Day 1
Tucson, AZ, WPH Press, 11/7/25
The tenth annual 2025 Tucson Memorial marks the ninety-eighth event in the history of the Race 4 Eight tour, with the tour spanning 17 states in the R48’s first fourteen seasons. The 2025 Tucson Memorial features the largest prize purse of the 2025/26 Race 4 Eight handball season with one of the best fields in recent Race 4 Eight history.
The Tucson Memorial was created in 2015 to honor handball friends and family who were sadly lost, a tradition that has evoked wonderful memories of handball players and fans who spent their lifetimes playing and supporting in the sport.
R48 Men’s Pro
Martin Mulkerrins aimed defend his Memorial title amidst a torrid 12-month streak that has seen him win six Race 4 Eight titles and hold the current R48 #1 ranking leading into the 2025 Memorial.
Seven of the R48’s top eight advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinals with just one of the eight quarterfinal matches going to a tiebreaker.
Top-seeded Martin Mulkerrins defeated John Chapman for the third time on the Race 4 Eight tour, Lucho Cordova defeated Diarmuid Mulkerrins, Ivan Burgos overcame his local rival Shorty Ruiz in two games, Danos cooled off Jeff Streibig, Leo Canales rallied from one game down to defeat Max Langmack, Ray Ure adjusted to Boxer Rosales’s unorthodox style to win his first match of the 2025/26 Race season, and Sean Lenning defeated David Fink for the third time in four stops.
Sam Esser was the only top eight seed to be eliminated, losing to Mark Doyle in two games after Doyle needed a late tiebreaker comeback in the round of 32 to defeat Loren Collado.
R48 Men’s Pro Round of 16
Martin def J. Chapman 15-5, 15-10
Lucho def D. Mulkerrins 15-10, 15-6
Burgos def Ruiz 15-3, 15-6
Canales def Langmack 11-15, 15-6, 15-7
Danos def Streibig 15-6, 15-12
Doyle def Esser 15-7, 15-12
Ure def Rosales 15-9, 15-6
Lenning def Fink 15-8, 15-5
R48 Men’s Pro Round of 8 (Saturday, all times MST on the ESPN APP)
Martin vs. Lenning 9 am
Canales vs. Danos 9:45 am
Lucho vs. Ure 10:30 am
Burgos vs. Doyle 11:15 am
WR48
The WR48 Memorial field is stacked with top talent, as current WR48 Player’s Cup champion Niamh Heffernan aims to win her first Memorial against a field that includes WR48 #2 Clodagh Munroe, WR48 #3 Aoife Holden, and WR48 #8 Ashley Ruiz.
Munroe and Holden cruised into Saturday’s WR48 semifinals, while Ireland’s Mollie Dagg ousted Ashley Ruiz to also book a spot in Saturday’s WR48 semifinals.
WR48 Semifinals (Saturday, all times MST on the ESPN APP)
Heffernan vs. Dagg 1:30 pm
Munroe vs. Holden 2:15 pm
SR48
SR48 #1 David Fink and SR48 #2 Sean Lenning headlined the 2025 SR48 Memorial field joined by Boxer Rosales and one of the largest fields in SR48 history.
The SR48 quarterfinals will be played early on Saturday morning, with the quarterfinal winners set to face off from Noon-1:30 pm on the ESPN APP.
2025 Tucson Memorial Press Release HERE
Follow the draws and results from the 2025 Race 4 Eight Tucson Memorial HERE
Current Race 4 Eight rankings HERE
Race 4 Eight Fun Facts HERE
Race 4 Eight History of Champions HERE
Race 4 Eight Pro Player Bios HERE
WPH Destination Series Tucson HERE
Handball Terminology + Instruction and R48 Rules HERE
WPH Coaching Center Instructional Videos HERE
Support the sport and become a WPH Patreon HERE
2025/26 Race 4 Eight Schedule and Entries HERE
WPH RACE 4 EIGHT: The World Players of Handball’s 2025/26 Race 4 Eight Powered by ESPN features Race 4 Eight stops from California to Mexico, all culminating with The Player’s Championship. 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 title sponsor opportunity, please contact World Players of Handball Executive Director David Vincent at info@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
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer
WPH R48Pro #2 The Memorial – ESPN+ Broadcast Schedule
(All Times Local Tucson, Arizona Time MST)
Day 1: Saturday, November 8th, 2025
Men’s Pro Singles Quarterfinals (R48)
- 9:00 am: R48 QF 1 – Mulkerrins (IRE) vs Lenning (WA)
- 9:45 am: R48 QF 2 – D. Cordova (TX) vs Canales (AZ)
- 10:30 am: R48 QF 3 – Ure (IL) vs L. Cordova (MEX)
- 11:15 am: R48 QF 4 – Doyle (IRE) vs Burgos (AZ)
Senior 40+ Singles Semifinals (SR48)
- 12:00 pm: SR48 SF 1 – Fink (AZ) or Mcnabney (AZ) vs Duenas (CA) or Martinez (CA)
- 12:45 pm: SR48 SF 2 – Rosales (AZ) or Svennungsen (WA) vs Canales Sr (TX) or Lenning (WA)
Women’s Elite Pro Singles Semifinals (WR48)
- 1:30 pm: WR48 SF 1 – Heffernan (IRE) vs Dagg (IRE)
- 2:15 pm: WR48 SF 2 – Munroe (IRE) vs Holden (IRE)
Men’s Pro Singles Semifinals (R48)
- 3:15 pm: R48 SF 1 – Mulkerrins or Lenning vs D. Cordova or Canales
- 4:15 pm: R48 SF 2 – Burgos or Doyle vs L. Cordova or Ure
Day 2: Sunday, November 9th, 2025
- 9:00 am: Senior 40+ Final (SR48) – TBD
- 9:45 am: Women’s Elite Pro Final (WR48) – TBD
- 10:30 am: Pro Big Ball Doubles Final – TBD
- 11:30 am: Pro Men’s Small Ball Singles Final (R48) – TBD
You can watch all the action LIVE on ESPN+ beginning Saturday, November 8th, 2025 (MST). For those outside of the ESPN broadcast area, you can watch some limited side-court action through the WPH Patreon page at Patreon.com/wphlive. Rare interviews, raw Friday action, and Patreon-only clips will be uploaded throughout the event.