WPH Press, Houston, AZ
Day 1, Friday, 2/18/22
The seventh edition of the Houston Race 4 Eight & Texas State Doubles Championships kicked off on Friday morning at the Tellepsen Family YMCA, with the R48 Men’s Pros competing in their fifth stop of the seven-stop 2021/22 R48 season.
Killian Carroll carried his 31-match WPH pro singles winning streak into Houston and would be aiming for his sixth consecutive Race 4 Eight title and his nineteenth overall Race title. The Cordova brothers and Ireland’s Diarmaid Nash, along with many of the world’s top players would be aiming to end Carroll’s streak.
R48 #1 Killian Carroll extended his winning streak to 32 matches with a two-game sweep against David Schiller, while second-seeded Lucho Cordova trailed Loren Collado 3-11 in game one before rallying to win in two games. “Loren was playing really well (to build the lead) but it looked like he got tired,” stated Danos. “Loren’s game requires a lot of energy.”
Third-seeded Diarmaid Nash was clinical against Jeff Streibig, never allowing the St. Louis star into the match. “I felt like I was playing well, but he is just so consistent,” stated Streibig. “I was in the rallies but his pass shots are so good and he makes no errors.”
Fourth-seeded Danos Cordova overcame Texas legend Adam Bernhard in two games, while fifth-seeded David Fink found himself on the brink of a tiebreaker, trailing 5-9 and 9-12 in game two against Bill Mehilos. “Bill was playing awesome ball,” stated Fink about his 40-something rival. “He was converting just about every setup with either hand.” Fink closed out the match by scoring six unanswered points to advance to the quarterfinals.
Sixth-seeded Stephen Cooney was quietly putting together the best season of his Race career and was aiming for his fourth quarterfinal of the season against Max Langmack. A snowstorm in Kansas City delayed Langmack’s arrival in Houston from Thursday to Friday morning, meaning “The Gentle Giant” arrived to the courts just minutes before his first match. At the site of his breakout Race performance in 2018, Langmack started hot against Cooney, taking game one and nearly closing out the match in game two before falling in overtime. Cooney led 13-10 in the third, but two diving, backhanded re kills from the outstretched 6”9 Langmack enabled Langmack to stay alive. Langmack took advantage, closing out the match with a perfectly struck left-handed kill. “I just wasn’t sharp but credit to Max, he should have won in two and he deserved to win,” stated Cooney.
Seventh-seeded Leo Canales, Jr. dropped game one against his Southwest rival Abraham Montijo before rallying to dominate the second and third games to advance to his fifth quarterfinal of the season.
In a battle of Tucson, Sam Esser and Shorty Ruiz split the first two games, with Ruiz rallying from a 1-7 deficit in game one and Esser holding on to win the second. Esser took control in the tiebreaker, denying Ruiz his second R48 4-Wall quarterfinal of the season.
Round of 16
Carroll def Schiiler 15-0, 15-2
Lucho def L. Collado 15-13, 15-8
Nash def Streibig 15-1, 15-2
Danos def Bernhard 15-5, 15-10
Fink def Mehilos 15-9, 15-12
Langmack def Cooney 15-8, 15-17, 15-13
Canales def Montijo 14-16, 15-1, 15-6
Esser def Ruiz 12-15, 15-10, 15-4
Quarterfinals (Saturday on Watch ESPN)
Carroll vs. Esser 10 am CST
Danos vs. Fink 11 am CST
Nash vs. Langmack Noon CST
Lucho vs. Canales, Jr. 1 pm CST
The R48 will continue on Saturday with quarterfinal and semifinal action, while the WR48 will kick off its second stop of the 2021/22 WR48 season, headlined by 20-time WR48 champion Catriona Casey
Pre Houston Fun Facts HERE
Houston Race 4 Eight History HERE
Catriona Casey Pre Houston Stats HERE
Watch Saturday’s action starting at 9 am CST on Watch ESPN
Follow all of the brackets from the 2022 Houston Race 4 Eight HERE
David Fink