Danos Sees Red
Day 3
Missoula, MT, WPH Press, 2/4/24-
Finals Sunday would crown a first-time Red Death champion, as well as the conclusion of the R48 Red Death Playoffs.
Final: Danos vs. Canales
Danos was seeking to become the first two-time Race 4 Eight champion of the 2023/24 season, as he, Martin Mulkerrins, Killian Carroll and Lucho Cordova had each won one title thus far this season. Leo Canales was seeking his first Race 4 Eight title in his second Race 4 Eight final, having made his first final at the 2023 R48 Player’s Championship.
Danos started quickly in the final, showing no signs of the leg cramps that nearly crippled him upon the conclusion of his semifinal battle with Martin Mulkerrins on Saturday night. Canales, on the other hand, simply could not find the form that saw him dominate his first three opponents. Danos led 14-0 in game one before Canales earned his first point, eventually scoring four.
Canales was more competitive in the second game, but still error-prone. “I just did not have it today,” Canales would later say.
Danos kept the pressure on, digging most of Canales’s best shots and executing fly kills and in-the-rally hops to force errors. Canales ended the match with three errors, as Danos clinched his fifth Race 4 Eight title.
“My girlfriend saw the (Red Death) trophy as soon as we got here and she was confident I was going to win it,” Danos would tell ESPN’s Kara Mack. “I was not as confident but I’m glad it happened. I dedicate this win to my grandmother, who is not doing well in Mexico.”
Final: Danos def Canales 15-4, 15-8
Playoffs
5th place playoff: David Fink bounced back from his quarterfinal loss to Leo Canales by overcoming match point at 21-24 to defeat R48 #1 Lucho Cordova in the fifth place semifinals and pulling away from Mark Doyle to win the fifth place final. “Any time you can defeat the current #1, that is a huge accomplishment, so I’m very happy with the result,” stated Fink.
Final: Fink def Doyle 25-9
9th place playoff: Ivan Burgos nearly took down Red Death semifinalist Vic Perez in the round of 16, falling in a tiebreaker. Burgos channeled his frustration by convincingly defeating Loren Collado, Jab Bike and Jeff Streibig to win ninth, his best finish since December’s R48 Icebreaker.
Final: Burgos def Streibig 25-11
17th place playoff: Niall O’Connor registered his best finish of the season by winning seventeenth, bouncing back from a one hour and forty-five minute round of 32 loss to Diarmuid Mulkerrins to defeat hometown hero John Chapman in the seventeenth place final. “We were pretty close at 20-16 and Niall hit five straight ace serves,” stated Chapman.
Final: O’Connor def Chapman 25-16
2024 R48 Red Death Finishes
1st: Danos
2nd: Canales
3rd: M. Mulkerrins/Perez
5th: Fink
6th: Doyle
7th: Lucho/Esser
9th: Burgos
10th: Streibig
11th: D. Mulkerrins/Bike
13th: Collado/Langmack/Ruiz/Montijo
17th: O’Connor
Women’s Open Singles
Aoife Holden captured her first open singles title in the U.S., defeating WR48 top six pros Mikaila Esser and Ashley Ruiz in back-to-back matches on Saturday. Holden trailed Esser 0-7 to start their semifinal but rallied with Irish whip kills and passes to take the first game 21-16 and continued her stellar play in the second to advance to the final. “Aoife played really well, she was really consistent,” Esser would later say.
Holden trailed Ruiz 16-20 in the first game of the final but fought her way back. “I missed a shot at 20-16 then just made a bunch of errors,” Ruiz lamented. Aoife was in the control in the second, never allowing Ruiz to dictate play. “Aoife played really well, definitely a big improvement from her play in St. Louis three weeks ago,” stated Ruiz.”
Semifinals
Ruiz def Rumping 21-9, 21-10
Holden def Esser 21-16, 21-13
Final: Holden def Ruiz 21-20, 21-10
Thank you!
Thank you to tournament director Sean Sandau for an outstanding event in Missoula complete with endless hospitality and an incredibly welcoming community of players and volunteers. Thank you to Abraham Montijo for his help behind the scenes with Sean. Thank you to the WPH staff and broadcast crew for phenomenal coverage and a sensational production. Thank you for the generosity of the WPH board of directors for continuing to support the Race 4 Eight tour and their passion for growing the game.
Follow the brackets from the 2024 R48 Red Death HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer