Day 1
Houston, TX, WPH Press, 2/17/23-
The 2023 R48 & WR48 Houston marked the 76th event in the history of the Race 4 Eight tour, with the tour spanning 17 states in the R48’s first ten+ seasons.
The 2023 R48 & WR48 Houston features each Race 4 Eight R48 and WR48 champions of the 2022/23 season, as Luis Cordova (2), Martin Mulkerrins (2), Killian Carroll (1), Catriona Casey (1), and Aimee Tuohey (1) traveled to Space City.
The race for the R48 Men’s Pro #1 kicked into full gear in Houston, as Lucho Cordova (MEX) and Martin Mulkerrins (IRE) continued their battle for the R48 number one.
Lucho Cordova faced the Pride of St. Louis, Jeff Streibig, for the second time this season in the round of 16 and dispatched the Mound City man in two games for the second consecutive time.
Martin Mulkerrins was clinical and efficient in his two-game sweep against Tucson’s Daniel Perez, while Montana champion and 21-time R48 champion Killian Carroll cruised past Minnesota’s David Schiller.
David Fink faced Portland’s Kyle English for the first time and the fireworks came early and often between the two fiery personalities. English earned six timeouts in game two with the help of a mid-game referee change, but despite being tired, managed to run down most of Fink’s kills. “He is unbelievably fast and gets everything,” stated R48 RFC namesake Rodney Fink, referring to the former pro football receiver who ran a 4.36 40-yard dash in his football prime. Fink eventually closed out the match with four straight points. “He really wore me out and hit great corners,” stated English.
Danos Cordova entered Houston having not touched a handball in nearly a month. “I am living about eight hours south of Juarez now and there is no handball there,” Danos would later say. Danos dropped game one against Tucson’s Sam Esser, showing some of the rust that comes with a long layoff. Danos regrouped in game two, forcing a tiebreaker and dominating the third frame. “The second and third games were the worst handball I’ve played in more than a year,” lamented Esser.
Shorty Ruiz faced rival Bill Mehilos, as Ruiz was aiming for his second consecutive top three R48 finish. After losing to Mehilos in the 2022 R48 January Classic, Ruiz blitzed Mehilos 25-1 in the 2022 Houston R48 playoffs and continued his mastery on Mehilos one year later, allowing the Bulldog just one point in two games. “It was the same court last year as today so I don’t think Bill wants to play on this court again,” quipped Ruiz.
Leo Canales faced GAA #5 David Walsh in a highly anticipated matchup of twenty-something stars. Walsh has advanced to two semifinals this season in GAA ranking events and was seeking his first R48 quarterfinal, while Canales was seeking to extend his streak of R48 top five finishes to five. Canales dominated game one and built a lead in game two but Walsh worked his way into the match, eventually leading 12-11. “I lost my concentration for a second and went for a low percentage shot and that was enough to open the door and out here (on tour) everyone can make a run.” Canales regrouped, closing out the match en route to his fifth straight R48 quarterfinal.
*Match of the day* Max Langmack (KS) faced R48 newcomer Diarmuid Mulkerrins (IRE) for a spot in the quarterfinal. Langmack was a man on a mission to start the match, building a 10-0 lead on Mulkerrins on the Irishman’s twenty-fourth birthday. “There is nothing anyone can do when Max is playing like that,” stated Canales watching courtside.
Langmack closed out the first game but fell behind 6-12 in the second. From there Langmack found the zone that carried him to a first game lead. Flat rolling balls from virtually everywhere on the court with either land, Langmack erased the deficit and served for the match at 14-12. A diving re kill attempt into the left corner came up just short on his first attempt to win the match, an off-pace left-handed Mulkerrins paddle kill erased his second match point, and third match point went the way of Mulkerrins with a Langmack error. Langmack missed two back wall setups to bring Mulkerrins to 14 and two more Mulkerrins points forced a third game. Mulkerrins came to life in the third, becoming one of the few players in R48 history to advance to a quarterfinal in his first R48 start.
Round of 16
Mulkerrins def D. Perez 15-3, 15-3
Cordova 7-15, 15-8, 15-4
Shorty def Mehilos 15-0, 15-1
Carroll def Schiller 15-2, 15-5
Fink def English 15-4, 15-11
Canales def Walsh 15-4, 15-13
Mulkerrins def Langmack 5-15, 16-14, 15-5
Lucho def Streibig 15-11, 15-5
Round of 8: Saturday, all times CST
Mulkerrins vs. Danos 10 am
Carroll vs. Shorty 10:45 am
Fink vs. Canales, Jr. 12:15 pm
Lucho vs. D. Mulkerrins 11:30 am
WR48
23-time WR48 champion Catriona Casey (IRE) headlined the WR48 field in Houston, having lost just two matches in her 25-tournament WR48 career and riding a 1,923-day winning streak into Houston. Aimee Tuohey (WI) won her first WR48 title at the WR48LTE New Orleans in January, playing the best ball of her WR48 career.
Aimee Tuohey continued her stellar play from New Orleans, ousting Kristen Hughes in two games, while second-seed Fiona Tully joined Shorty Ruiz in bagel donations against Avery Shepherd.
Fourth-seed Ashley Ruiz faced WR48 Newcomer of the Year candidate Eilise McCrory in the upper bracket quarterfinal, with McCrory defeating Ruiz in a close third place match at the 2022 Tucson Memorial in the pair’s only previous encounter. McCrory won a close first game against Ruiz and cruised in game two to advance to her second WR48 semifinal in two WR48 starts.
Round of 8
Casey bye
McCrory def Ruiz 15-11, 15-3
Tuohey def Hughes 15-6, 15-3
Tully def Shepherd 15-0, 15-0
Semifinals: Saturday, all times CST
Casey vs. McCrory 11:15 pm
Tully vs. Tuohey 2 pm
Follow the brackets from Houston HERE
2023 Houston Race 4 Eight Press Release HERE
2023 Houston Race 4 Eight Broadcast Schedule on the ESPN+: Saturday, February 18, 10 am-7 pm CST, Sunday, February 19, 10 am-1 pm CST.
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WPH RACE 4 EIGHT: The World Players of Handball’s 2022/23 Race 4 Eight XI Powered by ESPN features Race 4 Eight stops in Oregon, Arizona, Louisiana, Montana, Texas, and Pennsylvania, all culminating with The Player’s Championship in Utah in May of 2023. Similar to NASCAR’s Nextel Cup and the FedEx PGA Playoffs, players earn points in the Race 4 Eight’s regular season stops to qualify for the season-ending Player’s Championship and bonus prizes.
For more information on the WPH Race 4 Eight, please contact World Players of Handball Executive Director David Vincent at dave.vincent@wphlive.tv or World Players of Handball Development Director David Fink at david.fink@wphlive.tv. For more information on the World Players of Handball, please visit wphlive.tv
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David Fink
WPH Senior Writer