Day 1: Friday, 4/8/22
The Race 4 Eight Player’s Championship returned for the first time in 1,057 days, as the game’s best reunited for the Player’s Championship at the Sports Mall in Salt Lake City for the first time since 2019.
Killian Carroll’s quest for his fifth consecutive R48 Player’s Championship and undefeated 2021/22 R48 season kicked off on Friday, as did Catriona Casey’s quest for her seventh consecutive WR48 Player’s Championship.
Friday kicked off with the first R48 Men’s Pro Qualifier since the January 2020 R48 Red Death, as a full 32-player draw entered the Aces Player’s Championship draw hoping to be one of the eight left standing to make the Big Dance.
Four of the top eight R48 Men’s seeds were eliminated in Friday afternoon’s round of 16 by qualifiers, as third-seeded David Fink was upset by Loren Collado, fifth-seeded Leo Canales, Jr. was eliminated by Sean Lenning, sixth-seeded Sam Esser was bounced by Martin Mulkerrins, and eighth-seeded Stephen Cooney lost to Max Langmack for the second consecutive time.
Collado earned his first win over Fink by taking leads in all three games on the strength of deep court kills and clutch shot making. Fink rallied to force a tiebreaker and cut a 5-10 third game deficit to 9-10, but Collado was too steady, notching the best win of his R48 career.
Max Langmack overwhelmed Stephen Cooney in the first game of their round of 16 clash, while Cooney returned the favor with an equally lopsided second game. Langmack regrouped in the tiebreaker, advancing to his third quarterfinal of the season. “Max just has so much power and it wasn’t my day,” lamented Cooney.
Top-seeded Killian Carroll cruised past first-time qualifier Ivan Burgos, second-seeded Lucho Cordova dismantled Erik Torres, fourth-seeded Danos Cordova overcame Dylan Hernandez, and seventh-seeded Shorty Ruiz had little difficulty dispatching first-time qualifier David Miller.
R48 Round of 16
Carroll def Burgos 15-7, 15-10
Lucho def Torres 15-1, 15-3
Collado def Fink 15-11, 10-15, 15-10
Danos def Hernandez 15-6, 15-10
Lenning def Canales 15-7, 15-10
Mulkerrins def Esser 15-8, 15-3
Ruiz def Miller 15-2, 15-4
Langmack def Cooney 15-2, 3-15, 15-9
R48 Quarterfinals (Saturday)
Carroll vs. Langmack (10 am MDT)
Danos vs. Lenning (11 am MDT)
Mulkerrins vs. Collado (1 pm MDT)
Lucho vs. Ruiz (Noon MDT)
WR48
Each of the women’s top eight seeds comfortably advanced in Friday’s round of 16, setting up one of the best quarterfinal lineups in the history of the WR48 on Saturday
WR48 Quarterfinals (Saturday)
Casey vs. Davis
Moler vs. Tuohey
Tully vs. Esser
Daskalakis vs. McMahon
Watch Saturday’s action live on the Watch ESPN App starting at 10 am MST HERE
Follow all of the brackets HERE
Salt Lake City Aces 2022 press release HERE
Salt Lake City Fun Facts and Elite Stats HERE
DF’s R48 Fun Facts and Trends HERE
WPH Power Rankings HERE
Crossing Over: Inside the Number w/ Killian Carroll HERE
2022 WPH Aces Player’s Championship #7
ESPN3 & WatchESPN App Broadcast Schedule (Local Salt Lake Time Zone: Mountain Daylight Time)
Friday’s Wrap-Up (April 8th, 2022) HERE
Brackets/draws HERE
ESPN Link for SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Saturday, April 9th, 2022: 10am to 6pm MDT (9a-5p PDT/MST, 11a-7p CDT, 12p-8p EDT, 5p-1a+ IST) on ESPN3 HERE
10:00 Men’s Pro Singles – Quarters Killian Carroll (MA) vs Max Langmack (KS)
11:00 Men’s Pro Singles – Quarters Daniel Cordova (MEX) vs Sean Lenning (WA)
12:00 Men’s Pro Singles – Quarters Luis Cordova (MEX) vs Braulio Ruiz (AZ)
13:00 Men’s Pro Singles – Quarters Martin Mulkerrins (IRE) vs Loren Collado (CA)
14:00 Women’s Pro Singles – Semis Catriona Casey vs Aimee Tuohey
14:45 Women’s Pro Singles – Semis Fiona Tully vs Martina McMahon
15:45 Men’s Pro Singles – Semis Killian Carroll vs Sean Lenning
16:45 Men’s Pro Singles – Semis Luis Cordova vs Martin Mulkerrins
Sunday, April 10th, 2022: 9a to 1:30p MDT (8a-5p PDT/MST, 10a-2:30p CDT, 11a-3:30p EDT, 4p-8:30p IST) on ESPN3 HERE
09:00 5th Place Singles – Daniel Cordova (TX) vs Shorty Ruiz (AZ)
09:45 Men’s 40+ Senior – David Fink vs Bill Mehilos
10:30 Women’s Singles – Catriona Casey vs Martina McMahon
11:30 Men’s Pro Singles – Killian Carroll vs Cordova or Mulkerrins
Time Zone Key:
Zone +/- HR CITY/STATE
PDT -1 (Los Angeles, CA)
MST -1 (Phoenix, AZ)
MDT 0 (Salt Lake City)
CDT +1 (Chicago, IL)
EDT +2 (New York, NY)
IST +7 (Dublin, IRE)
Daily write-ups/wrap-ups at wphlive.tv and social media. To watch this broadcast, go to WatchESPN.com, select Network ESPN3 and Sport HANDBALL. WPH Patreon Supporters at patreon.com/wphlive may have extras, features and special blackout viewing options. Join today and make a pledge! Info@wphlive.tv
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer