Brady, Casey Take New York Crystal- WPH R48Pro NYAC Wraps

Sunday at the 2016 NYAC Race 4 Eight featured the R48 and WR48 finals, as well as the exciting conclusions to the R48 and WR48 playoffs.

R48 Final

Paul Brady and Mando Ortiz continued the hottest rivalry in R48 Men’s Pro history in the NYAC final, as the pair met for the third time on the R48 V season. Brady advanced to the final by defeating the Cordova brothers and Luis Moreno, while Ortiz played close matches with Marcos Chavez, David Fink, and Killian Carroll to advance to his second consecutive final. Brady and Ortiz split their first two encounters this season, with Ortiz winning the most exciting match in the history of the R48 tour in the semifinals of the R48 V Houston.

Brady and Ortiz picked up where they left off in Houston, playing at a furious pace from the onset of the final. Brady was in top form from the first serve, building an 11-3 lead by using his all-around arsenal of handball skills. Ortiz charged to 7-11 and 10-13, but Brady was able to grab a one-game lead with a game-ending kill shot, 15-11. Brady led 6-5 in game two when Ortiz seemed unable to maintain the fierce pace. Brady pushed Ortiz side to side and took advantage of virtually all of his offensive opportunities, closing out Ortiz in two games and avenging his loss to the Southern California star three weeks ago. “I try to take emotion out of the game and just focus on what I’m trying to do,” stated Brady. “I feel I can still beat anyone on my best day, but it’s getting harder as I’m not getting any younger.”

R48 Playoffs

Emmett Peixoto clinched fifth for the second consecutive event, defeating Daniel Cordova and Mike Schneider. Allan Garner bounced back from a first-round loss to Killian Carroll by winning the ninth place final in a rematch of Houston’s 9^th place final against Luis Cordova. Dave Munson defeated Ireland’s David Moloney and Canada’s Kopchuk to win 17^th place.

R48 Finishes:

1^st:  Brady

2^nd:  Ortiz

3^rd: Moreno/Carroll

5^th: Peixoto

6^th: Schneider

7^th: Fink/D. Cordova

9^th: Al. Garner

10^th: L. Cordova

11^th: Chavez/Crehan

13^th: Nahorniak/Cooney/Lenning/Iglesias

17^th: Munson

WR48 Final:

Catriona Casey advanced to her eighth WR48 final in nine starts with dominant victories against Maggie Mackie and Sandy Ng, while Martina McMahon was equally impressive in advancing to the final with victories against Leslie Amminson and Danielle Daskalakis. Casey and McMahon met for the fourth time in 2016 in the WR48 NYAC final, with Casey winning their first three 2016 encounters in premier Irish events.

Casey started quickly in game one of the final, applying pressure and forcing 12 McMahon errors en route to a 17-6 lead. A late McMahon comeback fell short and Casey took a one-game lead, 21-11. Casey continued to dominate in game two, pulling away to cruise to her eighth WR48 title. “I’ve always loved playing on the tour and my unbeaten run ended in October so I wanted to try to repeat my championship here,” stated Casey. “Martina is a very strong player and I was happy to come through.”

WR48 Playoffs:

Sandy Ng finished third, Hilary Rushe defeated Tracy Davis in an entertaining 5^th place final and Leslie Amminson defeated Maggie Mackie to finish seventh.

WR48 Finishes:

1^st: Casey

2^nd:  McMahon

3^rd: Ng

4^th: Daskalakis

5^th: Davis

6^th: Rushe

7^th: Amminson

8^th: Mackie

Thanks to the entire WPH staff of Dave Vincent, David Fink, Lolita de Vincent, Kris Gurrad, Linda Manning, Jeff Kastner, and Jean Kastner. Special thanks to Allan Garner, Marcos Chavez, the NYAC Killer’s Club, John Duggan, Tommy Smario, Carl Obert, and to all of the fans and supporters of the outstanding event.

Log onto wphlive.tv, Like the World Players of Handball on Facebook, or follow the WPH on Twitter @dfwph and @wphlive for all of the updates and recaps from the 2016 Race 4 Eight NYAC. The ESPN3 NYAC broadcast can be watched on demand here

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