Andree Parrilla was set up to have a great day Saturday at the World Racquetball Tour (WRT) 2017 Grace Warrior Ministries Atlanta Open in Lilburn, Georgia, as he was in the finals of both singles and doubles. But it didn’t work out so well for him, as Parrilla lost both. David Horn beat Parrilla, 15-10, 15-13, in the singles final, and then Fernando Rios and Jose Daniel Ugalde defeated Parrilla and Sebastian Franco, 15-7, 15-2.
Horn’s victory was his 3rd WRT title, and second of the year, as he also won the WRT Midwest Championships in March. Horn’s first win was back in 2015 at the San Luis Open.
In the singles final, Parrilla and Horn were tied at 10-10 in game one. But Horn was able to win the last five points to take the game, 15-10. Horn drove serve at 14-10, but it was short, so he hit a nick lob serve to the left side as the second serve. Parrilla tried to hit a backhand reverse pinch to the front right corner, which was an ambitious choice, and he skipped it.
Horn carried the momentum over into game two, as he took a 6-1 lead. But Parrilla called a time out at that point, and then turned the tables, as he scored the next eight points to lead 9-6. Parrilla continued to lead at 11-7, and 13-10, and it looked like he was going to force a tie-breaker.
But Horn had other ideas. Just like in game one, Horn scored five points in a row to close out the game, 15-13, and the match in two games. The winning point came as Horn drove a Z serve to the left side, and Parrilla hit a backhand down the line, which skipped.
Horn and Parrilla are similar players, as they are more shooting players rather than power players. Also, they are very good at keeping the ball in play. Saturday, Horn was more on his game than Parrilla, who also wasn’t sharp in his semi-final with Gerardo Franco earlier in the day.
The doubles final was not close, as Rios and Ugalde took big leads in both games, and won them comfortably over Parrilla and Franco. Rios and Ugalde have played doubles together for years representing Ecuador several times, and that undoubtedly helped them in the final.
They took a 8-1 lead over Parrilla and Franco in game one, and never trailed from there. Parrilla and Franco did make it close at 8-6, but they never got closer, as Rios and Ugalde won game one 15-7. Game two had a similar pattern, except Rios and Ugalde took a bigger lead at 12-1, and then won 15-2.
There will be two WRT events in October. They’ll be in Mexicali, Mexico for the WRT Casino Open, October 11-15, and then in Salt Lake City for the WRT Rocky Mountain Open, October 25-28.
2017 WRT Grace Warrior Ministries Atlanta Open - Lilburn, Georgia
September 14-16, 2017
Final - Saturday
2) David Horn d. 1) Andree Parrilla, 15-10, 15-13
Semi-finals - Saturday
1) Andree Parrilla d. 4) Gerardo Franco, 15-10, 15-8
2) David Horn d. 3) Jake Bredenbeck, 15-11, 15-14
Doubles - Final - Saturday
4) Fernando Rios & Jose Daniel Ugalde d. 3) Sebastian Franco & Andree Parrilla, 15-7, 15-2
Follow the bouncing ball….
Sunday, September 17, 2017
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1 comment:
I am a fan of both these guys, but in my heart I was rooting for Bobby. That ref call late in game 2 against Parilla seemed to give Bobby the push he needed to put it away. Without it there may have been a different result. This is in contrast to them going head to head in the IRT futures division barely more than a week ago where Parilla seemed to win easily. I feel Parilla is the generally stronger player, but Todd Boss' page shows David with a winning history over Andree.
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