Tucson, AZ, WPH Press, 10/7/24
Youth was served at the 2024 Race 4 Eight Portland Classic, with twenty-two-year-old Ray Ure becoming the youngest finalist in R48 Men’s Pro history and twenty-one-year-old Mark Doyle making his first Race 4 Eight semifinal. Ure vaulted from number eleven into the Elite 8 for the first time at number six following his finals run, while Doyle climbed from number twelve to within decimal points of the Elite 8 at number nine.
The top five remained unchanged, as Martin Mulkerrins, the Flying Cordovas, Leo Canales, and David Fink maintained their Fab Five spots. Mulkerrins holds a commanding lead in the top spot after winning his fifth consecutive Race title and eleventh overall at the 2024 Portland Classic. Mulkerrins is currently riding a twenty-three match Race winning streak.
Ivan Burgos dropped out of the Elite 8 after failing to convert two match points against Killian Carroll in round of 16 at the Portland Classic, opening the door for Carroll to reenter the Elite 8 with his sixth place finish. Sam Esser dropped from number six to number ten after his second consecutive round of 16 tiebreaker loss.
Check out the post 2024 Portland Classic R48 Men’s Pro Rankings here:
WPH Pro Men’s Ranking Methodology PDF
WPH Pro Women’s Ranking Methodology PDF
WPH Senior 40+ Ranking Methodology PDF
WPH RACE 4 EIGHT: The World Players of Handball’s Race 4 Eight Powered by ESPN features Race 4 Eight stops around the country, all culminating with The Player’s Championship in Utah each May. 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. The top 8 elite men will receive bonus cash after the season-ending rankings are tallied up; meanwhile, the top 4 Sr 40+ and Women’s ‘Fab Four’ will also receive bonuses equal or greater to the prize money offered in Salt Lake City. Email the WPH for detailed explanations regarding the ranking system, seeds and bonus pay-outs at season’s end: info@wphlive.tv
For more information on the WPH Race 4 Eight title sponsor opportunity, please contact World Players of Handball Executive Director David Vincent at info@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
Tournament seeds reflect rankings at the time of the event but are not the sole determining factor. The WPH retains the discretion to seed players based on their skill level, recent performance, and injury status.
The Executive Director will seed each tournament in a manner that respects the objectivity of the WPH rankings, while acknowledging that some unranked players are strong enough to disrupt the integrity of a draw if not seeded subjectively. Therefore, the seeding process will involve the objective constraint that no ranked player may be seeded ahead of a higher ranked player, while allowing for the subjective seeding of any unranked player the Executive Director deems strong enough to disrupt the draw.