New York, NY, WPH Press, 7/24/22
The ICHA in partnership with NYC Parks and Recreation hosted the Play Handball for the Cure Speaker’s Cup in Memory of Jim Jacobs at Central Park’s famed 1-Wall courts. The 2022 Speaker’s Cup attracted a deep field of 1-Wall small ball stars, to include the Bastidas brothers, Danielle Daskalakis, Cesar Sala, Sandy Ng, Saul Gonzalez, Joe Kaplan, Satish Jagnandan, and many more.
Daskalakis Slams the Women’s Open
Handball cross over star Danielle Daskalakis slammed one of the strongest women’s 1-Wall small ball draws in several years. Danielle overcame Sandy Ng in the singles final and teamed with Ng to win the doubles against the Garate sisters.
“It was my first time playing small ball 1-Wall in a while so I couldn’t rely on my usual serve and shoot game because I was pulling the ball too much,” stated Daskalakis. “So I went to a high lob serve and did a lot of strong overhands near my body that seemed to get me the most points. Sandy on the other hand seemed to have a great low serve up the line and cross court, which wasn’t the usual dynamic.”
Singles Final: Daskalakis def Ng 25-19
Doubles Final: Daskalakis/Ng def Garate sisters 25-12
Jurell Takes the Men’s Singles, Sanchez/Polanco Win the Men’s Doubles
The Bastidas brothers entered the 2022 Speaker’s Cup seeded second and fourth, respectively. Second-seeded Tyree cruised to the final in the bottom bracket, while fourth-seeded Jurell escaped match point against PeeWee Castro in the quarterfinals to win 25-24 and overcame William Polanco in the semifinals to meet Tyree in the final.
Jurell overwhelmed Tyree in the final, announcing himself as the favorite to win the USHA One Wall Nationals.
Final: Jurell def Tyree 25-13
Allan Sanchez and William Polanco clinched the Men’s Open Doubles.
Thank you to Danielle Daskalakis and Jared Vale for updates from Central Park.
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer