Friday, May 8, 2015

WRT 2015 Cali Open - Quarterfinals

Two young Mexicans will face off in the semi-finals of the World Racquetball Tour (WRT) at the Cali Open in Cali, Colombia. Young, as in teenagers. Andree Parrilla knocked off top seed Polo Gutierrez, 7-15, 15-11, 11-4, in the quarterfinals, and Gerardo Franco also came back from a game down to defeat Jose Daniel Alvarez in their quarterfinal, 13-15, 15-2, 11-3.

Parrilla was the Boy's U16 World Junior Champion in 2013, so he’s not unknown but Franco is less known, but played well in the quarters.

On the bottom of the draw, the results were more expected, as the other semi-final will be between 2nd seed Jake Bredenbeck and 3rd seed Alejandro Cardona, although Bredenbeck needed a tie-breaker to get by 10th seed Jose Daniel Ugalde, 15-14, 13-15, 11-5. Cardona defeated Jaime Martell in two games, 15–8, 15-0, in the quarterfinals.

Bredenbeck, who won last week’s WRT event in Minneapolis, rarely used his drive serve against Ugalde, and we suspect that he is still feeling the effects of last weekend’s action. Ugalde almost stole the victory with lob serves tight to the right side wall, which is all glass and Bredenbeck’s forehand side.

Parrilla also lob served to the right side effectively against Gutierrez, but curiously Franco’s lob serves to Alvarez were to the left side, despite the fact that Alvarez is a lefthander, so that right side glass was on his backhand side. But Franco’s strategy was effective, as Alvarez’s effectiveness at returning kiss lobs on his forehand was not great.

They will be webcasting the semi-finals Friday night at 6 and 7 PM with the final Saturday afternoon at 1 PM. Find the link at the WRT Facebook page.

2015 WRT Cali Open
Cali, Colombia

Quarterfinals


8) Andree Parrilla d. 1) Polo Gutierrez, 7-15, 15-11, 11-4
13) Gerardo Franco d. 12) Jose Daniel Alvarez, 13-15, 15-2, 11-3

3) Alejandro Cardona d. 6) Jaime Martell, 15-8, 15-0
2) Jake Bredenbeck d. 10) Jose Daniel Ugalde, 15-14, 13-15, 11-5

Semi-finals

8) Andree Parrilla v. 13) Gerardo Franco - 7 PM CDT
2) Jake Bredenbeck v. 3) Alejandro Cardona - 6 PM CDT

Doubles - Semi-finals

1) Alejandro Cardona & Polo Gutierrez v. 5) Mario Mercado & Andree Parrilla - 7 PM CDT
2) Jake Bredenbeck & Sebastian Franco v. 6) Jose Daniel Alvarez & Fernando Rios - 7 PM CDT

Follow the bouncing ball….

No comments: