Arvada, CO, WPH Press, 3/12/23
The Apex Racquetball and Fitness Center and the Colorado Handball Association played host to the 2023 Colorado State Singles Championships on the second weekend in March, featuring 82 players from Colorado, Texas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Minnesota, and Ireland.
The Men’s Open Singles featured Race 4 Eight pros Mark Doyle, David Schiller, and John Chapman, in addition to the best players from Colorado.
In a field littered with ranked R48 pros, Denver’s CJ Laffey stunned the field, upsetting Mark Doyle in two games in the quarterfinals, sweeping defending champion Alejandro Ibarra in the semifinals, and ousting John Chapman in the final.
“It was a tough match,” stated Chapman after advancing to his first open final with impressive wins against David Schiller and Riley Kloss. “I thought I played pretty good but made too many mistakes and gave up easy points. Missed a couple easy re-kills and a couple errors in the back that could have set me up to win game two. Played pretty solid all tournament except for those mistakes in the final. CJ’s backwall is amazing.”
Semifinals
Laffey def A. Ibarra 15-4, 15-8
Chapman def Kloss 15-10, 15-9
Final: Laffey def Chapman 15-6, 15-10
Follow all of the draws from the 2023 CO State Singles HERE
For more on the Colorado Handball Association, go HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer