Friday kicked off the R48 Qualifier, WR48, SR48 and R48 main draws at the Sports Mall in Salt Lake City, home of the WPH Aces Player’s Championship. R48 stars have competed all season from San Francisco to New York City for the opportunity to finish in the R48 Elite 8, WR48 Fab 4 and R48 Fab 4. Friday’s play would determine who was still alive for a shot at R48 immortality and who would have to wait until next season.
The R48 Main Draw
Five-time R48 IV champion Paul Brady was forced to forfeit his opening round with a quad tear against New York’s Mike Schneider. “I hurt the quad five days ago in a Senior Doubles final in Ireland and I could feel it starting to grab,” revealed Brady. Daniel Cordova sealed his spot in the R48 IV’s Elite 8 with a convincing victory against Stephen Cooney to setup a quarterfinal clash with Mike Schneider.
Sean Lenning easily defeated first-time qualifier JT Hingey to advance to the quarterfinal, while David Fink escaped late-game deficits in both games to outlast Vic Perez in a 90-minute shootout. Fink will face Lenning in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Emmett Peixoto dismantled five-time R48 IV qualifier Anthony Selestow in his opening round match to setup a quarterfinal clash Mando Ortiz. Ortiz overcame a sluggish start against Luis Cordova to score 30 of the final 35 points of the match.
Luis Moreno overpowered and overwhelmed first-time R48 qualifier Tom Sheridan. “Luis started slowly but did what Luis Moreno does to easily win both games,” revealed WPH play-by-play announcer Dave Vincent. Moreno will face longtime rival Naty Alvarado in Saturday’s semifinal. Alvarado demolished Marcos Chavez, avenging his SR48 Tucson final loss from five months ago.
The WR48
Ashley Moler defeated Jean Kastner to book a date with the WR48 #1 Catriona Casey and Yvonne August defeated the event’s youngest player Leslie Amminson to setup a clash with Aisling Reilly in Saturday’s WR48 quarterfinals.
The SR48
Dan Zimet upset the SR48 III NYAC 3rd place finisher Andy Rousseau in his first SR48 match to setup a quarterfinal match with Marcos Chavez. John Bike, Tom Sheridan, and Salt Lake City’s Gary Scogin also advanced to quarterfinal action.
How can you watch?
Saturday’s action will be broadcasted live on the Watch ESPN App http://espn.go.com/watchespn/. Coverage starts at 10 am est, Don’t miss a point from the best men’s, women’s and senior players in the world!
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer