Top 4 seeds through to semis in men's doubles at 2014 US Open Racquetball Championships

The top four men's doubles teams are through to the semi-finals of the 2014 United Healthcare US Open Racquetball Championships in Minneapolis. Top seeds Ben Croft and Kane Waselenchuk, the #1 player on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT), easily won their quarterfinal match against veteran Mike Green and Cliff Swain, 15-8, 15-3.

Second seeds Alvaro Beltran and Rocky Carson won their quarterfinal match against Charlie Pratt and Sebastian Franco, 15-14, 15-4. Pratt and Franco led for most of game one, including at 8-3 and 11-10. However, Beltran and Carson got to 14 first, but couldn't finish it.

Pratt and Franco scored three points to tie the game 14-14, but they couldn't win the game on either Franco's or Pratt's serve. Thus, Beltran and Carson got another opportunity to end the game, and they took it.

Daniel De La Rosa and Jose Rojas's match with Jose Diaz and Marco Rojas - Jose's brother, was close, as the higher seeded team of De La Rosa and Rojas won it int a tie-breaker, 13-15, 15-10, 11-7.

The mere fact that Jose Rojas played at all after he was carried off the court only a couple of hours before at the end of his singles match was remarkable. Rojas did have thoughts of forfeiting, but De La Rosa told his partner to just shoot and leave the retrieval to me. Rojas did that, and in fact, the match winning shot was a Rojas backhand pinch shot that was lot out of the front left corner.

Chris Crowther and Alejandro Landa defeated Jansen Allen and Tony Carson as a result of an injury forfeit. We're uncertain what the nature of the injury is, and hope that it's not to Carson, who is in the quarterfinals in singles on Friday. Ironically, Carson got to the quarterfinals in singles by defeating Allen, his doubles partner.

2014 United Healthcare US Open
Minneapolis, Minnesota - October 8-12, 2014
IRT Doubles Draw

Quarterfinals - Thursday

Ben Croft & Kane Waselenchuk d. Mike Green & Cliff Swain, 15-8, 15-3
Chris Crowther & Alejandro Landa d. Jansen Allen & Tony Carson, 4-4, injury forfeit

Daniel De La Rosa & Jose Rojas d. Jose Diaz & Marco Rojas, 13-15, 15-10, 11-7
Alvaro Beltran & Rocky Carson d. Charlie Pratt & Sebastian Franco, 15-14, 15-4

Semi-finals - Friday

Ben Croft & Kane Waselenchuk v. Chris Crowther & Alejandro Landa
Alvaro Beltran & Rocky Carson v. Daniel De La Rosa & Jose Rojas

Follow the bouncing ball….