Jab and Mikaila Take KC
Overland Park, KS, WPH Press, 10/22/23
Overland Park’s Jewish Community Center played host to the 75th Annual Handballesta handball tournament featuring 80 players, with an impressive Men’s Open Singles field boasting five ranked Race 4 Eight pros and an equally impressive Women’s Open Singles field with two ranked WR48 pros.
Men’s Open Singles
Jab Bike entered the event as the fifth seed on the heels of a scorching spring and summer that saw the left-handed legacy star score tournament wins against Race 4 Eight top eleven pros Sam Esser, Max Langmack and Ivan Burgos. After knocking out St. Louis’s top star Jeff Streibig in two games in the quarterfinals, Bike faced Esser in a rematch of a WPH 3-Wall Icebreaker match won by Bike over the summer. After dropping game one, Bike roared back to take game two and survived a high-pressure, high-intensity tiebreaker to advance to the final.
R48 #12 Mark Doyle entered the Handballesta as the second seed but was stunned in his opening round by Missouri State’s Ross “Hop” Colyer. Colyer kept Doyle off-balance with strong serves and never allowed Doyle into the match en route to his best career win. Langmack brought his good friend “Hop” back to earth in the bottom bracket semifinal, dismantling Colyer in two quick games.
Langmack was seeking revenge against Bike for their round of 16 clash at July’s WPH Clarkbreaker won by Bike in two games. Bike picked up where he left off in July’s two-game 3-Wall win, building a lead and closing out the game after a Langmack rally.
“I got out to a good lead (in game one) with some good serves and attacking shots,” stated Bike. “After leading by about ten points, Max fought back and made it close at 17-18. We had a good amount of side outs at the end of game 1. At 20-17 I got a crazy serve for an ace to win the game.”
“John was using his power really effectively and had a good serve working in the first,” stated Langmack.”
Langmack was too strong in game two, leaving Bike on just five points to force a third.
“In the second I settled in a bit and got the kill and pass working well,” stated Langmack.
“Game two was all Max,” stated Bike. “He outplayed me and was sharp. I wasn’t doing much with his serves and he had a lot of easy points. Good serves and second shot kills.”
The match looked to be Langmack’s in the third, as “TGG” built a 7-0 lead in the race to eleven.
“Game 3 started out all Max again,” stated Bike. “I couldn’t convert my serve from the end of the first game to 0-7 in the third. At the timeout at 7-0, Mark Doyle and Coach Wells talked to me and got me in the right headspace and told me to not swing as hard on my serves and that was the difference. There were a decent amount of side outs while I was scoring but it ended up 11-8. I think it only took one try at 10-8 to win.”
“John climbed his way back into the match with some crack serves, gets and power serves,” stated Langmack.
“It was a battle for sure,” stated Bike. “Definitely one of the most intense matches I’ve ever played in. A lot of good rallies too with some really good gets.”
Congratulations to Jab on the biggest win of his career thus far, the first of many.
Semifinals
Jab Bike def Esser 16-21, 21-9, 11-9
Langmack def Colyer 21-1, 21-6
Final: Bike def Langmack 21-17, 5-21, 11-8
Watch the Jab vs. Max final on Jab’s Facebook page HERE
Women’s Open Singles
WR48 #6 Mikaila Esser decimated the Women’s Handballesta field, outscoring her three opponents by a Catriona Casey-like 112-13 (90%).
Esser started her Handballesta conquest against Racelyn Mathis, dominated Missouri State alum Taylor Bell in the semifinals, and in a rematch from May’s Aces Player’s Championship against WR48 #7 and 2023 WR48 New Orleans finalist Clodagh Munroe, held the Irish Mankato star to just eight points in two games.
“My focus was really on,” stated Esser. “She beat me at Salt Lake so every point I was focused on just making smart shots. She did make more errors and that helped me get a few points. But I think my shot choice was part of that. I also felt like I had good control of the rallies by moving her around and taking good defensive shots.”
Semifinals
Munroe def Klicker 21-4, 21-5
Esser def Bell 21-1, 21-1
Final: Esser def Munroe 21-4, 21-4
Follow all of the brackets from the 75th Annual Handballesta HERE
Thank you to Handballesta tournament director Chris Herbig for an outstanding tournament.
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer