Day 2
Tucson, AZ, WPH Press, 12/17/23
Sunday at the Race 4 Eight Icebreaker saw Lucho Cordova and David Fink aiming to face one another for the third consecutive December R48 Icebreaker, while Sean Lenning would be aiming for his first Icebreaker title and Danos Cordova would be seeking his second consecutive Icebreaker title. Mikaila Esser faced Ashley Ruiz in a continuation of their three-year Icebreaker rivalry that has seen the pair play in virtually every women’s Icebreaker final.
R48 Singles
Lucho Cordova faced Sean Lenning in the upper bracket semifinal and was aiming to avenge his finals loss to Lenning at the USHA 3-Wall Nationals over Labor Day Weekend. Lenning started hot and displayed the form that has seen him win fourteen USHA 3-Wall National titles, scoring five points in his first inning. Lucho quickly tied the score at five and would never relinquish the lead for the remainder of the match. Lucho led 10-5, closed out the first game, 21-15, and raced to an insurmountable 16-0 lead in the second. “I played good,” Lucho would later say. “Sean tried a lot of different serves, short to the right, deep left, deep right, but I was defending them well. I knew he could score points quickly at any time because he was serving hard. I wasn’t really comfortable until I had the 16-0 lead in the second.”
Danos Cordova carried a six-match Icebreaker winning streak and a six-match Race 4 Eight winning streak into the bottom bracket semifinal with David Fink. Danos had defeated Fink in their only previous Icebreaker encounter in 2021. With the score tied at ten in the first, Fink missed an easy setup and Danos quickly took over. Danos scored the final eleven points of the first game and the first seven points of the second game. “Danos’s serve was just too much at that point,” Fink would later say. “He was getting aces and dominating the front court with fly kills.”
Danos would eventually lead 18-10, just three points from the final. Fink started to mount a comeback, earning a side out and scoring four straight points to cut the deficit in half. On the fourteenth point, Danos sprinted back for a ceiling ball and slightly twisted his ankle. After a short injury timeout, Fink hit four straight aces into the short left side crack, tying the score. Fink would eventually take the lead with a fly kill but missed an overhand fly kill spike attempt to hand Danos a side out. “I would normally panic there but I was playing really well and I was able to let that poor decision go,” stated Fink. Fink scored a quick side out and closed out the game on an eleven-point streak.
Fink was in control from the beginning of the third, mixing up his serves and executing fly kills and power pass shots. Danos never found his serve in the third and Fink played error-free, sending him to his eighth Race 4 Eight final. “I have not had a good history in tiebreakers but that changed in this event,” stated Fink. “My fitness was definitely a factor in winning the quarterfinal in a tiebreaker and again today.”
Final
Lucho played flawlessly in the final, crushing the ball with incredible power, playing the deep game perfectly, serving two-way hops and executing virtually every offensive opportunity. “I told my dad there was no chance I could win this after almost losing in the first round yesterday, I definitely did not think I would beat Ivan after the first round match.”
Lucho built huge leads in both games in the final, never giving Fink chances to dictate and retrieving even Fink’s best shots. “There was really nothing I could do,” stated Fink. “Lucho overpowered me, handled all of my serves, served great and just completely outplayed me in every way. That’s why he’s the Race 4 Eight #1 and 10-time Race 4 Eight champion.”
“I felt good today,” stated Lucho. “I thought Dave played well and handled a lot of really tough overhand shots.”
Semifinals
Lucho def Lenning 21-15, 21-2
Fink def Danos 10-21, 21-18, 11-3
Final: Lucho def Fink 21-6, 21-6
Playoffs
5th Place Playoff: Jab Bike def Ruiz 25-20
Jab Bike added another Race 4 Eight top ten scalp to his quickly growing resume, taking down 3-Wall dynamo Shorty Ruiz to score his best ever Race 4 Eight finish. Jab led 14-1 before Ruiz rallied to a 12-15 halftime deficit. Bike was able to win the second half and take the match.
9th Place Playoff
2023 R48 Player’s Championship finalist Leo Canales ended his early season slump with an impressive run in the ninth place playoffs, defeating Mark Doyle and Andres Cordova to earn his first top ten finish of the season.
R48 Icebreaker Finishes:
1st: Lucho
2nd: Fink
3rd: Lenning/Danos
5th: Jab Bike
6th: Ruiz
7th: Esser/Burgos
9th: Canales
10th: A. Cordova
11th: Doyle/Streibig
13th: Montijo/Chapman/D. Perez/Pizano
Women’s Open Singles
Mikaila Esser continued her winning streak against Ashley Ruiz in Sunday’s final, overcoming a first game loss to dominate the second and third games. “Mikaila has improved so much since moving to Tucson,” stated Mikaila’s husband and coach Sam Esser. “Getting a chance to play Ashley and all of the players in Tucson has taken her game to another level.”
“I definitely started slow today but I played really well in the second and third,” stated Mikaila, who is undoubtedly the “Queen of Clark Park.”
Final: M. Esser def A. Ruiz 16-21, 21-2, 21-1
Women’s Open Singles Finishes
1st: M. Esser
2nd: A. Ruiz
JR WPH Singles
JR WPH proudly hosted junior players from Tucson, Phoenix, New Mexico and Mexico in 11-and-under and 19-and-under big ball singles play.
Moses Gardea won the 19-and-under, while Luis Cordova iii won the 11-and-under. Congratulations to all of the players who competed at Clark Park.
Thank you to Phoenix’s Carl Hayden High School handball coach Chris Hogan for bringing his players from Phoenix and to the parents and coaches who continue to grow and inspire their kids to play.
R48 Icebreaker MVP: Andres Cordova
Andres Cordova scored his best ever Race 4 Eight finish with an impressive top ten, losing to David Fink in the round of 16 and rallying from a 15-23 deficit to defeat Abraham Montijo in the first round of the ninth place playoffs, defeating Jeff Streibig in the semifinals of the ninth place playoffs before losing to top five Race 4 Eight pro Leo Canales in the ninth place final.
“Andres is really improving,” stated Canales after battling the nextgen star. “His right is much stronger and he has great paddle kills.”
“Ivan, Jab and Andres are the future of this tour, no doubt,” stated WPH Executive Director Dave Vincent.
Thank you!
Huge thanks Icebreaker grillmasters Scott Cleveland, Con Man Jim and Russ for manning the BBQ. Huge thank you’s to Jeff Streibig, Shorty Ruiz, Leo Canales and Jab Bike for arriving early on Sunday to referee before their matches. Thank you to Lolita Vincent for the outstanding pictures from the weekend.
Thank you to Race 4 Eight Icebreaker donors Gary Maushardt, Doug Clark and the WPH board of directors for enabling the best handball players in the world and the best athletes in the world to compete for phenomenal prize money and to showcase their incredible skills to the world.
R2 page for the 2023 WPH R48 Icebreaker HERE
Icebreaker Fun Facts HERE
Race 4 Eight Fun Facts HERE
Icebreaker pro player bios HERE
Race 4 Eight pro player bios HERE
WPH Coaching Centers HERE
WPH Workout Central HERE
2023/24 Race 4 Eight schedule HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer