DF’s Race 4 Eight Fun Facts and Trends

Through five years and 31 events on the Race 4 Eight tour, the Race 4 Eight has produced sensational tournaments, memorable matches, dominant champions and inspiring stories, all broadcast live on race4eight.com and the WatchESPN App. Read below for fun facts and trends from the first five years on the most exciting indoor pro handball tour in the sport.

 

1. The last seven Men’s Pro Race 4 Eight events have been won by R48 #1 Paul Brady, R48 #2 Sean Lenning, and R48 #3 Mando Ortiz

• Brady: R48 IV Stop #3 San Francisco, R48 IV Stop #4 New York, R48 V Stop #1 Simple Green U.S. Open, New Orleans
• Lenning: R48 IV Stop #6 WPH Player’s Championship, R48 V Stop #2 Tucson Memorial
• Ortiz: R48 V Stop #4 Houston

 

2. In the past seven R48 events, R48 #2 Lenning has accumulated 50 R48 ranking points, R48 #1 Brady has accumulated 46.5 R48 ranking points: The R48 Power Rankings are based on a player’s best five of seven results

 

3. Catriona Casey became the last player to start a Race 4 Eight event and not lose. Casey’s seven-tournament WR48 undefeated streak was ended by two-time defending world champion Aisling Reilly in an 11-9 tiebreaker at the 2015 Simple Green U.S. Open

 

4. Mando Ortiz is 3-0 the semifinals between the R48 Season IV and Season V (4-1 overall)

• R48 IV WPH Player’s Championship (lost to Lenning)
• R48 V Tucson Memorial (lost to Lenning)
• R48 V Houston (defeated Lenning)

 

5. After winning nine of the first 18 R48 events, Moreno has not won a Race title since Houston in January of 2014 (0 for 13)

 

6. Of the 35 players currently ranked on the Men’s Pro R48 V tour, five countries are represented

• United States: 20
• Ireland: 8
• Mexico: 2
• Canada: 1
• Costa Rica: 1
• Northern Ireland: 1

 

7. Of the 25 United States based R48 pros currently ranked, nine states are represented

• California (8): Peixoto, Ortiz, M. Chavez, Alvarado, Perez, Torres, Ruiz, C. Chavez
• Arizona (4): Lenning, Moreno, Fink, Montijo
• New York (4): Cooney Iglesias, Schneider, O’Donnell
• Minnesota (1): Nett
• Texas (2): Bernhard, Pallares, Al Garner, Hamel
• Colorado (1): Hingey
• Wisconsin (1): Selestow
• Ohio (1): Stevens
• IL (1): Munson

*Although several U.S. based R48 Pros were born in other countries, the R48Pros listed above represent these U.S. states

 

8. 22 years separates the youngest player on the R48 tour and the oldest

• Youngest ranked R48 pro: Colin Crehan (20)
• Oldest ranked R48 pro: Naty Alvarado, Jr. (42)

 

9. Colin Crehan was the youngest qualifier in R48 history at the 2015 R48 NYAC (19)

 

10. The largest age gap in a Race 4 Eight final: Luis Moreno vs. Naty Alvarado (14 years) and Paul Brady vs. Killian Carroll (14 years) *The Moreno/Alvarado final kicked off the 1st R48 final at the 2011 Plummer Bash and the Brady/Carroll final was the 30^th and final at the R48 V New Orleans

 

11. The smallest age gap in a Race 4 Eight final: Sean Lenning vs. Allan Garner (4 days)

 

12. The last 11 Race 4 Eight events have appeared on ESPN3, starting with the 2014 Simple Green U.S. Open

 

13. The Race 4 Eight averages 14 hours of coverage per weekend on ESPN3, not including ESPN3 replays

 

14. The first R48 final to enter overtime was the second game of the R48 II Houston final between Charly Shanks and Naty Alvarado (Shanks won 20-18)

 

15. The largest age gap between any R48 players in a main draw match was Tom Sheridan vs. Luis Moreno (20 years)

 

16. Counting only Round of 16 and Playoff matches, Shorty Ruiz owns the worst record in R48 history (0-10). Tommy Little retired from the R48 with no wins (0-9). Abraham Montijo currently owns an eight-match losing streak (January 2015-present)

 

17. John Bike, Jr. was the oldest qualifier in R48 history at the 2013 R48 II Houston (47 years, 11 months)

 

18. In 31 Men’s R48Pro events from 2011-present, seven different players have won a Race title

• Brady: 11
• Moreno: 9
• Lenning: 5
• McCarthy: 2
• Shanks: 2
• Al. Garner: 1
• Ortiz: 1

 

19. Top five R48 ranking points earned through the first four R48 V events: Simple Green U.S. Open and Tucson Memorial:

• Lenning: 28
• Ortiz: 27
• Brady: 26
• Carroll: 21
• Moreno: 19.5

 

20. The current top two ranked Senior Race 4 Eight pros are the only SR48 pros to have won a SR48 Player’s Championship:

• M. Chavez: (2014, 2015)
• Schad: (2013)

 

