WPH Press, Tucson, AZ
Thirteen players from five states entered the 6 am Ice Bowl Qualifier, competing for three spots in the inaugural Ice Bowl’s Men’s Pro main draw.
Leo “El Senor” Canales, Sr. had lost in two previous Ice Bowl qualifiers and was hungry to climb over the line. “He’s been really training for this,” stated top eight Icebreaker pro Leo Jr. El Senor entered the qualifier as the number one seed and cruised to the semifinals of the upper bracket, where his frequent sparring partner and travel mate Victor Sanchez awaited. El Senor built a n 18-11 lead in the one-game qualifier final match, standing just three points from the qualifier spot he so desperately craved. Sanchez caught fire, stringing together a series of deep hop serves and fly kills to stun Canales with ten consecutive points. “He’s never beat me in 20 years, ever!” screamed the normally mild-mannered El Senor.
Colorado’s Armando “The Answer” Ibarra entered the Ice Bowl Qualifier as the second seed. The former Colorado state singles champion prepared for the qualifier by spending three weeks in Tucson, training on Clark Park’s 3-Wall courts. Ibarra faced Tucson’s Carlos Espinoza in his opening round and nearly saw his three weeks of training flushed down the drain, as Espinoza served at 18-18 after a furious comeback in the one game match to 21. Ibarra regained control, scoring the final three points of the match to advance to the bottom bracket qualifier final. Ibarra dominated Phoenix’s Matt Vollink to nab the qualifier spot in the bottom bracket final, 21-2.
El Senor had one more chance to qualify before the Icebreaker I season ended, facing Vollink in a one-game to 11 match for the final qualifier spot. El Senor would not allow this opportunity to slip away, as El Senor dominated his 30 years younger opponent to become a R48 and Icebreaker qualifier.
How would Sanchez, Ibarra, and Canales fare in the Ice Bowl? Stay tuned!
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer