2012 US Open - IRT Qualifying

THe first of the 3rd round matches in qualifying for the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) Round of 32 at the 2012 United Healthcare US Open have been great. Two veterans - Gilberto Mejia of Mexico and Vincent Gagnon from Canada - both needed five games to overcome their opponents.

Mejia had a tougher time of it, as he dropped the first two games to Andres Acuña before recovering and taking the next three games to win it in five, 7-11, 3-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-7. Mejia will play Shane Vanderson in the Round of 32 on Thursday.

Gagnon had a close battle with Japanese veteran Hiroshi Shimizu, and had to fight off a match point in the fifth game when he trailed 8-10. But Gagnon was able to get the serve back and finish off the game, winning 11-7, 5-11, 11-4, 9-11, 12-10. He'll play 8th seed Andy Hawthorne in the Round of 32 Thursday.

Marco Rojas won Wednesday's Stockton showdown, as he defeated David Horn,
11-3, 11-0, 7-11, 12-10. That sets up a Rojas-Rojas fight in the 32s, as Marco will play 3rd seeded Jose on Thursday.

Fellow Stockton player Jose Diaz was the fortunate winner against Roland Keller, as Keller was up two games and had come back in game three from a 9-6 deficit to tie it at 9-9. Then Keller appeared to dislocate his shoulder after diving for a ball towards the right wall.

Somewhat ironically, Keller's brother - Carlos Keller Vargas - won earlier Wednesday against Luis Reveron by injury forfeit.

Williams Wins

Mitch Williams, former top 10 player and US National Singles Champion, defeated Aaron Granberg, 9-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-2, to take the Q13 spot, which puts him up against 4th seed Alvaro Beltran in the Round of 32.

Williams, a left-hander who suffered a severe shoulder injury two years ago at the US Open that led to him retiring from racquetball, drove serve backhanded to the left - Granberg's backhand. It was an usual angle that put Granberg on the defensive. Then on match point Williams hit that serve down the right side, cracking it out for an ace.

Williams, a North Carolina native now living in the Chicago area, has only been back playing racquetball for six weeks. It seems it's been time well spent, although he told The Racquetball Blog that he's here mainly for fun and to see old friends. We don't expect Williams to make regular appearances on the IRT, although as a left-hander and former World Champion in doubles, whomever is coaching the US National Team should perhaps speak to Williams about playing doubles for Team USA.

2012 United Healthcare US Open
Minneapolis, Minnesota
(note: numbers preceding player names indicate current IRT rank; no number means the player is unranked)

Qualifying Round 3

Q1: Carlos Keller Vargas d. 125 Luis Reveron, injury forfeit
Q16: 39 Mauricio Zelada d. 45 Cesar Castillo, 9-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-4

Q9: 214 Vincent Gagnon d. 28 Hiroshi Shimizu, 11-7, 5-11, 11-4, 9-11, 12-10
Q8: 26 Jansen Allen d. 78 Joshua Hungerford, 11-3, 11-3, 11-1

Q5: 22 Alejandro Herrera d. 93 Jake Bredenbeck, 11-1, 3-11, 12-10, 11-2
Q12: 32 Alex Ackermann d. Jacob Valera, 11-2, 11-0, 11-1

Q13: Mitch Williams d. Aaron Granberg, 9-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-2
Q4: 20 Jose Diaz d. 140 Roland Keller, 5-11, 9-11, 9-9, injury forfeit

Q3: 19 Daniel De La Rosa d. 140 John Goth, 11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 11-6
Q14: 35 Marco Rojas d. 48 David Horn, 11-3, 11-0, 7-11, 12-10

Q11: 29 Nick Montalbano d. 214 Francisco Gomez Reyes, 11-5, 11-6, 11-5
Q6: 24 Felipe Camacho d. 91 Ivan Villegas, 4-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-6, 11-4

Q7: 25 James Slamko d. 175 Jeff Stark, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6
Q10: 29 Gilberto Mejia d. 70 Andres Acuña, 7-11, 3-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-7

Q15: 47 Rafael Filippini d. 38 Sebastian Franco, 11-13, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5
Q2: 18 Polo Gutierrez d. 120 Mike Orr, 11-5, 11-4, 11-4

Qualifying Round 2

Q1
Carlos Keller Vargas d. 17 Arthur Schmeiser, 11-3, 11-2, 11-4
125 Luis Reveron d. 128 Bruce Robles, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6

