Spokane, WA, WPH Press, 11/10/19- The 53rd Lilac Tournament was held in Spokane, WA, featuring seven-time Oregon State handball champion and former top 25 R48 pro Dalton Beall, Spokane’s Pete “Svenny” Svennungsen – famous for dropping out of eight R48 qualifiers after the deadline, junior champion David Sanchez iii, Portland’s rising star Kyle English, Port Orchard’s Jon Hohol, Bingen’s Michael Stenberg, and Spokane’s Fred Schoener.
Portland’s former professional football player and male model Kyle English advanced to the final in the upper bracket with consecutive tiebreaker wins against Northern California’s Rene Lopez and Anthony Collado, brushing aside two of Norcal’s best young guns. Following the two grueling tiebreaker wins, English knocked out defending champion Pete Svennugnsen in two games to advance to the final.
Dalton Beall worked his way back into form after a several month hiatus, advancing to the final in the bottom bracket without dropping a game.
The final was a matchup between Oregon rivals, as Beall and English both aimed to take the Lilac title across the border. Past matches between Beall and English were dominated by Beall, but English 2.0 was a different animal and pushed the Oregon State champion to the limit. Beall took a one-game lead against English and relied on his tremendous serve-and-shoot game to hold off English by a razor-thin margin in game two.
“I am getting better thanks to having such a great group of guys to play with here in Portland and Vancouver,” stated English. “I could never do it without the competitive level of ballers here. I’ve become much more consistent at shooting and passes. I had a great time at the Lilac and played some grueling matches. I was exhausted for the finals but wanted to take down the Oregon champ. But he is still the champ…..for now. I’m gunning for him and hope to match up against him again soon. “
“The tournament went well, good hospitality and great handball played,” stated the 53rd Lilac champion Dalton Beall. “I played well but just getting back into it. Kyle is a beast and he is playing great so it made it a real tough finals match.”
English teamed with Schoener to win the Open Doubles, defeating Anthony Collado and Svenny in two games in the final.
Men’s Open Singles
Semifinals
English def Svennungsen 21-11, 21-19
Beall def Schoener 21-17, 21-15
Final: Beall def English 21-13, 21-19
Follow all of the results from the 53rd Lilac HERE
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David Fink
WPH Senior Writer