Carson is IRT's #1 now, but will he be at season's end?

Rocky Carson has again ascended to the top of the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) rankings that were released this week following Andree Parrilla’s win at the 2018 IRT Shamrock Shootout in Lombard, Illinois last weekend. Carson moves up to #1 from #2 despite losing in the quarterfinals to Parrilla in Illinois, as former #1 Kane Waselenchuk is still out with the knee injury he suffered in the semi-finals of the LA Open in January. Waselenchuk's now #2.

There are only two events left in the IRT season - the Mercedes-Benz of Ft. Mitchell Raising Some Racquet for Kids in Cincinnati and the Florida IRT Regional Championships in Sarasota - so can Waselenchuk still finish #1?

We think so. The rankings work on a 12 month basis, so whether Waselenchuk can make up the 350 point deficit he has to Carson will depend on both how he and Carson do in Cincinnati and Florida, and how that compares to how they did in those events last year. Waselenchuk didn’t play Cincinnati last year, so he has no points from that event, and he won the Florida event. Carson won in Cincinnati and finished 2nd in Florida a year ago.

Thus, Carson has more points to defend than Waselenchuk, so if Waselenchuk wins in Cincinnati and Florida, then he’ll have a good chance to finish #1, especially if Carson doesn’t match his 1st and 2nd finishes from a year ago.

The wild card in this scenario is Waselenchuk’s health. How severe is his knee injury? It's bad enough that he's missed three straight tournaments over a two month period. Waselenchuk’s missed the occasional tournament over his career, but he hasn't missed three tournaments in a row since he started playing the IRT full time in the 2001-02 season.

That has to be concerning for all racquetball fans.

IRT Rankings - March 22, 2018

Rank - Player - Country - Points

1 Rocky CARSON (USA) 3051.35
2 Kane WASELENCHUK (Canada) 2700.70
3 Daniel DE LA ROSA (Mexico) 2450.18
4 Alvaro BELTRAN (Mexico) 1986.02
5 Alejandro LANDA (Mexico) 1714.16

6 Samuel MURRAY (Canada) 1639.77
7 Jansen ALLEN (USA) 1631.75
8 Mario MERCADO (Colombia) 1498.01
9 Sebsatian FRANCO (Colombia) 1478.96
10 Andree PARRILLA (Mexico) 1191.94

11 David HORN (USA) 936.01
12 Felipe CAMACHO (Costa Rica) 825.04
13 Charles PRATT (USA) 822.14
14 Jose DIAZ (USA) 800.01
15 Jake BREDENBECK (USA) 756.00

16 Adam MANILLA (USA) 706.03
17 Robert COLLINS (USA) 649.82
18 Nicholas RIFFEL (USA) 521.02
19 Justus BENSON (USA) 520.81
20 Thomas CARTER (USA) 478.03

Throwback Thursday - Rankings version

We came across the IRT rankings from three years ago, and it’s interesting to compare it to the current rankings. First, Carson was #1 in March 2015, as he is now, yet Waselenchuk - then #2 - finished that season as #1. Also, Daniel De La Rosa and Alvaro Beltran were in the top four in 2015, as they are now, although they have flipped positions with De La Rosa 3rd and Beltran 4th now.

But of the rest of the top 10 only Jansen Allen is still there three years later, and - perhaps appropriately - Allen is 7th now just as he was in 2015.

Four of the other top 10 players in March 2015 - Ben Croft, Jose Rojas, Marco Rojas and Tony Carson - aren’t even in the top 20 now, while Charles Pratt, who was 9th in 2015, is only 13th now, although he won an IRT event this season. Given the choice between winning an event and being in the top 10 in March, Pratt would likely take the title over the ranking.

Of the players in the next 10 in 2015, Alejandro Landa has jumped up to be 5th now, but only two of the other players are still in the top 20. Jose Diaz was 13th two years ago and is 14th now, and Robert Collins was 16th two years ago and is now 17th.

IRT Rankings - March 23, 2015

Rank - Player - Country - Points

1 Rocky CARSON (USA) 3592
2 Kane WASELENCHUK (Canada) 3590
3 Alvaro BELTRAN (Mexico) 2862
4 Daniel DE LA ROSA (Mexico) 2226
5 Ben CROFT (USA) 2080

6 Jose ROJAS (USA) 2046
7 Jansen ALLEN (USA) 1594
8 Marco ROJAS (USA) 1411
9 Charlie PRATT (USA) 1344
10 Tony CARSON (USA) 1158

11 Chris CROWTHER (USA) 1010
12 Alejandro LANDA (Mexico) 950
13 Jose DIAZ (USA) 759
14 Matthew MAJXNER (USA) 689
15 Danny LAVELY (USA) 688

16 Robert COLLINS (USA) 595
17 Cliff SWAIN (USA) 543
18 Tim LANDERYOU (Canada) 503
19 Coby IWAASA (Canada) 458
20 Alejandro HERRERA (Colombia) 409

The 2017-18 IRT season will next be in action April 5-8 with the Mercedes-Benz of Ft. Mitchell Raising Some Racquet for Kids in Cincinnati, and the last singles Tier 1 event of the season will be April 26-29 at the Florida IRT Regional Championships in Sarasota.

But the season ends with a special event: the 2018 World Doubles Open Championships in Denver, May 2-6. This championship will be a combined IRT and Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) event with doubles only, but also mixed doubles, so the best of the IRT will pair up with the best of LPRT, which should be a fun time.

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