Day 2
Salt Lake City, UT, WPH Press, 5/4/24
The Race 4 Eight fields were cut in half by Saturday morning, as only sixteen R48 Men’s pros, four WR48 pros and four SR48 pros were left standing after Salt Lake City’s opening day.
R48 Men’s Pro
Martin Mulkerrins advanced to Sunday’s R48 Men’s Pro final with alarming ease, dismantling the LAAC’s Vic Perez in the quarterfinals and Phoenix’s Leo Canales in just forty-six combined minutes. The dominating display featured Martin’s full arsenal of shots, including automatic punch fists to the ceiling and wrap-arounds, in addition to blistering passes and kills. “There was just nothing I could do,” lamented Leo Canales, who defeated David Fink earlier in the day to advance to the semifinals.
Killian Carroll eliminated Lucho Cordova in the quarterfinals, dashing Lucho’s hopes at consecutive Player’s Cups, while ensuring that Martin clinched his first Player’s Cup. Carroll played evenly with Lucho to 9-9 in both games, then flipped a switch, increasing the velocity on his shots and foot speed to stifle the 2023 Player’s Cup champion.
Ray Ure started slowly against former Midwest rival Sam Esser in the first game of their quarterfinal matchup, as Esser kept the Mankato multi-sport star in the back court with perfectly placed two-wall drives. Ure adjusted in the second game, finding ways to step into the ball and take control of the front court and the match. Ure was dominant from the start of the second game, allowing Esser just six combined points en route to his first semifinal appearance.
The first Race 4 Eight matchup between Carroll and Ure did not disappoint, as the pair demonstrated athleticism and power at the highest level. With Carroll leading 7-3, Carroll hit a fist shot directly at Ure’s nose, causing a nearly ten-minute injury timeout for Ure to have his nose checked by Dr. Ruiz and stop the bleeding. When play resumed, Ure pushed Carroll to the limit, quickly climbing to 12-13 after trailing 13-9. “After Juarez I gained confidence that I can play with the top players on the pro tour,” Ure told ESPN’s Kara Mack. Carroll relied on his experience to weather the storm late in the first, closing out the game after Ure’s comeback. Carroll raised his level in game two, shrinking the court with his speed and not allowing Ure into the rallies to advance to the final.
R48 Men’s Pro Quarterfinals
Mulkerrins def Perez 15-5, 15-3
Canales def Fink 15-10, 15-6
Ure def Esser 6-15, 15-1, 15-5
Carroll def Lucho 15-8, 15-12
R48 Men’s Pro Semifinals
Mulkerrins def Canales 15-5, 15-2
Carroll def Ure 15-12, 15-3
R48 Men’s Pro Final (Sunday, 11:15 am MST): Mulkerrins vs. Carroll
WR48
Catriona Casey clinched her tenth WR48 Player’s Cup just by stepping on the court for her quarterfinal match and proceeded to do what she has done for the past decade on the WR48 tour; dominate whoever enters the court with her. Casey dispatched Aoife Holden in the quarterfinals and made quick work on 2024 WR48 Chapman finalist Ciana Ni Churraoin in the semifinals, keeping CNC off-balance and out of sorts with multiple serves and using the entire court.
Ashley Ruiz upset WR48 #2 Mikaila Esser to advance to the semifinals, winning a close first game, dropping the second and nearly losing a 13-2 lead in the third before prevailing.
Niamh Heffernan upset WR48 #4 Clodagh Munroe to advance to her second WR48 semifinal in her second WR48 start. Heffernan continued her strong play in the semifinals against Ruiz, dominating game one and overcoming a solid run of Ruiz kill shots in game two to advance to her first WR48 final.
WR48 Quarterfinals
Casey def Holden 15-7, 15-0
Ruiz def Esser 15-13, 9-15, 15-12
Heffernan def Munroe 15-6, 15-10
Ni Churraoin def Daskalakis 15-7, 15-1
WR48 Semifinals
Casey def Ni Churraoin 15-7, 15-6
Heffernan def Ruiz 15-3, 15-7
WR48 Final (Sunday, 10:30 am MST): Casey vs. Heffernan
SR48
SR48 #1 David Fink clinched his sixth consecutive SR48 Player’s Cup with his quarterfinal win against Pete Svennungsen and advanced to his fifth consecutive SR48 Player’s Championship final with a two-game sweep against Chris Watkins following Watkins’ quarterfinal upset against former masters national champion Alex Garcia.
The SR48 bottom bracket featured two of the most exciting and longest matches of the tournament, both involving SR48 rookie Adam Bernhard. Bernhard defeated SR48 #5 Kevin Pettus in the quarterfinals, winning the first game and surrendering a 6-1 second game lead before retaking control of the match in the third.
Bernhard found himself in another marathon in his SR48 semifinal against Dave Munson, forcing a number of Munson errors with well-placed ceiling shots to take game one. Bernhard appeared to be on his way to the final, leading 7-5 in game two but Munson came alive, scoring the final ten points of the second to force a third. Very little separated the exhausted SR stars in the third, as the momentum shifted back and forth. Munson tied the score at twelve and appeared to have scored the thirteenth point with a left-handed, left-corner kill, but Bernhard anticipated, dove to his right and shoveled a pass to the right to stun Munson and deny him the thirteenth point. Another incredible retrieve by Bernhard at 13-12 denied Munson his second consecutive SR48 final, as Bernhard clinched his spot in his first SR48 final in his first SR48 start.
SR48 Quarterfinals
Fink def Svennungsen 15-3, 15-2
Munson def Price 15-11, 15-9
Bernhard def Pettus 15-11, 9-15, 15-6
Watkins def A. Garcia 15-12, 15-11
SR48 Semifinals
Fink def Watkins 15-2, 15-2
Bernhard def Munson 15-11, 7-15, 15-12
SR48 Final (Sunday, 9:45 am MST): Fink vs. Bernhard
Thank you!
Thank you to the Aces Team: Matt and Lon Stalsberg, Ruben Garza, Ashton Steadman, Jim Karner, Scott Bebe and everyone who worked tirelessly to make the Aces event the premiere event in the sport. Thank you to Ace Disposal for an outstanding banquet, complete with great food and camaraderie. We are excited to return next year for the 2025 Aces Player’s Championship.
Watch all of the action from Salt Lake City live on ESPN+ on Sunday
Follow the brackets from the 2024 Aces Player’s Championship HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer
Sunday, May 5, 2024 – All Times Mountain Daylight Time (MDT)
(ESPN Block: 9a-130p)
0900 9th Place Final/Sean Kerr vs Daniel Cordova -or- David Fink vs Luis Cordova/5th Place Final
0945 SR 40+ Final David Fink vs Adam Bernard
1030 Women’s Pro Final – Catriona Casey vs Niamh Heffernan
1115 Men’s Pro Final Martin Mulkerrins vs Killian Carroll