Day 3
Tucson, AZ, WPH Press, 4/14/24
R48 Final: Martin vs. Lucho
Sunday’s Hall of Fame final pitted two of the Race 4 Eight’s greatest champions in pursuit of not only the Hall of Fame title, but positioning themselves for the season-end Player’s Cup for the number one player on tour.
Despite being ranked in the top three on the tour for most of the past two seasons, Lucho and Martin had only met four times since October of 2022 and just once this season. Mulkerrins led those four recent meetings 3-1, including a win this season’s first stop at the Portland Classic.
Mulkerrins started hot, as he had throughout the tournament, building a 5-0 in the first inning. Lucho played from behind throughout the first game, staying within striking distance with great court coverage and right corner kills. Mulkerrins mixed offense and defense throughout the first game, using the ceiling well to set up offensive chances. “I have been working on my ceiling game and trying to get the right touch to keep the ball off the back wall,” Mulkerrins said before the match.
Mulkerrins led 14-8, but several passive rallies and timely Lucho kills allowed Lucho to force overtime. Mulkerrins was able to escape a near catastrophic collapse with a six-point lead to take the one-game advantage. “Lucho is just doing nothing with the ball,” lamented Lucho’s father and coach, Luis Cordova, Sr.
With the score tied at six in game two, Martin and Lucho played the rally of the tournament, with each hitting the ball sixteen times, most of those desperate attempts to keep the rally alive. Martin won the rally and was able to separate himself from the ten-time Race 4 Eight champion, mostly due to Lucho’s fatigue from the thirty-plus shot rally.
Martin arrived at match point at 14-11, but just as in the first, played passively and handed Lucho an olive branch. Lucho not only forced overtime but served for the game at 15-14. Mulkerrins attempted to hit one of his patented fist ceilings, but missed the ceiling by three feet, sending the ball high off the front wall, high off the back wall and making for a near impossible shot for Lucho right next to the front wall. Lucho was able to return the mishit but right back to Mulkerrins, who promptly put the ball away.
Mulkerrins erased the deficit and closed out the match, winning his third overtime game of the event and claiming his eighth Race 4 Eight title.
“I am delighted with the win,” stated Mulkerrins after the match. “The game with Luis today was very physically demanding. I think we both played well in parts but were also tired from the previous rounds and some rallies were longer than they might have been on Friday or yesterday. But I have worked hard on all elements of my game and I was still confident I would win when both games were tight.”
Lucho was not happy with his performance, saying, “I played horrible, just me being a bad player.”
Final: Martin def Lucho 16-14, 17-15
5th place final: Lenning def Canales 25-6
Sean Lenning played highlight reel handball in his sixteen-minute blowout win against Leo Canales, hitting jaw-dropping shots from everywhere on the court with alarming ease.
9th place final: Nash def D. Mulkerrins 25-13
Diarmaid Nash bounced back from his round of 16 loss to Martin Mulkerrins to defeat Sam Esser and Diarmaid Mulkerrins to win ninth. “I am really hungry to compete,” Nash would say during the event. “I am 33 now and I feel like a lot of handball players start hitting their primes at this age.”
R48 Finishes
1st: M. Mulkerrins
2nd: Lucho
3rd: Fink/Danos
5th: Lenning
6th: Canales
7th: Ruiz/Perez
9th: Nash
USHA Masters Singles National Champions
35+: Jeff Streibig
40+: Fausto Castro
50+: Chris Watkins
55+: Leo Canales
60+: William Goldstein
65+: Michael Linnik
70+: Daniel Brennan
75+: Edward Cambell
80+: Jim Smith
JR WPH/USHA Junior Clinic with Team Carl Hayden High School
JR WPH and the USHA proudly collaborated on a junior handball clinic for twelve players from Phoenix’s Carl Hayden High School. The WPH’s David Fink and USHA board member and Race 4 Eight pro Max Langmack explained how to hit the small ball, highlighting the whip stroke with a loose wrist and turning sideways. Langmack demonstrated how to let the ball drop to nearly the floor to hit kill shots. After all of the kids had an opportunity to hit various shots, each had a chance to return Langmack’s serve, with a few even returning it.
“We love collaborating together, especially when it comes to growing the game,” stated Fink. “When the WPH and USHA have a chance to co-host events and junior clinics, it’s really a win-win for everyone involved. Both the WPH and USHA love seeing kids enthusiastically traveling to play in our events and we will always do what we can to help the players improve and enjoy their experience at our combined events.”
“Our players really enjoyed David and Max’s interaction with them,” stated Carl Hayden Head Coach Chris Hogan.
Thank you
Thank you to the USHA’s Matt Krueger and Sam Esser and the WPH staff for an outstanding collaboration. Thank you to all of the players and volunteers for a great event.
Follow all of the brackets from the 2024 R48LTE USHA Hall of Fame HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer