Day 3
Austin, TX WPH Press, 4/27/25
Sunday featured the R48LTE Pete Tyson semifinals and finals, in addition to the USHA Women’s Classic final. Galleries filled both sides and back of the Gregory fish bowl court to watch the best players in the world.
R48 LTE Tyson Semifinals
R48 #1 Martin Mulkerrins and R48 #8 Sam Esser kicked off Sunday morning’s semifinals at the 2025 R48LTE Pete Tyson Classic, with Mulkerrins seeking his fifth title of the season and Esser seeking his first career final. Mulkerrins started well, grabbing a 7-1 lead. Esser took over the game from there, scoring the final fourteen points of the game and racing to a 9-6 lead in game two. Mulkerrins called a timeout, killed Esser’s next serve with his left from thirty-seven feet and never looked back. Mulkerrins scored twenty-four of the final twenty-five points of the match to avoid the upset and advance to his seventh final of the season.
Mark Doyle continued his stellar play in Austin, making his first Race final with a comprehensive two-game sweep against David Fink. Doyle never allowed Fink into the match, controlling the rallies from the center of the court.
R48 LTE Tyson Final
Very little separated Martin Mulkerrins and Mark Doyle in the first game of the final, with the pair never separated by more than three points. With the score tied at 12, Doyle made several clutch shots, including a flat back wall kill at 14-13 to take a one-game lead.
Mulkerrins never allowed Doyle into the second game, dominating from the start with power serves and kills to force a tiebreaker.
Doyle enjoyed a perfect start to the tiebreaker, building a 6-1 lead with several highlight reel paddle kills. Mulkerrins erased the deficit in one inning, taking a 7-6 lead and never relinquishing his advantage. Doyle ended the match with four right hand errors in the last five rallies, as Mulkerrins won his fifteenth Race title.
Semifinals
Mulkerrins def Esser 8-15, 15-9, 15-1
Doyle def Fink 15-7, 15-5
Final: Mulkerrins def Doyle 13-15, 15-3, 15-8
Playoffs
Danos Cordova led 22-1 in the fifth place final before an 11-point Burgos run, eventually winning 25-12.
Ross Colyer earned a Race ranking for the first time, building a 15-4 halftime lead against Diarmuid Mulkerrins in the ninth place final and surviving a late second-half rally from Mulkerrins to become an official Race pro.
5th place playoff: Danos def Burgos 25-12
9th place playoff: Colyer def D. Mulkerrins 25-20
2025 R48LTE Pete Tyson Classic Finishes
1st: M. Mulkerrins
2nd: Doyle
3rd: Fink/Esser
5th: Danos
6th: Burgos
7th: Bike/Langmack
9th: Colyer
USHA Women’s Classic at the 2025 Pete Tyson Classic
Mikaila Esser played one of her best career matches in the final against Clodagh Munroe, winning the first game and taking a 13-6 lead in the second before Munroe started here comeback. “I started having flashbacks to the (2024) Memorial when I had a big lead and lost it,” Esser would later say. Esser closed out the match by dropping a ball into the back left corner, using the “fish bowl” to her advantage.
Final: Esser def Munroe 15-12, 15-10
JR WPH Clinic at the 2025 Pete Tyson Classic R48LTE
JR WPH was thrilled to host a clinic for thirty-five collegiate players from the University of Texas, Pacific University, Missouri State University, Texas A&M, and San Angelo State at the 2025 Pete Tyson Classic R48LTE, as WPH Race 4 Eight pros David Fink and Diarmuid Mulkerrins answered questions and demonstrated shots and strategies for more than an hour. The collegiate players were interested in different types of serves, court positioning, cross-training, optimizing contact, developing more power, returning the serve, developing a ceiling game, anticipation, and much more.
“The clinic was really great,” stated Pete Tyson Classic tournament director Noel Aguilar. “The players asked great questions and got a lot out of the clinic. The was a huge turnout too.”
Thank you!
Thank you to 2025 Pete Tyson Classic tournament director Noel Aguilar for running an outstanding event. Noel ensured the 177-player tournament ran smoothly and that all of the players had a tremendous weekend. Thank you to the University of Texas Handball Team for hosting the great event. Thank you to all of the 2025 Pete Tyson Classic. Thank you to the WPH for covering the event.
Follow all of the brackets from the 2025 R48LTE Pete Tyson Classic HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer