Day 2: Saturday, 3/5/22
Blowout City
Tucson became “Blowout City” on Saturday at the R48 March Madness, as virtually every match ended in lopsided fashion.
Killian Carroll authored the first blowout of the day, dispatching Tucson’s Abraham Montijo in two games to pick up his thirty-seventh straight WPH singles win.
“Just keep building on and trying to find my groove on these faster, concrete courts,” stated Carroll. “(In reference to his recent engagement) I was definitely more nervous proposing than most of my handball tournaments.”
Luis Cordova needed just twenty-five minutes to overcome Tucson’s favorite pro, Shorty Ruiz. “I had no legs, I think I used up all of my energy yesterday,” lamented Ruiz.
Danos Cordova rallied from a 4-9 and 7-11 first game deficit against the R48’s newcomer of the year Sam Esser to take game one and cruised in game two. “I had a nice lead but Daniel cracked out about five servs in a row and just took off from there,” stated Esser.
David Fink toppled his nearly two-decade younger rival Leo Canales, Jr. in the final quarterfinal, building leads in both games and advancing to his third semifinal of the season. “I didn’t play as aggressively as I would have liked, but Leo was a little off and made some errors that he normally doesn’t make,” stated Fink
The semifinals were two of the most one-sided Saturday afternoon semifinal showdowns in recent R48 history, as Killian Carroll overwhelmed Danos Cordova and Lucho Cordova overpowered David Fink. Carroll will meet Lucho in Sunday’s final, marking their second R48 finals matchup of the season (2021 R48 X Tucson Memorial).
Quarterfinals
Carroll def Montijo 15-6, 15-5
Lucho def Ruiz 154-,15-4
Danos def Esser 15-11, 15-7
Fink def Canales15-8, 15-8
Semifinals
Carroll def Danos 15-4, 15-4
Lucho def Fink 15-4, 15-7
Final: Carroll vs. Lucho (11:30 am MST)
JR WPH Clinic
19-time R48 champion and current R48 #1 Killian Carroll led a JR WPH Clinic for a dozen handball-crazed youngsters from Tucson, El Paso, and Juarez. “The two most important things in handball are watching the ball and cupping your hand when you hit so the ball cannot go through your fingers,” stated Carroll to the awestruck group of youngsters. Coach Carroll had the youngsters practice their serves with both hands, then played each in points. Despite being in between the quarterfinals and semifinals, Carroll flashed his patented dives and speed against his 10-year-old opponents. “Only Killian would dive in a junior clinic,” laughed ESPN cameraman Che Lowenstein.
Thank you to Killian Carroll for an outstanding clinic and donating his time to inspire the next generation of players.
Follow the brackets from the 2022 R48 X Stop 6: March Madness & USHA Hall of Fame Tournament HERE
2022 R48 X Stop 6: March Madness Broadcast Schedule HERE
ESPN3 & WatchESPN App Broadcast Schedule (Local Tucson Time Zone: Mountain Standard)
Saturday, March 5th, 2022:
09:00 Men’s Pro 9th Place Singles Final – Max Langmack vs Ray Ure
09:45 Men’s Pro 5th Place Singles Final – Sam Esser vs Juan Leo Canales
10:30 Men’s Open Doubles – Final (TBD)
11:30 Men’s Pro Singles – Final: Killian Carroll vs Luis Cordova
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer