Friday at the 2026 R48 Montana Red
Missoula, MT, WPH Press, 9/18/26
Tournament Preview
The 2026 R48 Red marked the 104th event in the history of the Race 4 Eight tour, with the tour spanning eighteen states and two countries since the Race 4 Eight’s inaugural 2011/12 season.
R48 #1 Martin Mulkerrins headlined 2026 R48 Red, having just won his seventeenth Race 4 Eight title on the second weekend of September. Mulkerrins is aiming for his first title in Montana after several near misses in “The Garden City.”
R48 #2 Ray Ure enters the 2026 R48 Red as the hottest player in handball, having won the 2026 R48 Player’s Championship, 2026 USHA Four Wall Nationals, and the 2026 La Grange Icebreaker and will be hunting for his first Red title in his first start of the 2026/27 season.
2025 R48 Red defending champion and R48 #4 Lucho Cordova will be seeking a title defense in Missoula, while R48 #5 Ivan Burgos, R48 #6 Mark Doyle, R48 #7 Danos Cordova, and R48 #8 Sean Lenning will look to climb the rankings in the season’s second event.
2026 R48 Red Round of 16
Martin Mulkerrins made the cross-country trip from the World WallBall Championships in New York City late Thursday evening after competing in the WallBall big ball and small ball singles to dominate Tucson’s Abraham Montijo in his R48 Red opening match. “I just couldn’t get any offense going,” lamented 2026 Red co-tournament director Montijo.
Ray Ure picked up his first win against Shorty Ruiz after dropping 4-Wall and 3-Wall matches to the Race 4 Eight veteran. “It felt good to knock some rust off,” Ure would say.
Lucho Cordova was dominant in his first match of the season against Taylor Schmitt. “I have been in the court more,” Lucho would later say. “This is the best first round I’ve played in at least a year.
Fourth-seeded and Texas’s newest Race 4 Eight pro Mark Doyle struggled against fellow Texan Dylan Schmitt in game one, trailing 11-14 before reeling off 20 of the next 22 points to take the first game in overtime and dominate the second.
Local favorite and Missoula’s highest ever ranked Race pro John Chapman started hot against fifth-seeded Ivan Burgos, taking the first by controlling the front court and executing a high percentage of back wall kills. Burgos caught fire in the second, finding the bottom board from the deep court. Burgos continued to shoot from the deep court in the third, converting most of his attempts to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Danos Cordova erased a disappointing showing at last week’s Juarez LTE by thumping Max Langmack in two games.
Coleman McGrath authored the upset of the season thus far, eliminating one of the pre-tournament favorites, Sean Lenning. McGrath stunned Lenning in game one but helplessly watched Lenning turn the tables in game two. Having just won the USHA Three Wall Nationals in dominant fashion over Labor Day Weekend, Lenning appeared to be settling into the match, building a 10-8 lead in the third. The pair traded points until Lenning served for the match at 14-13. Lenning lined up a right-handed kill shot attempt for the match and struck a laser down the right, but the lightning-fast McGrath retrieved the laser and eventually earned a side out. McGrath composed himself to score the final three points of the match, showing uncharacteristic emotion when his final kill dropped. “Lucky to escape,” McGrath would say after the match. “He was playing unreal in the second game and the third game. I caught a run at the end and grateful I could keep the momentum going.”
Dylan Hernandez comfortably ousted the National Handball Center Captain Jeff Streibig in two lopsided games to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Round of 16
Mulkerrins def Montijo 15-4, 15-1
Ure def Ruiz 15-12, 15-6
Lucho def T. Schmitt 15-4, 15-0
Doyle def D. Schmitt 16-14, 15-2
Burgos def Chapman 9-15, 15-9, 15-6
Danos def Langmack 15-3, 15-3
McGrath def Lenning 15-4, 8-15, 16-14
Hernandez def Streibig 15-7, 15-4
___
_____
2026 WPH R48Pro Stop #2 ‘The Red’ – ESPN+ Broadcast Schedule
Missoula Montana – Sept 19/20, 2026
Saturday, September 19th, 2026 (Mountain Daylight Time)
10:00 Men’s Pro Singles Martin Mulkerrins (IRE) def Dylan Hernandez (CA) 5, 10
11:00 Men’s Pro Singles Mark Doyle (IRE) def Ivan Burgos (AZ) 8, 10
12:00 Men’s Pro Singles Ray Ure (IL) def Coleman McGrath (CA) 12, 6
1:00 Men’s Pro Singles Lucho Cordova (MEX/TX) def Daniel Cordova (TX/MEX) 5, 11
2:45 9th Semifinals John Chapman (CO) def Jeff Streibig (MO) 26-24
3:30 Men’s Pro Singles Doyle def Mulkerrins 10, (3), 14
4:30 Men’s Pro Singles Ure def L. Cordova (10), 4, 4
Sunday, September 20th, 2026 (Mountain Daylight Time)
10:00 Men’s 9th Place Langmack vs Chapman
10:45 Men’s 5th Place Hernandez vs McGrath
11:30 Men’s Pro Singles Ure vs Doyle
Watch all the action LIVE on ESPN+. Get interviews, some live coverage and extras at Patreon.com/wphlive
___
2026 R48 Red starting times and follow the 2026 Red brackets HERE
2026 Red press release HERE
Race 4 Eight Fun Facts and History of Champions HERE
2026/27 Race 4 Eight Rankings and Methodology HERE
Race 4 Eight pro player bios HERE
WPH Coaching Centers HERE
WPH Workout Central HERE
2026/27 Race 4 Eight schedule HERE
WPH RACE 4 EIGHT: The World Players of Handball’s 2026/27 Race 4 Eight Powered by ESPN features nine Race 4 Eight stops from California to Mexico, all culminating with The Player’s Championship in St. Louis, MO in May of 2027. 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
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer