Red Swain Shootout - Preview

The Red Swain Shootout begins tomorrow in Davison, Michigan and there are 36 players vying for the third title of the 2012-13 International Racquetball Tour (IRT) season. Twenty eight of those players need go through qualifying, so there are going to be two qualifying rounds on Thursday.

The most interesting name in qualifying is Mitch Williams, a former top 6 IRT player, who'll play Geoff Goldblatt first and then Andy Hawthorne for a chance to get into the main draw of 16 against his former doubles partner Ben Croft. Williams and Croft were International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champions in 2010.

Some other interesting prelim matches could be Jansen Allen and Juan Herrera, although both need to win a match in order to set up a playoff for a chance to play Alvaro Beltran in the 16s.

Also, veteran Cliff Swain is in the draw. He plays Canadian Eric Desrochers in the first round of qualifying with the winner to play Anthony Herrera in the second round for a spot against Tony Carson in the Round of 16.

Croft & Vanderson

Croft, who hasn't started the season well, has the toughest draw of the top 8 players, as he'll likely play Williams in the 16s and then, if he wins that, #1 seed Kane Waselenchuk will likely be waiting for him in the quarters finals. It's hard to improve your ranking with a draw like that.

A player who has had some good early season performances is Shane Vanderson, who reached the quarter finals at the US Open and took a game off of IRT #2 Rocky Carson before losing in the quarters. Vanderson's likely opponent in the 16s will be Javier Moreno, and then he'll probably be against 4th seed Jose Rojas. That could be a good match up for Vanderson, as Rojas fell in the 16s of the US Open to Daniel De La Rosa, so Rojas might not be at the top of his game.

Preliminary play begins Thursday November 1 in Davison, Michigan with the main draw of 16 set to go on Friday at 10 AM EDT.

Red Swain Shootout - November 1-4, 2012
Davison, Michigan

Preliminary Draw Round 1

James Slamko v. Roberto Santander
Alex Ackermann v. Spencer Shoemaker
Geoff Goldblatt v. Mitch Williams
Lee Connell v. Chris Young

Brad Schopieray v. Mitchell Harden
Marco Rojas v. Jim Bronson
Jansen Allen v. Andrew Price
Juan Herrera v. William Garrow

Cliff Swain v. Eric Desrochers
David Horn v. Luis Reveron
Arthur Schmeiser v. Matt Fontana
Felipe Camacho v. Nathan Tucker

Preliminary Draw Round 2

Q8: James Slamko or Roberto Santander v. Alex Ackermann or Spencer Shoemaker
Q1: Andy Hawthorne v. Geoff Goldblatt or Mitch Williams

Q4: Javier Moreno v. Lee Connell or Chris Young
Q5: Brad Schopieray or Mitchell Harden v. Marco Rojas or Jim Bronson

Q6: Jansen Allen or Andrew Price v. Juan Herrera or William Garrow
Q3: Anthony Herrera v. Cliff Swain or Eric Desrochers

Q2: Charlie Pratt v. David Horn or Luis Reveron
Q7: Arthur Schmeiser or Matt Fontana v. Felipe Camacho or Nathan Tucker

Main Draw of 16

Kane Waselenchuk v. Q8
Ben Croft v. Q1

Shane Vanderson v. Q4
Jose Rojas v. Q5

Alvaro Beltran v. Q6
Tony Carson v. Q3

Chris Crowther v. Q2
Rocky Carson v. Q7

Follow the bouncing ball….