WPH Press, Austin, TX, 11/16/25
The University of Texas Handball Team and tournament director Andy Shen were proud to present the 2025 Texas State Singles Tournament and Race 4 Eight Pre Qualifiers at UT’s Gregory Gym on campus of the University of Texas.
The winner of the Men’s Open Singles and Women’s Open Singles at the 2025 TX State Singles earned a travel stipend and entry to the Race 4 Eight event of his or her choice during the 2025/26 Race 4 Eight season.
Men’s R48 Pre Qualifier Singles at the 2025 TX State Singles
R48 #6 Danos Cordova entered the 2025 TX State Singles aiming to defend his homecourt at Gregory Gym and to become the 2025 Texas State Singles champion. By virtue of being ranked in the R48 Elite 8, Danos was ineligible to win the travel stipend. Danos defeated Austin rival Adam Bernhard in the upper bracket semifinals to book his spot in the final.
Diarmuid Mulkerrins clinched the travel stipend with his two-game sweep against Dylan Schmitt in the bottom bracket semifinals.
Danos and Diarmuid played close throughout the first game of the final, with the pair eventually tied at thirteen in the first game. Danos took over the match from there, outscoring Diarmuid 17-4 in the final twenty-one points of the match.
“The final was good,” Danos would later tell the WPH. “I had a lead most of the first game but then he’d cut my lead to 2-3 points. His power serve wasn’t working well, so he did an overhand lob that hit the right wall and would end up on the left side of the court. I wasn’t too comfortable and gave him a couple weak returns that he would shoot from deep court. He tied the game at 13 and I scored the last two points.
(In the second game) We had good rallies but he skipped some big setups. He seemed to run out of steam a bit.”
Semifinals
Danos def Bernhard 15-6, 15-13
Mulkerrins def D. Schmitt 15-5, 15-6
Final: Danos def D. Mulkerrins 15-13, 15-5
WR48 Pre Qualifier Singles at the 2025 TX State Singles
WR48 #2 Aoife Holden defeated Texas’s Caitlin Behne in the upper bracket semifinals to make the Women’s TX Singles final. By virtue of being ranked in the WR48 Fab 4, Holden was ineligible for the travel stipend.
Kristen Hughes clinched the WR48 travel stipend with a three-game bottom bracket semifinal victory against Fall 2025 Aggieland WR48 pre qualifier champion Amesley Davis (HERE).
Hughes held her own with the WR48 #2 through the first half of the first game in the final but could not sustain her level, as Holden took control of the match in the second half of the first game.
“The match went pretty well overall,” Hughes stated after the match. “Aoife had me on my heels the entire first game while I tried to find my rhythm. We were fairly back and forth the first half of the second game, with most of my points coming from serves. We ended up tied at 8-8 before she locked in to close out the match. I’d been on a short break before the tournament, and the Pre Qualifier was a great motivator to get back to practicing more.”
Semifinals
Holden def Behne
Hughes def A. Davis 15-5, 14-15, 11-4
Final: Holden def Hughes 15-4, 15-9
Thank you to tournament director Andy Shen and the Texas State Handball Team for a great event.
Race 4 Eight Pre Qualifier Explained HERE
2025/25 Race 4 Eight Schedule HERE
Follow all of the brackets from the 2025 Texas State Singles Tournament HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer