2015 IRT Red Swain Shootout - Qualifying & Waselenchuk withdraws

There were few upsets in the qualifying rounds at the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) Red Swain Shootout in Davison, Michigan Thursday. Nothing that would overshadow the news that Kane Waselenchuk, the #1 IRT player, had to pull out of the tournament on Thursday as a result of a shoulder injury, and he is having an MRI Friday. Results of that will be available next week according to the IRT Twitter stream.

Samuel Murray provided the biggest upset in qualifying, as he defeated 11th seed Mauricio Zelada, 11-5, 11-4, 5-11, 11-7. Murray will play Jansen Allen in the Round of 16 on Friday.

Tony Carson defeated Tommy Murray, Samuel’s older brother, 11-1, 11-3, 11-8, to qualifying for the 16s on Friday, when he’ll face 5th seed Jose Rojas.

Also as we anticipated, Robert Collins will play Felipe Camacho in the 16s, and that match has even greater meaning with Waselenchuk out, as Waselenchuk’s withdrawal was too late to change the draw. Thus, Brad Schopieray, who would have faced Waselenchuk in the 16s will be play the winner of Collins and Camacho in the quarters, which means it’s a great opportunity for one of those three players to get into the semi-finals.

The other four players on the top of the draw - Carson, Rojas, Daniel De La Rosa and Mario Mercado - also have to be thinking that it’s a great opportunity to get into the final. It’s looks like advantage De La Rosa, as he’s the highest seed of those four, but consider that De La Rosa plays Mercado in the Round of 16, and they went five games last weekend in Georgia, so while he’s the favourite, it’s by no means certain that De La Rosa will get to the final.

The Round of 16 will be streamed live Friday from 10 AM EST via the IRT Network. Also, note that the Red Swain Shootout final will be 6 PM on Saturday night. The semi-finals are scheduled for 10 AM and 11 AM Saturday.

2015 Red Swain Shootout, November 5-8
Davison, Michigan

Qualifying Round 1

Jason Kennedy d. Ryan Minto, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9
Tommy Murray d. Brian Pineda, 12-10, 12-10, 11-8
Fernando Rios d. Ferd Samson, 11-0, 11-5, 11-0
Nathan Tucker d. Ethan Slutzky, 11-1, 11-4, 11-0
Samuel Murray d. Brandon Creamer, 11-8, 11-0, 11-4

Qualifying Round 2

Q8) Brad Schopieray d. Thomas Carter, 11-3, 11-2, 11-2
Q1) Felipe Camacho d. Jason Kennedy, 11-6, 11-2, 11-6

Q4) Tony Carson d. Tommy Murray, 11-1, 11-3, 11-8
Q5) Mario Mercado d. Fernando Rios, 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6

Q6) Cliff Swain d. Troy Warigon, 11-6, 11-2, 11-4
Q3) Samuel Murray d. Mauricio Zelada, 11-5, 11-4, 5-11, 11-7

Q2) Matthew Majxner d. Nathan Tucker, 11-5, 11-9, 11-7
Q7) Filip Vesely d. Jeremy Best, 5-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3

Round of 16 - Friday

1) Kane Waselenchuk v. Brad Schopieray
8) Robert Collins v. Felipe Camacho

5) Jose Rojas v. Tony Carson
4) Daniel De La Rosa v. Mario Mercado

3) Alvaro Beltran v. Cliff Swain
6) Jansen Allen v. Samuel Murray

7) Marco Rojas v. Matthew Majxner
2) Rocky Carson v. Filip Vesely

Follow the bouncing ball….