WPH Press, Queens, NY, 7/9/23
Impact Pro’s Isaias Rivera and Mel Sky hosted the 2023 U.S. Open at the Astoria Heights Playground in Queens, NY on the second weekend in July, featuring 135 of the best players from New York City and beyond.
Top-seed and defending champion Tywan Cook was eliminated in the quarterfinals of his title defense, arriving hours late for his scheduled match against the UK’s Luke Thompson and starting with a 0-10 late-start deficit he could not overcome. After one of the biggest surprises in recent 1-Wall history, Thompson faced Tavo Ruiz, who ousted Dan Pitre in the quarterfinals. Tavo made quick work of the English star, serving him a donut en route to the final.
Timbo Gonzalez emerged from the bottom bracket, defeating 1-Wall superstar Kadeem Bush in the quarterfinals and 2022 King of the Court David Velez in two very close matches.
The final was delayed by more than an hour by a rain shower, allowing Tavo and Timbo more time to recover from a grueling morning of handball. Tavo was relentless in the final, building a 7-0 lead in under two minutes. Timbo served for the first time at 0-7 but could not stop the Tavo assault, as Tavo’s two-handed power attack produced angled kills, off the wall kills, and power passes. Tavo set his sights on his second consecutive donut, throwing himself into the crowd at 20-0 in an attempt to maintain his shutout streak. Timbo finally scored at 0-20, briefly halting the Tavo momentum and starting to work his way into rallies with high lobs and taking front court control. The lead was too big to overcome, however, as Tavo demonstrably clinched the 2023 Impact U.S. Open and the $10k cash prize.
“I fell short,” lamented Timbo. “I played my heart out but (got) really bad cramps before the finals and couldn’t do anything. I had the hardest bracket. I took out three top singles players back to back to back. I’m proud I made it far. Everyone counted me out since the start of the tournament.”
Quarterfinals
Luke Thompson def Tywan Cook 21-18
Tavo Ruiz def Dan Pitre 21-15
Timbo Gonzalez def Kadeem Bush 21-17
David Velez def Joshua Garcia 21-13
Semifinals
Tavo def L. Thompson 21-0
Timbo def D. Velez 21-13
Final: Tavo def Timbo 25-4
2023 Impact Pro U.S. Open draw HERE
Watch all of the Sunday play from 2023 Impact Pro U.S. Open final, courtesy of TensFinest HERE
Follow Impact Pro and watch the matches on the Impact Pro Facebook page HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer