Multiple Thrillers in Rose City
Day 1
Portland, OR, WPH Press, 10/6/23
The 2023 Race 4 Eight Portland Classic marks the 81st event in the history of the Race 4 Eight tour, with the tour spanning seventeen states and two countries in the R48’s first thirteen seasons.
The 2023 Race 4 Eight Portland Classic featured eight of the R48’s top ten pros at the MAC, to include R48 #1 and five-time 2022/23 Race 4 Eight champion Lucho Cordova, R48 #2 and defending R48 Portland Classic champion Martin Mulkerrins and R48 #8 and seven-time Race 4 Eight champion Sean Lenning.
The fifth Race 4 Eight stop in Portland and the fifth Portland Classic produced one of the most exciting Fridays in the twelve-year history of the tour, as six of the eight round of 16 matches went the distance.
Top-seeded Lucho Cordova raced to a 6-0 lead against Diarmuid Mulkerrins in Diarmuid’s second Race 4 Eight start, but Diarmuid quickly bounced back, stunning Lucho with a nine-point streak. With the pair tied at ten, Mulkerrins missed two setups with his right to lose the momentum. Lucho pulled away midway through the second game as well. “I need to make those shots at ten in the first,” lamented Mulkerrins.
Second-seeded Martin Mulkerrins faced the resurgent and come-backing Vic Perez in a rematch of the round of 16 2018 R48 Atlanta won by Perez. Perez narrowly avoided his second consecutive Race 4 Eight round of 32 loss in his opener, trailing 13-12 in the tiebreaker against St. Louis’s Jeff Streibig before winning in overtime. Perez played toe-to-toe with Mulkerrins throughout the first two games, matching Mulkerrins kill for kill and keeping the current national champion off-balance with ceiling balls into the corner. After having chances to take the first, Perez clinched the second in overtime. Mulkerrins was flawless in the tiebreaker, finding his serve and back wall kills and opening the bagel factory in the last match of the night. “I had no serve in the first two games but found something in the third,” Mulkerrins would later say.
Third-seeded David Fink allowed the fewest combined points of any player remaining in the draw, outscoring his two Friday opponents by a combined 60-14. Fink overcame Jab Bike in the round of 16, peppering the southpaw’s right and striking kills when given the opportunity.
Fourth-seeded Danos Cordova was on the ropes for the first two games against the LAAC’s white hot Dylan Hernandez, trailing 7-15, 11-14. Danos survived Hernandez’s first two match points, including a Hernnadez setup from just ten feet from the front wall that Hernandez could not put away. Hernandez appeared to have the match won on his third match point, crushing a right-hand kill down the left, but Danos got his left hand on the ball and floated a re kill back down the left. “I hit that one on the right part of my hand, it was all I could do from there,” recalled Danos. “I could feel the momentum change from there.” Danos scored the final five points of the second to force a third and maintained a lead throughout the third. “I would score two and he would score one, so I just could not pull away,” explained Danos about the tiebreaker. Danos lived to fight another day, while Hernandez endured one of the sport’s most devastating losses.
Fifth-seeded Shorty Ruiz trailed the Olympic Club’s Loren Collado 6-13 in the first before a furious rally tied the score at fourteen. Collado held his nerve and took a one-game lead. The second game was close throughout, with Ruiz pulling away late to force a tiebreaker. Both R48 pros made outstanding shots throughout the tiebreaker, but it was Ruiz who seized a commanding 14-10 lead. Two Ruiz errors opened the door for Collado, but a courageous fly kill earned Ruiz a side out and a drive down the left ended the match.
Sixth-seeded Sean Lenning was just one of two pros to win his round of 16 match in two games, dropping Race 4 Eight veteran Stephen Cooney. “I had a lead in the second and I was feeling good,” stated Cooney. “I wish I could have forced a tiebreaker.”
Seventh-seed and new Tucson resident Max Langmack dropped the first game of his round of 16 clash with Ivan Burgos, but (literally) roared his way back into the match in the second. Langmack went undefeated against Burgos last season but lost to Burgos in the round of 16 at The USHA Three Wall Nationals on Labor Day Weekend. Looking for revenge, Langmack built a 7-3 lead in the third, only to see his lead evaporate in what felt like seconds. Burgos turned a 3-7 deficit into a 13-7 lead in less than two minutes and closed out the match four rallies later. “I was rushing shots in the beginning of the tiebreaker so I told myself to settle down,” stated Burgos.
Eighth-seeded Sam Esser and ninth-seeded Mark Doyle brought out the best in one another, as the pair played similarly throughout their three-game thriller. Esser grabbed the first game, while Doyle returned the favor in game two. Doyle built a 9-3 lead in the tiebreaker but could not convert opportunities from there. “I never felt like I was out of it,” Esser would later say. Esser would eventually lead 13-11 but was caught at 13. Esser regained control, scoring the final two points of the match with right-hand kills. “My paddle kill has not been good and I went for a couple that would have been back wall setups,” Doyle would later say.
Round of 16
Lucho def D. Mulkerrins 15-11, 15-9
Mulkerrins def V. Perez 15-12, 14-16, 15-0
Fink def Jab Bike 15-3, 15-7
Danos def D. Hernandez 7-15, 16-14, 15-9
Ruiz def Collado 14-16, 15-11, 15-12
Lenning def Cooney 15-8, 15-13
Burgos def Langmack 15-7, 11-15, 15-8
Esser def Doyle 15-7, 6-15, 15-13
Round of 8 (Saturday, all times PST)
Lucho vs. Esser 10 am
Danos vs. Ruiz 11 am
Mulkerrins vs. Burgos Noon
Fink vs. Lenning 1 pm
Follow the draws and results from the 2023 Race 4 Eight Portland Classic HERE
2023 Race 4 Eight Portland Classic Full Preview HERE
Breaking Down the Field the 2023 Race 4 Eight Portland Classic HERE
WPH Destination Series Portland HERE
WPH Race 4 Eight Power Rankings HERE
DF’s R48 Fun Facts and Trends + Race 4 Eight History of Champions HERE
Full 2023/24 Race 4 Eight XI schedule HERE
WPH Coaching Center Instructional Videos HERE
WPH RACE 4 EIGHT: The World Players of Handball’s 2023/24 Race 4 Eight XIII Powered by ESPN features Race 4 Eight stops in Oregon, Arizona, Missouri, Montana and Mexico, all culminating with The Player’s Championship in Utah in May of 2023. Similar to NASCAR’s Nextel Cup and the FedEx PGA Playoffs, players earn points in the Race 4 Eight’s regular season stops to qualify for the season-ending Player’s Championship and bonus prizes.
For more information on the WPH Race 4 Eight title sponsor opportunity, please contact World Players of Handball Executive Director David Vincent at dave.vincent@wphlive.tv or World Players of Handball Development Director David Fink at david.fink@wphlive.tv. For more information on the World Players of Handball, please visit wphlive.tv
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer
WPH R48PRO STOP #1 – PORTLAND CLASSIC
PORTLAND, OREGON ~ MULTNOMAH ATHLETIC CLUB
(BROADCAST SCHEDULE ~ AIRING LIVE ON PATREON.COM/WPHLIVE & ESPN+)
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2023 (ALL TIMES PACIFIC)
10:00 MENS PRO QUARTERS – Luis Cordova (Mex) vs Sam Esser (AZ)
11:00 MENS PRO QUARTERS – Shorty Ruiz (AZ) vs Daniel Cordova (Mex)
12:00 MENS PRO QUARTERS – Ivan Burgos (AZ) vs Martin Mulkerrins (IRE)
13:00 MENS PRO QUARTERS – David Fink (AZ) vs Sean Lenning (WA)
14:00 MENS 5th or 9TH SEMIS (TBD)
14:45 MENS 5th or 9TH SEMIS (TBD)
15:30 MENS PRO SEMIS (TBD)
16:30 MENS PRO SEMIS (TBD)
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2023 (ALL TIMES PACIFIC)
10:00 MENS 9TH PLACE FINAL (TBD)
10:45 MENS 5TH PLACE FINAL (TBD)
11:30 MEN’S PRO FINAL (TBD)
Filmed for WPH Patreon supporters of the WPH at patreon.com/wphlive. WPH members will have various access by emailing info@wphlive.tv for a link. Find the Brackets: HERE