and DD became the first American player to win a WR48 event (Casey: 20, Reilly: 1, McMahon: 1, Danielle: 1)
- Co-WR48 #1 Catriona Casey rides a 9-tournament WR48 winning streak into Salt Lake City, having won 21 of the 23 WR48 events she has entered, finishing number one in every completed WR48 season (2014-2019), winning every WR48 Player’s Championship ever held (2014-2019), owning a 70-2 WR48 match record (97%), and in the 21 WR48 events Catriona Casey has won, Casey won 133 out of 137 games played (97%)
- Catriona Casey outscored her three opponents 90-11 (89%) in her only start on the 2021/22 WR48 at the 2022 WR48 Houston, collecting her twenty-first WR48 title
- Salt Lake City and the Aces crew will be hosting their sixth Aces Race 4 Eight Player’s Championship
- David Fink (125) owns the most match wins in the 69-event history of the Race 4 Eight
- Catriona Casey is undefeated at the Player’s Championship (19-0)
- Catriona Casey has not lost a WR48 match in 1,608 days (Martina McMahon, 2017 Tucson Memorial)
- Killian Carroll will be aiming for his fifth consecutive Aces Race 4 Eight Player’s Championship, while attempting to complete the first undefeated R48 Men’s season in history
- Through five events on the 2021/22 season, R48 #1 Killian Carroll’s points won/points lost: 672-302 (69%)
- Killian Carroll has won 20 of 35 R48 events he has entered: 57%, Catriona Casey has won 21 of 23 WR48 events she has entered (91%)
- In 69 official Men’s Pro R48 events, 2,079 players have entered, including the invited pros, qualifiers, and U.S. Open (open draw)
- Luis Cordova is the youngest R48 pro to finish the season in the Elite age: 21 years old in 2012
- The Race 4 Eight Men’s Pro held its first 3-Wall ranking event at the December 2021 R48 Icebreaker at the WPH’s Clark Park
- Five R48 Men’s Pros registered their best career finishes at the 2021 December R48 Icebreaker: Fink (1st), Ruiz (3rd), Langmack (5th), Bernhard (6th), D. Perez (9th)
Breaking Down the R48 Men’s Top 8 on the 2021/22 R48 X Season
Win/loss record, number of events, best finish on the season, best career finish
#1 Killian Carroll
21-0, 5 events
Best finish: 5 R48 titles
Best Career Finish: 20 titles
#2 Lucho Cordova
13-5, 5 events
Best finish: 3 finals
Best Career Finish: 4 titles
#3 Danos Cordova
10-6, 5 events
Best finish: 1 final
Best Career Finish: 3 titles
#3 David Fink
12-3, 4 events
Best finish: 1 title
Best Career Finish: 1 title
#5 Leo Canales, Jr.
10-8, 6 events
Best finish: 1 semifinal
Best Career Finish: semifinal
#6 Sam Esser
13-7, 6 events
Best finish: 3 fifth place finishes
Best Career Finish: 5th place
#7 Shorty Ruiz
13-8, 6 events
Best finish: 1 semifinal
Best Career Finish: semifinal
#8 Stephen Cooney
6-6, 4 events
Best finish: 1 semifinal
Best Career Finish: semifinal
Breaking Down the WR48 Top 4 on the 2021/22 WR48 Season
Win/loss record, number of events, best finish on the season, best career finish
#1 Catriona Casey
3-0, 1 event
Best finish: 1 title
Best Career Finish: 21 titles
#1 Danielle Daskalakis
3-0, 1 event
Best finish: 1 title
Best Career Finish: 1 title
#3 Ashley Moler
3-3, 3 events
Best finish: 1 final
Best Career Finish: 1 final
#3 Fiona Tully
2-1, 1 event
Best finish: 1 final
Best Career Finish: 1 final
Important Links
Salt Lake City Aces 2022 press release HERE
DF’s R48 Fun Facts and Trends HERE
WPH Race 4 Eight Power Rankings HERE
Crossing Over: Inside the Number w/ Killian Carroll HERE
WPH Coaching Centers HERE
To view the brackets and tournament info from the 2022 WPH Aces Race 4 Eight Player’s Championship, go HERE
For much more on the 2021/22 Race 4 Eight X season and to catch up on all of the daily handball news and headlines, visit wphlive.tv
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer