Luis Moreno takes the 1st place trophy in the men's Pro Singles
The Beginning of an Era
by David Fink
The Yes2Kids Pro stopped marked the emergence of a great young player to a Champion. Luis Moreno proved he was capable of beating the best in the world with his sensational victory over world #1 Paul Brady at the Simple Green US Open, and he proved he was quickly ascending to the top of the world at the Y2K Pro stop by defeating 3 top 10 players.
Luis was seeded 3rd at his hometown event, and faced 6th seeded David Fink in the quarterfinal. Fink dominated Moreno is game 1, and looked poised to end the phenoms assault on the world's best. Moreno was able to turn the table on Fink with a dazzling display of ace serves and dominating power to cruise to the semifinals.
Awaiting Luis in the semifinal was #2 seeded Emmett Peixoto. The Rock neutralized the surging Jon Iglesias in the quarterfinals to set up a rematch of the 3rd place final at the Simple Green US Open won by Luis. This was the duos 3rd encounter in 6 weeks, splitting the first 2 in tiebreakers. The Rock outplayed Luis in game 1, and looked to be well on his way to avenging his first lost to the poised youngster. However, Luis worked his way into the match with blistering pass shots and phenomenal rekills. Tied at 6 in the tiebreaker, The Rock began to fade to the Moreno's onslaught. Luis hit 3 aces to grab a 9-6 lead, and used his devastating power to earn his pro stop final appearance 11-7.
American #1 Sean Lenning played the event with pnemonia, but still found himself in the semifinal after a clash with Dan The Hand Armijo in the quarterfinal. Dave Chapman defeated The Blond Blondshell, Allan Garner in the quarterfinal to advance to his first quarterfinal of his comeback. Lenning and Chapman played 2 weeks prior at the US Open with Sean handing Dave a sound beating. This was a different day as Dave Chapman was able to defeat Sean Lenning in 2 close games. The future and the past of pro handball met in the final on the same court Luis Moreno won his last 4 wall Junior National Championship. Luis displayed his trademark poise and confidence, showing no signs of nerves facing the great Dave Chapman is his first pro stop final, and the opportunity to win $5,000. Dave had no answer for the Moreno Express in game 1 as Luis rolled to a 21-5 rout. Game 2 saw much of the same as Dave Chapman was unable to consistently execute his patented precision return of serve, setting up numerous Moreno serves for easy kills. Luis blasted laser serves and flat rollouts to claim game 2 21-12, and stake his claim as one of the top players in the world.
Special thanks should be given to the Yes2Kids organization, Fred Lewis, Charlie Wicker, Vince SanAngelo, and all of the volunteers and sponsors who made this a world class event.
A Singles: Lupe Marquez El Paso TX def Oscar Olivas Tucson 21-14, 20-21,11-3
B Singles: Martin Felix Tucson def Jonathan Carillo Phoenix 21-18,15-21, 11-8
C Singles Javier Perez (age 14) Tucson del Angel Estrella (age 13)Tucson 6-21,21-20,11-5
Fred Lewis personally thanking and awarding each finalist with a bag full of goodies, to include: Owen's Gloves and special Y2K Jackets.A Doubles John Henning/Brian Lescinskas def Art Benitez/Kevin Tallis 21-16, 21-14
50 Singles Benny Young Tucson def Sam Ortega Phoenix 18-21,21-9,11-1
50 Doubles Fred Banfield/Vern Roberts def Gurumeet Khalsa/ Dennis Healy21-8,21-13
Vern Roberts, supporting the Y2K/WPH Event, congratulated by Vince San Angelo and Charlie Wicker for his 1st place doubles win Newcomers Division 1st Ivan Lugo 2nd Chris Palting 3rd John Miranda
Newcomers 15 and under 1st Theo Palting 2nd Stephen Larson 3rd Edyth Palting
Juniors 12 and Under 1st Carlos Espinosa 2nd Justin Del Castillo 3rd Spenser Hatcher
Fred Lewis, wearing his USHA Hall of Fame Jacket, congratulates the finalists in the pro division; Dave Chapman and Lewis Moreno
(L) The Three women's finalist: Mehilos, Christoff, Peixoto are presented with their awards at the banquet (R) Moreno and Davis stop for a quicky pose during the award presentation
A special thanks to all of those main contributors and sponsors that allowed the juniors to play alongside the pros this weekend!
No comments:
Post a Comment