Mando Ortiz, Mounting a Charge on the Race 4 Eight, by David Fink- 2014 WPH Race 4 Eight Player’s Championship Brady-slayer and current Race 4 Eight #5 Mando Ortiz is currently in the midst of the best handball in his Race 4 Eight career. After flashing glimpses of his immense talent throughout the first three Race 4 Eight seasons, Ortiz has become a Race 4 Eight finals regular in the last three Race stops.
Ortiz advanced to the finals of the R48 IV Player’s Championship in April of 2015 with impressive victories against Luis Cordova, Emmett Peixoto and Luis Moreno before losing in a thrilling tiebreaker to Sean Lenning in the final. After defeating 2015 WPH R48 Rookie of the Year Daniel Cordova in the opening round, Ortiz lost to Paul Brady in the quarterfinals of the R48 V Simple Green U.S. Open in October of 2015. Ortiz rebounded two weeks later with another trip to the finals of the R48 V Stop #2 Tucson Memorial, defeating Stephen Cooney and Killian Carroll en route to the final before losing to Sean Lenning for the second time in three R48 finals.
Mando’s last three R48 starts (R48 IV Player’s Championship, R48 V Simple Green U.S. Open, R48 V Tucson Memorial):
- Two finals appearances
- 7-3 main draw match record
- Victories against L. Cordova, D. Cordova, Peixoto, Moreno, Cooney, Carroll
- Losses to only R48 #1 Paul Brady and R48 #2 Sean Lenning
Mando Ortiz has not yet won a Race 4 Eight title but based on his current form, that first title appears to be imminent.
To watch Mando Ortiz and the rest of the Race 4 Eight pros in in action, tune into Watch ESPN January 23rd-24th as the Race 4 Eight heads to New Orleans for the first stop of 2016 and the third stop of the Race 4 Eight V season.
To read the preview on the Race 4 Eight New Orleans, click here
To read the press release for New Orleans, click here
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David Fink
WPH Senior Writer