by Loren Collado
San Francisco, CA, WPH Press, 10/18/23
The Olympic Club is hosting its second ever pre-qualifier for the R48 tour this weekend (October 21-22) and is expected to be the most competitive singles tournament in the Bay Area since the OC hosted the Race 4 Eight Men’s and WR48 in 2019.
Five players will be making the trip up from Southern California, with R48 #14 pro Stephen Cooney aiming to defend his 2022 Olympic Club Race 4 Eight Pre Qualifier title, #15 pro Dylan Hernandez will be aiming to erase the memory failing to capitalize on three match points in his round of 16 loss to Danos Cordova at the 2023 R48 Portland Classic, #33 pro John Wayne Cortez making his debut this season and Fausto Castro and Ryan Watkins will aim to kick start their seasons.
Among the top NorCal players will be #17 Race pro and Olympic Club Race 4 Eight Pre Qualifier tournament director Loren Collado and Rene Lopez defending their home courts at the Olympic Club, former top 20 R48 pro pro Erik Torres, NorCal state champion Javier Badillo and Lake Forest alum Peter Jansen.
Flying in from out of state will be SR48 pro Pete Svennungsen of Washington and Irish Senior level player Tadhg O’Neill of Cork Co., Ireland as this tournament’s dark horse.
Since 2017, R48 Pre Qualifiers have been held in Pittsburgh, Tucson, Austin, L.A., San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Portland, creating tremendous excitement for players and fans. The WPH is proud to provide extensive promotion, real-time and post coverage of all R48 Pre Qualifiers.
Make your way to College Station on the second weekend of October to play against a number of the game’s best players. The winner of the Jack Gressett R48 Pre Qualifier in College Station will receive a $300 travel stipend from the WPH upon completion of his first match at his first Race 4 Eight start of the 2023/24 Race 4 Eight season. The travel stipend is non-transferrable.
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.