Sunday at the 2023 Race 4 Eight Portland Classic: Mulkerrins Repeats in Rose City
Day 3
Portland, OR, WPH Press, 10/8/23
Sunday in Rose City featured the conclusion of the first Race stop of the 2023/24 season, as Martin Mulkerrins and Lucho Cordova met for the second consecutive year in the Portland final, while Tucson and L.A. stars met in the fifth and ninth place finals.
Final: Lucho vs. Mulkerrins
Aiming to repeat as the Race 4 Eight Portland Classic champion while closing in on the Race 4 Eight top spot, Martin Mulkerrins started the final with obvious anxiety, skipping his first setup of the match and struggling to end rallies. Lucho took advantage, absorbing Martin’s power to keep rallies alive and capitalizing on his opportunities. Lucho seized a 12-6 lead and appeared to be in the driver’s seat. Mulkerrins started to find his rhythm, scoring points quickly with ace serves and bottom board kills, eventually tying the game at 12. Mulkerrins extended his streak to eight consecutive points to serve for the game at 14-12. The best rally of the tournament ensued, with Lucho hitting the deck multiple times and Mulkerrins extending the rally with a behind the back scoop. Mulkerrins had an opportunity to win the game on the twenty-fifth shot of the rally, but overhit a back wall setup, opening the door for a Lucho kill and a side out. Lucho scored one point in the next inning but could not force overtime, as Mulkerrins completed the comeback with a 9-1 run to end the game.
With the first game in his pocket, Mulkerrins relaxed and showcased his full arsenal of aces, kills and passes, striking the perfect shot from virtually every spot on the floor to run away with the game and take Rose City for the second consecutive year.
Mulkerrins now has six career Race 4 Eight titles and stands as the frontrunner to win the eight-event 2023/24 Race 4 Eight Player’s Cup.
“I was in the zone and frantic at the start,” Mulkerrins would later say to ESPN’s Kara Mack. “Luis played very well in the beginning. There were some massive rallies in the beginning and I could hear him breathing. I told myself to just go for the right shots when I was down 6-12. I’ve been working very hard on my serve but I didn’t locate it against Vic, it’s been patchy.”
Final: Mulkerrins def Lucho 15-13, 15-5
Playoffs
Fifth Place Final: Burgos def Esser 25-23
Tucson sparring partners Sam Esser and Ivan Burgos met in the Portland Classic fifth place final, with Esser holding an undefeated tournament record against Burgos. Burgos was determined to break Esser’s streak, taking a seemingly insurmountable 21-9 lead in their one game match to 25. Esser climbed his way back into the game, eventually cutting the deficit to 17-23 and trying the match at 23. With all of the momentum on Esser’s side, Burgos scored his first point in eighteen minutes to serve for the match, then closed out the match on the next serve to thwart what would have been the biggest comeback in playoff history.
“It was a sense of relief,” stated Burgos to ESPN’s Kara Mack. “I’m not sure how many times I went in (at 23) without scoring. It was such a relief to get that twenty-fourth point because I knew I could get the next one. I’ve been in the court four to five times per week and running. I can continue to set goals and achieve them. My next goal is to try to get to the semifinals and eventually try to win one.”
Ninth Place Final: Perez def Hernandez 25-17
Vic Perez played methodically throughout the ninth place final, content to send the ball around the walls and to the ceiling and utilizing the back left corner glass. Perez built an 11-4 lead, only to see Hernandez cut the deficit to two. Perez never allowed Hernandez closer, taking a 15-9 lead at halftime and maintaining his advantage in the second half.
“We go in there like we are just going to play,” Perez said about rooming with Hernandez for the weekend. “I knew I had to change a couple things around playing him. Usually in practice I power serve but today I hit a lot of ceilings.”
17th Place Final: Streibig def Colyer 21-16
Jeff Streibig bounced back from a two-point tiebreaker loss in the round of 32 against Vic Perez to win a deep 17th place draw, overcoming fellow Missourian Ross “Hop” Colyer in the final.
2023 Portland Classic Finishes
1st: Mulkerrins
2nd: Lucho
3rd: Lenning/Danos
5th: Burgos
6th: Esser
7th: Fink/Ruiz
9th: Perez
10th: Hernandez
11th: Doyle/Cooney
13th: D. Mulkerrins/Collado/Bike/Langmack
17th: Streibig
Follow the draws and results from the 2023 Race 4 Eight Portland Classic HERE
Thank you!
Thank you to Conor Casey and his family and band of volunteers for another outstanding day at the MAC.
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer
UPDATED RANKINGS, By Dave Vincent/Nick Flores
From the end of the 2022/23 season rankings to the post-Portland rankings, the top 4 pros stayed the same:
1 Luis Cordova
2 Martin Mulkerrins
3 Leo Canales
4 Killian Carroll
STATS: With his semifinal finish, Daniel Cordova jumps from 6 to 5, knocking David Fink from 5 to 6; with his semifinal finish, Sean Lenning hops from 8 to 7, knocking Shorty Ruiz from 7 to 8; with his top 6 finish, Sam Esser leaps from 10 to 9, pushing Max Langmack from 9 to 10 to round out the top 10. Neither the 1st or 5th place final matches on Sunday affected these top 10 rankings. The biggest mover this past weekend in Portland was Vic Perez, surging 8 spots from #24 to #16 with his 9th place Portland finish; Dylan Hernandez moves to #15, after a 10th place finish at “The Classic.”
