The tie-breakers continue in International Racquetball Tour (IRT) doubles at the 2018 UnitedHeathcare US Open Racquetball Championships in Minneapolis! Javier Mar and Rodrigo Montoya upset 3rd seeds Alejandro Landa and Samuel Murray in a breaker, coming back from 0-1 down to win 13-15, 15-6, 11-5. They'll play 2nd seeds Alvaro Beltran and Daniel De La Rosa, who defeated Roland Keller and Conrrado Moscoso for the second time in three months, as they also faced off in the semi-finals of the IRF World Championships in August. Thursday Beltran and De La Rosa won 15-11, 12-15, 11-7.
The defending champions, Ben Croft and Kane Waselenchuk, didn't need three games to advance to the semis, as they defeated David Horn and Mauro Rojas, 15-13, 15-3. Croft and Waselenchuk will play Jake Bredenbeck and Jose Diaz in the semis in what will be a rematch of the 2015 US Open IRT Doubles final that Croft and Waselencuk won.
Bredenbeck and Diaz made their way to the semis by upsetting 4th seeds Sebastian Franco and Mario Mercado, which also required a tie-breaker. They actually scored fewer points than Franco and Mercado, but won two games to their one, so Bredenbeck and Diaz advanced, 15-14, 11-15, 11-10.
The win wasn't without some controversy, however. After having Bredenbeck and Diaz took a large leads in the breaker at 6-1 and 10-5, Franco and Mercado worked their way into it, including fighting off four match points before they caught up at 10-10.
Then with Mercado serving, Bredenbeck hit a forehand that appeared to skip, and that's what the referee called. Match over. But they were using line judges for the match, and Bredenbeck was convinced his shot was good, so he appealed, and to the surprise of The Racquetball Blog staff, the line judges disagreed with the referee, so Bredenbeck's shot was judged good, and Franco and Mercado were side out at 10-10.
On the next rally, Mercado hit a shot that looked good, but Bredenbeck and Diaz thought it was a skip, so there was another appeal. This time the line judges agreed with the referee's call that the Mercado's shot was good. Half down. But Franco skipped a shot on the ensuing rally, and everyone agreed to that, so the match was over.
Look for IRT action live from Minneapolis via their various outlets. Check out the IRT Network, IRT Facebook page and IRT YouTube channel. The doubles final will be at 5 PM CDT on Saturday.
2018 UnitedHealthcare US Open
Minneapolis, Minnesota - October 3-7, 2018
IRT - Doubles - Quarterfinals - Thursday
1) Ben Croft & Kane Waselenchuk d. David Horn & Mauro Rojas, 15-13, 15-3
Jake Bredenbeck & Jose Diaz d. 4) Sebastian Franco & Mario Mercado, 15-14, 11-15, 11-10
Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya d. 3) Alejandro Landa & Samuel Murray, 13-15, 15-6, 11-7
2) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa d. Roland Keller & Conrrado Moscoso, 15-11, 12-15, 11-7
IRT - Doubles - Semi-finals - Friday
1) Ben Croft & Kane Waselenchuk v. Jake Bredenbeck & Jose Diaz - 7:20 PM
2) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa v. Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya - 5:20 PM
Follow the bouncing ball….
Thursday, October 4, 2018
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