21. Top five winning percentages on the Men’s Pro Race 4 Eight Tour:

• Paul Brady has won 11 of 14 R48 events he has entered:
• Robbie McCarthy has won 2 of 5 R48 events he has entered: 40%
• Luis Moreno has won 9 of 30 R48 events he has entered:
• Sean Lenning has won 5 of 31 R48 events he has entered:
• Charly Shanks has won 2 of 16 R48 events he has entered:

 

22. In 31 official Men’s Pro R48 events, 809 players have entered, included the invited pros, qualifiers, and U.S. Open (open draw)

 

23. Of the 809 combined players that have entered the 31 Men’s Pro R48 events since 2011, 416 earned prize money

In comparison, 9,882 players entered the 2015 Men’s U.S. Open (golf) qualifying with 49 exempt into the actual U.S. Open for a total of 9,932 players, 75 of whom were paid (0.7%) Information retrieved from here

 

24. In the 22 events that have featured qualifier brackets, 447 qualifiers entered: *The five R48 Simple Green U.S. Opens are open tournaments and the first three WPH Player’s Championships included only the top eight

 

25. In the 22 official R48 events that featured a qualifier bracket, five qualifiers out of 447 advanced to a final (1.1%), with none of the five winning the title:
26. Ortiz: R48 III Plummer 2013
27. Nash: R48 III Houston 2014
28. McCarthy: R48 IIINYAC 2014
29. Nett: NYAC R48 IV 2015
30. Carroll: New Orleans R48 V 2016

 

26. R48 Men’s R48 Pro Finals Records:

• Brady: 11-0
• Moreno: 9-6
• Lenning: 5-5
• Shanks: 2-4
• McCarthy: 2-1
• Al. Garner: 1-2
• Ortiz: 1-3
• Alvarado: 0-5
• Peixoto: 0-2
• Carroll: 0-1

 

27. R48 Men’s Pro Champions have ranged in age from (22) Luis Moreno at the Plummer R48 I Stop #1 to (36) Paul Brady at the R48 V Stop #3 New Orleans

 

28. The only players to have been ranked inside the Men’s Pro R48 Elite 8 since the inception of the R48 tour in 2011 (31 events) are Luis Moreno and David Fink

 

29. The youngest Race 4 Eight Champion in history was Catriona Casey at the WR48 I Stop #1 Simple Green U.S. Open (20)

 

30. In 14 R48 Men’s Pro starts, Paul Brady has a match record of 47-3 (96%)

 

31. In eight Women’s R48 starts, Catriona Casey owns a 24-1 match record (96%)

 

32. Allan “The Blonde Bombshell” Garner and Mando Ortiz are the only R48 Champions to have only one R48 title. The other five R48 champions have won between 2-11 titles

 

33. Allan Garner/Aaron Garner and Luis Cordova/Daniel Cordova are the only brothers to have held R48 rankings

 

34. Luis and Daniel Cordova are the only brothers to have played one another in R48 play: Tucson Memorial R48 V Stop #2 5^th Place Playoff, R48 V Stop #3 New Orleans, Houston R48 V Stop #4 (Luis leads 2-1)
35. Robbie McCarthy is the only player in R48 history to have started an event and never finished outside the top 5
36. Killian Carroll, Diarmaid Nash, and Robbie McCarthy are the only players to have ever started a R48 event and not lost in the round of 16
37. Of the 62 R48 finalists in 30 R48 events, five have been qualifiers, zero qualifiers have won a title
38. Ricardo Diaz holds the record for most consecutive R48 qualifiers entered and subsequently withdrawing: (5): San Francisco ’15, NYAC ’15, Tucson ’15, New Orleans ’16, Houston ’16
39. David Fink has appeared in the most R48 semifinals (7) without advancing to a R48 final
40. Killian Carroll is the one of only two players (Brady) to have an undefeated R48 record against Luis Moreno (1-0)
41. The R48 V Stop #5 NYAC will be the 23^rd official R48 qualifier (the five Simple Green U.S. Opens and the first three R48 Player’s Championship events did not have qualifiers). Including the R48 V NYAC, the only R48 pros to have never entered a qualifier are Brady, Moreno, Lenning, Fink
42. Luis Cordova Jr. has qualified the most times of any player on the R48 tour (14), Anthony Selestow is second (13) (per Luis Cordova, Sr.)
43. The only players to face a match point and win a main draw Men’s Pro R48 match are:

• Alvarado vs. Shanks Plummer 2011 (Alvarado 12-21, 21-17, 11-10
• Alvarado vs. Al. Garner Plummer 2011 (Alvarado 16-21, 21-20, 11-7)
• Fink vs. Iglesias Tucson 2013 (Fink 27-25)
• Fink vs. Cooney Simple Green U.S. Open (2013) 17-21, 21-19, 11-10
• Shanks vs. Peixoto Denver 2013 (Shanks 28-26)
• Crehan vs. Fink NYAC 2015 (Crehan, 1-15, 17-15, 15-13)

