2022 January Classic R48 Pro and Women’s Singles Daily Recaps
WPH Press, Tucson, AZ 1/14/22
Day 1
The Race 4 Eight X’s first event of 2022 and fourth event of the 2021/22 R48 X season kicked off on Friday at the Tucson Racquet Club, with the Race 4 Eight’s battling for the inaugural January Classic title.
17-time Race 4 Eight champion Killian Carroll was aiming to stay undefeated on the season in his third R48 X start, while Lucho Cordova was aiming for his first title of the season after making the finals in his first two R48 X starts, Danos Cordova was seeking his fourth R48 title and first R48 X final and a hungry group of challengers were aiming for their R48 breakthroughs.
Six of the top eight seeds cruised to Saturday’s quarterfinals with two-game sweeps, as Carroll, the Flying Cordovas, Stephen Cooney, Leo Canales, Jr., and Sam Esser all advanced. Abraham Montijo avenged his December Icebreaker loss to Max Langmack, dropping the Kansas product in two games to advance to his second R48 X quarterfinal. Bill Mehilos, making his third consecutive Race 4 Eight start, scored the upset of the day, defeating fifth-seeded Shorty Ruiz in two games to advance to his first Race 4 Eight quarterfinal.
Saturday will feature the R48 Pro quarterfinals and semifinals, R48 playoff action, and Women’s Pro singles, all live on ESPN3.
Round of 16 (Friday)
Carroll def Schiller 15-8, 15-9
Montijo def Langmack 16-14, 15-6
Mehilos def Ruiz 15-10, 15-4
Cooney def D. Perez 15-9, 15-3
Cordova def Gaulton 15-10, 15-5
Canales, Jr. def Pesch 15-1, 17-15
Esser def Streibig 15-9, 15-4
Cordova def Canales, Sr. 15-1, 15-7
Round of 8 (Saturday) LIVE ON ESPN3 & WATCHESPN APP
Carroll vs. Montijo 10 am MST
Cooney vs. Mehilos 11 am MST
Cordova vs. Canales, Jr. 1 pm MST
Cordova vs. Esser noon MST
Follow all of the brackets from the 2022 January Classic HERE
Watch Saturday’s action live on ESPN3 HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer