IRT - Kentucky Open Quarter Finals

Kane Waselenchuk was the only qualifier to win a match in the Round of 16 draw at this weekend's International Racquetball Tour (IRT) Kentucky Open in Bowling Green, so Waselenchuk's match winning streak is now at 14 beginning at the start of the season two weeks ago in Denver.

Friday he defeated Shane Vanderson in three straight games, 11-6, 11-3, 12-10, to set up a quarter final match with Chris Crowther. Crowther defeated Alejandro Herrera, 11-7, 11-1, 11-5 in the Round of 16.

The rest of the results ran to form. Notably, Ben Croft defeated Agustin Tristan, 11-2, 11-8, 11-5, in another Round of 16 match, which was a re-match of the 2006 Intercollegiate Championship game that Croft also won.

Also, Cliff Swain won the first game against Jack Huczek, but that was as much as he got, as Huczek went on to win in four games. Huczek also advanced to the semi-finals with a victory over Mitch Williams, who had to default due to injury during their match.

Round of 16 (IRT ranking)

(1) Rocky Carson d. (27) Rafael Filippini, 11-0, 11-3, 11-0
(7) Ben Croft d. (145) Agustin Tristan, 11-2, 11-8, 11-5

(8) Chris Crowther vs. (13) Alejandro Herrera, 11-7, 11-1, 11-5
(14) Kane Waselenchuk d. (5) Shane Vanderson, 11-6, 11-3, 12-10

(4) Alvaro Beltran d. (18) Travis Woodbury, 11-1, 11-4, 11-7
(9) Jason Thoerner d. (12) Hiroshi Shimizu, 11-3, 6-11, 11-1, 12-10

(6) Mitch Williams d. (11) Juan Herrera, 11-7, 10-12, 11-4, 11-3
(2) Jack Huczek d. (34) Cliff Swain, 6-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-5

Quarter Finals (IRT ranking)

(1) Rocky Carson vs. (7) Ben Croft
(8) Chris Crowther vs. (14) Kane Waselenchuk

(4) Alvaro Beltran vs. (9) Jason Thoerner
(2) Jack Huczek d. (6) Mitch Williams, 11-6, 11-1 - injury default

Note: The IRT randomly assigns the seeding positions for the 5-8 slots for Tier I events (but not Grand Slam events), which explains why, e.g. Croft rather than Crowther is now facing Carson in the quarter finals.

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