44. Anthony Selestow has attempted to qualify more than any player on the R48 tour (18) (per Luis Cordova, Sr.)
45. 103 players attempted to qualify during the R48 I season (21 qualified), 86 players attempted to qualify during the R48 II season (30 qualified), 91 players attempted to qualify during the R48 III season (25 qualified), 152 players attempted to qualify during the R48 IV season (26 qualified), 105 players attempted to qualify during the R48 V season thus far (30 qualified, thus far) (per Luis Cordova, Sr.)
46. 34.88% of the players entering the qualifier qualified during the R48 I season, 17.1% of the players entering the qualifier qualified during the R48 IV season (per Luis Cordova, Sr.)
47. In the 7 WR48 events Catriona Casey has won, Casey won 43 out of 45 games played (96%) and outscored her opponents by a combined 790-220 (3.6:1)
48. Catriona Casey has won 24 of 25 matches she has played in the WR48 (96%)
49. Two-time defending world champion Aisling Reilly (2012, 2015) is 1-4 in WR48 finals, with her lone victory coming in her last start (2015 Simple Green U.S. Open)
50. Catriona Casey leads Aisling Reilly 4-1 head-to-head in WR48 play with seven WR48 titles to one for Reilly
51. Tyler Hamel is the only player to have played in a R48 qualifier and never lost one point
52. After reaching #2 in March of 2014, Emmett Peixoto dropped out of the R48 “Fab 4” for the first time in 22 months (currently #5)
53. Mando Ortiz reached a career-high R48 ranking of #3 following the R48 V Houston (2016)
54. David Fink has lost the most tiebreakers in R48 history (7)
55. Mando Ortiz became the first R48 pro to defeat four former or current WPH #1 pros in his maiden R48 title in Houston 2016: Emmett Peixoto (2008), Allan Garner (2009), Paul Brady (2016), Sean Lenning (2012)
56. Mando Ortiz and Marcos Chavez became the first duo from the same club (LAAC) to win Race 4 Eight singles titles at the same event
57. Of the current R48 Men’s Elite 8, seven players wear unpadded gloves, one player wears padded gloves, four players wear liners, seven players wear open-lensed eye protection, one player wears lensed eye protection
58. Paul Brady (3), Charly Shanks, Andy Nett, and Jonathan Iglesias are the only players to defeat Luis Moreno and Sean Lenning in the same R48 event
59. Luis Moreno is the only player to have lost in every round in the main draw during the R48 V season: Simple Green U.S. Open (final: Brady), Tucson Memorial (quarterfinal: Carroll), New Orleans (round of 16: L. Cordova), Houston (semifinal: Lenning)
60. Four members of the original Elite 8 from the first Race event at the 2011 Plummer Bash are in the current Elite 8 (Lenning, Moreno, Ortiz, Fink)
61. One member of the original Elite 8 (2011) has a wife and family (Alvarado), one member of the current Elite 8 (2016) has a wife and family (Fink)
62. Paul Brady held the longest winning streak on the R48 Men’s tour: 20 matches (2014-2015)
63. Catriona Casey held the longest winning streak on the WR48 tour: 24 matches (2013-2015)
64. Marcos Chavez holds the longest winning streak on the SR48 tour: 9 matches (2015-present)
65. Marcos Chavez became the first player in Race 4 Eight history to defeat doctors in consecutive matches at the 2016 SR48 Houston (Dr. Dan Zimet and Dr. Tyler Hamel)
66. Mando Ortiz became the first player since 2004 to defeat Paul Brady in international singles play and win the tournament at the 2016 Houston R48 V Stop #4
67. Mando Ortiz became the first 1^st time R48 Men’s Pro Champion in 15 R48 events (Al. Garner, Plummer R48 III Stop #1) in winning the Houston R48 V Stop #4
68. Sean Lenning has finished in the top 3 in six consecutive R48 events since the R48 IV Stop #4 San Francisco (2 wins, currently the longest streak of 3^rd or better)
69. Killian Carroll has finished between second and seventh in all five of his R48 starts
70. Daniel Cordova has advanced to the fewest number of semifinals of any player in the Elite 8 (one: 2015 R48 Player’s Championship)
71. Paul Brady has lost just once in the semifinals in a R48 event (11-1)
72. Mando Ortiz became the first R48 champion to win back-to-back tiebreakers by the minimum margin in the semifinals and finals of a R48 event (15-13, *must win by 2)
73. Mando Ortiz became the first player to win a R48 Men’s Pro event (Houston) in his 20s in 10 R48 events (McCarthy: 2014 R48 Player’s Championship)
74. Sean Lenning is the current 1-Wall Small Ball World Singles Champion, USHA 3-Wall National Champion, 3-Wall WPH Xrossover Champion, and WPH R48 Player’s Champion
75. Of the seven R48 champions, four have been ranked #1 on the Race 4 Eight: Moreno, Lenning, Shanks, Brady
76. Of the seven R48 Men’s Pro Champions, only Charly Shanks does not have a current WPH R48 ranking
77. Five players have been ranked #1 on the R48 Men’s Pro Power Rankings: Chapman, Lenning, Moreno, Shanks, Brady
78. Only Catriona Casey has been ranked #1 on the WR48 Power Rankings