2016 Raising Some Racquet for Kids - Round of 16

Two upsets at the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) Raising Some Racquet for Kids tournament in Huber Heights, Ohio, but the big news really was off the court, as IRT #1 Kane Waselenchuk was a late withdrawal from the tournament due to “emergency incarcerated hernia surgey” (from IRT Facebook page) https://www.facebook.com/IRTfan/?fref=ts . The surgery went well, reportedly, but no other details are available currently.

Hopefully, Waselenchuk will make a complete recovery and be back on the IRT soon. However, the immediate consequences were that Jeremy Best got a forfeit win against Waseelenchuk in the Round of 16 in Huber Heights, so he’s into the quarterfinals, where Best will play Sebastian Franco, who needed a tie-breaker to defeat Robert Collins, 10-12, 11-5, 11-4, 8-11, 11-3, which was an upset as Franco’s the 9th seed and Collins 8th.

Only one other match went more than three games, which was between Mario Mercado and Felipe Camacho with Mercado winning in four, 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6. Mercado faces Rocky Carson in the quarters, as Carson beat Troy Warigon, 11-1, 11-0, 11-4, the 16s.

In what we anticipated would be the feature match of the Round of 16, Daniel De La Rosa defeated Jake Bredenbeck in three close games, 12-10, 12-10, 11-9. It was a lot closer than last Saturday, when they played in the final of the Pan American Championship, which De La Rosa won 15-2, 15-1.

De La Rosa led 10-6 in game one, but Bredenbeck fought off three game points in coming back to tie it 10-10. However, De La Rosa had that little bit extra to get over the finish line at 12-10.

Game two was streaky with Bredenbeck leading 5-2, then De La Rosa leading 8-6, then Bredenbeck leading 10-8. This time is was De La Rosa who fought off three game points to come back and win 12-10.

They were close all the way in game three, and tied at 8-8. De La Rosa go to 10-8, but Bredenbeck held him off there by winning a long rally. He called a timeout after that rally, and scored a point when play resumed to make the score 9-10. But a De La Rosa forehand down the line stopped Bredenbeck, and a backhand down the line won it for De La Rosa, who moves on to the quarters against Jansen Allen, a winner over Mauricio Zelada, 11-9, 11-0, 11-4.

The quarterfinals will be streamed live Friday from 5 PM Eastern via the IRT Network. The semi-finals will be 11 AM and Noon Saturday with the final Saturday night at 7:00 PM. All times Eastern.

2016 Raising Some Racquet for Kids, March 31-April 3
Huber Heights, Ohio

Round of 16 - Friday

1) Jeremy Best d. Kane Waselenchuk, forfeit
Sebastian Franco d. 8) Robert Collins, 10-12, 11-5, 11-4, 8-11, 11-3

5) Jose Rojas d. Andy Hawthorne, 11-2, 11-7, 11-3
4) Alvaro Beltran d. Scott McClellan, 11-0, 11-4, 11-5

3) Daniel De La Rosa d. Jake Bredenbeck, 12-10, 12-10, 11-9
6) Jansen Allen d. Mauricio Zelada, 11-9, 11-0, 11-4

7) Mario Mercado d. Felipe Camacho, 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6
2) Rocky Carson d. Troy Warigon, 11-1, 11-0, 11-4

Quarterfinals - Friday

Jeremy Best v. Sebastian Franco - 6 PM
4) Alvaro Beltran v. 5) Jose Rojas - 8 PM

3) Daniel De La Rosa v. 6) Jansen Allen - 7 PM
2) Rocky Carson v. 7) Mario Mercado - 5 PM

Follow the bouncing ball….