The Corona Open draw is one of the smallest for an International Racquetball Tour (IRT) Tier 1 event for some time. There are only 17 players entered in the Chihuahua, Mexico tournament, so the qualifying round is simply one match: Erick Sandoval versus Javier Alvidrez with the winner to play Ben Croft.
Yes, Ben Croft, not Kane Waselenchuk, who injured a knee in the finals of the US Open and is not playing in Chihuahua. Neither is Mitch Williams, who suffered a separated left shoulder in Minneapolis. Thus, Ben Croft is the top seed in a Tier 1 IRT event for the first time in his career.
Rejoining the field is Shane Vanderson, who's playing his first Tier 1 event since the sudden death of his brother. He was a winner in a Tier 4 event in Florida last weekend. The Racquetball Blog staff wishes Shane well.
Without Waselenchuk the field is open, so Vanderson could do very well in Chihuahua. But there are several other players who proved their quality at the US Open, such as Alvaro Beltran, Jack Huczek, and Charlie Pratt.
Rocky Carson, on the other hand, might be someone who feels he has something to prove after an early exit from the US Open. He and Huczek, as 2nd and 3rd seeds respectively, are on the same side of the draw, so one of their classic battles could happen in the semi-finals. But they both need to get that far.
Yes, it's a small draw in Chihuahua, but one full of intrigue.
The IRT Network.com should have all the action from Chihuahua, so check them out beginning at 11:30 AM Mountain Standard Time. Note: Mexico ended daylight savings time last weekend; the USA and Canada will do so this weekend. Thus, Chihuahua is the same time as the Pacific time zone through Saturday, but then will be the same time as the Mountain time zone come Sunday.
2010 World Professional Racquetball Championship, Cali, Columbia
Qualifying Round
Q: Erick Sandoval v. Javier Alvidrez
Round of 16
Ben Croft v. Q
Jose Rojas v. Charlie Pratt
Alvaro Beltran v. Eduardo Avila
Chris Crowther v. Alejandro Cardona
Jack Huczek v. Salvador Ortiz
Shane Vanderson v. Gil De Los Rios
Andy Hawthorne v. Javier Moreno
Rocky Carson v. Javier Estrada
Follow the bouncing ball....
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment