New York State Senator John Liu held his second annual doubles handball tournament Saturday, Aug. 13, at Flushing Fields. There were a total of 24 participants making up 12 teams in the tournament, with the duo of David Velez and Mohomad Mansi emerging as the champions.
The tournament was held in conjunction with the United States Wall Ball Association. Additionally, the championship trophy was provided by Absolutely Trophies of Bayside.
According to Liu’s Deputy Chief of Staff Akshar Patel, this event was born out of Liu’s love of the game and its high popularity in Queens. He said there are currently more handball courts than basketball courts in the borough.
The inaugural tournament in 2021 was meant to engage the community safely during the waning months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The strong community response led to the decision to hold this tournament on an annual basis. This year, many more people showed up to play and watch the tournament.
This year’s tournament attracted people of all ages. In fact, one of the teams consisted of a mother and daughter. Participation wasn’t just limited to Queens residents either; people from different boroughs, cities and even states came over to participate in this event.
“All you need is a wall and ball to play this game,” Patel said. “Queens is the handball capital of the world. It’s great to see the sport continue to grow.”
With the sport rising in popularity in Queens, Patel said he’d like to see the creation of an indoor handball facility in Queens. That would allow for people to play the sport throughout the entire year, as they could use the facility during the winter months and rainy days.
As the tournament went on, multiple Queens civic presidents stopped by to enjoy the games. Additionally, Liu and Patel took part in pickup games on the side in between handball matches.
Flushing Fields was chosen as the location of the tournament because Liu grew up playing handball there. Coincidentally, the tournament’s co-champion Mohomad Mansi also frequents Flushing Fields to play handball, as he resides near it.
