IRT Long Beach Open Quarterfinals

There were no upsets in the quarterfinals at the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) Long Beach Open in Long Beach, California, but 4th seeds Jansen Allen and Charlie Pratt won by the narrowest of margins against 12th seeds Scott Davis and Tom Durham, 14-15, 15-6, 11-10.

Allen and Pratt were up in game one, 14-12, only to see Davis and Durham come back to win it. Then they won game two comfortably, but in the breaker it was Davis and Durham - local favourites with great crowd support - who led all the way in the game. At one point, they were up 7-1, and looked like they would have their second big upset in as many days.

Davis and Durham had three match points at 10-7 and then twice at 10-9. Davis skipped on the first, and Pratt and Allen hit winners on the second and third, respectively. The final points were off skips by Durham, but the skips were forced, as Allen and Pratt were hitting more balls to him late to avoid the hot shooting Davis.

The strategy almost didn't work, as Durham hit a shot behind Pratt, down the left side, that got him and Davis back in the service box at 10-9.

But the top 10 IRT players did what they should do and converting their chances and fighting off match point.

In the other quarterfinals, top seeds Alvaro Beltran and Rocky Carson defeated 8th seeds Jake Bredenbeck and Sebastian Franco, 15-10, 15-9, and 2nd seeds Ben Croft and Kane Waselenchuk beat 7th seeds David Horn and Mario Mercado, 15-0, 15-10.

But the 3rd seeds Daniel De La Rosa and Jose Rojas needed three games to fend off the wily veterans Chris Crowther and Javier Moreno, 15-13, 9-15, 11-7. The young guys got up 4-0 in the tie-breaker - helped by De La Rosa hitting straight lobs to Crowther on the right side, and never trailed, although Crowther and Moreno did close it to one point at 5-4 and 8-7.

The IRT Network will have both semi-finals Saturday from 10 AM PDT and the final Saturday afternoon at 5 PM PDT.

2015 Long Beach Open
Long Beach, California - April 9-11, 2015

Quarterfinals - Friday

1) Alvaro Beltran & Rocky Carson d. 8) Jake Bredenbeck & Sebastian Franco, 15-10, 15-9
4) Jansen Allen & Charlie Pratt d. 12) Scott Davis & Tom Durham, 14-15, 15-6, 11-10

3) Daniel De La Rosa & Jose Rojas d. 6) Chris Crowther & Javier Moreno, 15-13, 9-15, 11-7
2) Ben Croft & Kane Waselenchuk d. 7) David Horn & Mario Mercado, 15-0, 15-10

Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Alvaro Beltran & Rocky Carson v. 4) Jansen Allen & Charlie Pratt - 10 AM PDT
2) Ben Croft & Kane Waselenchuk v. 3) Daniel De La Rosa & Jose Rojas - 11 AM PDT

Follow the bouncing ball….