Q16
45 Cesar Castillo d. Eduardo Avila, 11-2, 11-5, 11-4
39 Mauricio Zelada d. Kenny Green Jr., 11-5, 11-3, 11-5

Q9
28 Hiroshi Shimizu d. Mitchell Hardin, 11-4, 11-8, 11-1
214 Vincent Gagnon d. 77 Coby Iwaasa, 11-1, 11-7, 11-8

Q8
78 Joshua Hungerford d. 184 Ben Ryder, 11-4, 11-3, 11-1
26 Jansen Allen d. Erik Mendoza, 11-3, 11-1, 11-4

Q5
22 Alejandro Herrera d. 214 Alexi David Cocco Hayes, 11-1, 11-3, 11-0
93 Jake Bredenbeck d. 140 Danny Lavely, 11-8, 12-14, 11-4, 13-11

Q12
55 Jacob Valera d. Armando Bermudez, 11-1, 11-2, 6-11, 11-7
32 Alex Ackermann d. Justin Ivers, 11-1, 11-7, 11-5

Q13
Aaron Granberg d. 34 Jose Serrano, 12-10, 11-7, 11-4
Mitch Williams d. 49 Francisco Troncoso, 11-7, 11-3, 11-3

Q4
140 Roland Keller d. 103 Favian Elmore, 11-6, 11-3, 11-1
20 Jose Diaz d. Bill Harper, 11-9, 11-3, 11-7

Q3
19 Daniel De La Rosa d. Erick Sandoval, 11-8, 11-3, 11-0
140 John Goth d. 112 Andrés Gómez, 11-1, 11-1, 11-6

Q14
48 David Horn d. Doug Eagle, 11-7, 11-5, 12-10
35 Marco Rojas d. Chase Robison, FFT

Q11
29 Nick Montalbano d. Andrew Clarke, 11-3, 11-2, 11-3
214 Francisco Gomez Reyes d. 251 Andree Parrilla, 7-11, 11-7, 11-0, 11-6

Q6
91 Ivan Villegas d. 140 Mike Ray, 11-3, 5-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9
24 Felipe Camacho d. Roberto Santander, 11-2, 11-5, 11-9

Q7
25 James Slamko d. Kolten Wenckus, 11-6, 11-0, 11-1
175 Jeff Stark d. 84 Juan Torres, 11-2, 11-1, 11-6

Q10
70 Andres Acuña d. 214 Stacey Young, 11-0, 11-0, 11-4
29 Gilberto Mejia d. Anthony Schonberger, 11-1, 11-2, 11-5

Q15
38 Sebastian Franco d. Coby Arff, 11-3, 11-3, 11-0
47 Rafael Filippini d. Jonathan Doyle, 11-8, 11-5, 5-11, 11-0

Q2
120 Mike Orr d. 134 Kurtis Cullen, 11-5, 11-9, 11-5
18 Polo Gutierrez d. Daeyong Kwon, 11-7, 11-0, 11-7

Qualifying Round 1

Carlos Keller Vargas d. Bruno Casalvolone, 11-0, 11-1, 11-9
Bill Harper d. Kenny Gilley v. 11-3, 11-1, 11-4
Erick Sandoval d. 214 Sadao Funatani, 11-4, 11-5, 11-3
Daeyong Kwon d. 214 Kadim Carrasco, 11-6, 11-13, 11-7, 11-5

IRT Main Draw of 32

1 Kane Waselenchuk v. Mauricio Zeleda
16 Alejandro Landa v. Carlos Keller Vargas

9 Tony Carson v. Jansen Allen
8 Andy Hawthorne v. Vincent Gagnon

5 Ben Croft v. Alex Ackermann
12 Anthony Herrera v. Alejandro Herrera

13 Brad Schopieray v. Jose Diaz
4 Alvaro Beltran v. Mitch Williams

3 Jose Rojas v. Marco Rojas
14 Ruben Gonzalez v. Daniel De La Rosa

11 Javier Moreno v. Felipe Camacho
6 Chris Crowther v. Nick Montalbano

7 Shane Vanderson v. Gilberto Mejia
10 Charlie Pratt v. James Slamko

15 Juan Herrera v. Polo Gutierrez
2 Rocky Carson v. Rafael Filippini

Follow the bouncing ball….