Salt Lake City, UT, WPH Press, 5/1/26
The 2026 WPH Race 4 Eight Salt Lake City Aces Player’s Championship provides professional handball’s greatest showcase, featuring the R48, WR48, and SR48 battling for Player’s Championships, the most coveted prize in professional handball.
Martin Mulkerrins enters the 2026 Aces Player’s Championship at the R48 #1, having won two of the four 2025/26 Race stops preceding the 2026 Player’s Championship. 2025 R48 Player’s Champion and defending Player’s Cup champion Lucho Cordova sits in P2, having won one Race stop this season. 2026 LAAC finalist Leo Canales and 2025 Memorial champion Ray Ure round out the top four, respectively, and will be joined by the remaining R48 Elite 8 and a strong field of challengers.
WR48 #1 Niamh Heffernan will aim to continue her four-event WR48 winning streak, while also seeking to defend her 2025 WR48 Aces Player’s Championship and 2025 WR48 Player’s Cup. WR48 #2 Aoife Holden and WR48 #3 Clodagh Munroe will be pursuing their first WR48 titles at the 2026 Aces Player’s Championship, with both appearing in WR48 finals this season.
SR48 #1 Sean Lenning leads the field of SR48 stars in Salt Lake City that includes Boxer Rosales and Chris Watkins.
R48 Men’s Pro
Martin Mulkerrins inched closer to his second Race 4 Eight Player’s Cup championship with a two-game sweep against Andres Cordova, controlling the action against the left-handed flamethrower.
Coleman McGrath stunned second-seeded and defending Player’s Cup Champion Lucho Cordova, building an 11-0 first-game lead and fighting off a Lucho comeback in the second. “I just told myself to keep doing what you are doing (to build the lead),” McGrath would later say. Lucho’s season ended with one title, while McGrath earned the biggest win of his career.
Jab Bike won his first 4-Wall game against Leo Canales after defeating Leo several times in 3-Wall. Canales bounced back in the second, fighting off Jab’s upset bid by finding the ceiling and hitting his patented back wall kills. Canales switched gears in the tiebreaker, earning aces and setups with his natural and reverse power serve to Jab’s left. “He had not hit that serve in the entire match until the middle of the tiebreaker,” Hall of Famer, Club Member, and Jab’s dad/coach John Bike, Jr. would later say. Leo controlled the remainder of the tiebreaker, settling into the groove that has made him one of the world’s best players.
Fourth-seeded Ray Ure built sizeable leads in both games against John Chapman and held off later Chapman rallies to win in two games, while fifth-seeded Ivan Burgos swept 2026 LAAC Race 4 Eight Cinderella Man Dylan Hernandez to setup the third Burgos/Ure matchup of the season on Saturday.
Sixth-seeded Danos Cordova exacted revenge on Diarmuid Mulkerrins after losing to Mulkerrins three weeks ago at the Texas State Singles, dominating Mulkerrins in both games.
Sean Lenning overwhelmed Jeff Streibig to advance to his fifth quarterfinal of the season, while eighth-seeded Mark Doyle steamrolled newly-married Max Langmack just days after removing a boot to heal a stress fracture.
R48 Round of 16
Mulkerrins def A. Cordova 15-10, 15-8
McGrath def Lucho 15-8, 15-13
Canales def Jab Bike 12-15, 15-10, 15-5
Ure def Chapman 15-12, 15-10
Burgos def Hernandez 15-5, 15-11
Danos def D. Mulkerrins 15-3, 15-8
Doyle def Langmack 15-1, 15-7
Lenning def Streibig 15-8, 15-2
R48 Round of 8 (Saturday, all times MST)
Mulkerrins vs. Lenning (9 am)
Ure vs. Burgos (9:45 am)
Doyle vs. McGrath (10:30 am)
Canales vs. Danos (11:15 am)
WR48
Niamh Heffernan was accompanied by her family in her quest for her fifth consecutive WR48 title and WR48 Player’s Cup defense and cruised in two games to Saturday’s WR48 semifinals.
Second-seeded Aoife Holden was efficient in her first match of the event, advancing to her fourth WR48 semifinal of the season.
Danielle Daskalakis upset third-seeded and two-time 2026/27 WR48 semifinalist Suz Entzeroth in two games, showing flashes of what has made the New York southpaw one of the world’s best players for the past decade.
Christina Pecaut earned her first WR48 semifinal appearance by defeating Taylor Bell in two games.
Round of 8
Heffernan def Sharkey 15-1, 15-2
Holden def Marble 15-2, 15-7
Daskalakis def Entzeroth 15-10, 15-3
Pecaut def Bell 15-7, 15-10
Semifinals (Saturday, all times MST)
Heffernan vs. Pecaut (Noon)
Holden vs. Daskalakis (12:45 pm)
SR48
Rafa Martinez stood just three points from winning the 2026 LAAC SR48 six weeks ago and entered Salt Lake City as the second seed. Martinez’s hot streak was brought to an abrupt conclusion at the hands of Utah’s Ryan Campbell, as Campbell ended Martinez’s SR48 season in two games.
Boxer Rosales overcame three game points against High Desert veteran Chris Watkins in the second game of their quarterfinal clash to win in two games. “I feel like I am playing at 60% in that two-glass court,” Rosales would later say. “Instead of going for my shots, I’m just trying to get the ball back.”
George Garcia had defeated Jeff Streibig in their only previous matchup and appeared to be on the verge on defeating the SR48 rookie again on Friday, leading 9-4 in the third. “I just kept telling myself, six more points, and before I knew it the match was over,” lamented Garcia.
Round of 8
Lenning bye
Campbell def Martinez 16-14, 15-6
Streibig def Garcia, Jr. 8-15, 15-6, 15-10
Rosales def Watkins 15-3, 17-15
WPH Destination Series Salt Lake City HERE
More info on the 2026 WPH Race 4 Eight Aces Player’s Championship, including starting times and to follow the brackets HERE
2026 WPH Race 4 Eight Aces Player’s Championship press release HERE
WPH on YouTube HERE
Become a WPH Patreon HERE
Race 4 Eight Fun Facts Post 2026 Race 4 Eight LAAC HERE
Current Race 4 Eight Rankings HERE
Race 4 Eight pro player bios HERE
WPH Coaching Centers HERE
WPH Workout Central HERE
2025/26 Race 4 Eight schedule with all champions and finalists HERE
WPH RACE 4 EIGHT: The World Players of Handball’s 2025/26 Race 4 Eight Powered by ESPN featured Race 4 Eight stops in Oregon, Arizona, Missouri, and California, all culminating with The Player’s Championship in Utah in May of 2026. 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 dave.vincent@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
Become a WPH Patreon HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer
WPH RACE 4 EIGHT: The World Players of Handball’s 2025/26 Race 4 Eight Powered by ESPN featured Race 4 Eight stops in Oregon, Arizona, Missouri, and California, all culminating with The Player’s Championship in Utah in May of 2026. 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 dave.vincent@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
Become a WPH Patreon HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer
Watch the live feed from Salt Lake City via ESPN+. Patreon.com/wphlive provides a backdoor feed for Patreon supporters of the WPH.
WPH Aces Player’s Championship – May 1-3, 2026
Salt Lake City, Utah
ESPN+ Broadcast Schedule
Saturday, May 2, 2026 – Broadcast Window: 9am to 6pm (Mountain Time)
Men’s Pro Quarters (TBD):
09:00 Martin Mulkerrins (IRL) vs Sean Lenning (WA)
09:45 Ivan Burgos (AZ) vs Ray Ure (IL)
10:30 Mark Doyle (IRL) vs Coleman McGrath (CA)
11:15 Leo Canales (TX/MEX) vs Daniel Cordova (MEX/TX)
Women’s Pro Semis (TBD):
12:00 Niamh Heffernan (IRL) vs Christina Pecaut (MO)
12:45 Danielle Daskalakis (NY) vs Aoife Holden (IRL)
Senior 40+ Pro Semis (TBD):
13:30 Sean Lenning (WA) vs Boxer Rosales (AZ)
14:15 Jeff Streibig (MO) vs Ryan Campbell (UT)
Men’s Pro Semis (TBD):
15:15 Martin Mulkerrins (IRL) or Sean Lenning (WA) vs Ivan Burgos (AZ) or Ray Ure (IL)
16:15 Mark Doyle (IRL) or Coleman McGrath (CA) vs Leo Canales (TX/MEX) or Daniel Cordova (MEX/TX)
Sunday, May 3, 2026 – Broadcast Window: 9am to 1:30pm (Mountain Time)
Senior 40+ Pro Finals:
09:00 Lenning or Rosales vs Streibig or Campbell
Men’s Pro 5th or 9th Final (TBD):
09:45 TBD
Women’s Pro Final (TBD):
10:30 Heffernan or Pecaut vs Holden or Daskalakis
Men’s Pro Final (TBD):
11:15 TBD