2019 IRT Shamrock Shootout - Preview

The International Racquetball Tour (IRT) returns to Lombard, Illinois for the 34th Annual Shamrock Shootout this weekend. Play begins Thursday with one of the largest fields of the season at 43 players in singles and 32 in doubles. That means three rounds of qualifying for spots in the Round of 16, which will be on Friday afternoon. There will be two rounds of qualifying on Thursday, and then another Friday morning.

With all those players there are sure to be some great matches. In qualifying, the potential matches that strike us as most interesting are Jake Bredenbeck versus Eduardo Portillo, and Rodrigo Montoya versus Gerardo Franco, as well as perhaps Thomas Carter versus Felipe Camacho. Those are potential matches, because all of the players will have to win an earlier round match to make those matches happen.

If the higher seeds make it through qualifying, then the Round of 16 matches with the most potential are 7th seed Samuel Murray versus David Horn, 3rd seed Daniel De La Rosa versus Montoya, and 4th seed Alejandro Landa versus Bredenbeck, which will be a battle of power players; we’ll put the over/under on number of broken balls in that match at 4 and half.

Of course, if you were going to make a bet on this event, we’d suggest putting your money on IRT #1 Kane Waselenchuk, who is enjoying another undefeated season. He’ll also be playing doubles in Lombard with the only person he ever plays doubles with: Ben Croft, who is an Illinois native.

Look for all the action via the usual IRT media outlets: The IRT Network, the IRT YouTube channel or the IRT Facebook page. Qualifying begins Thursday afternoon with the 2nd Round on Thursday eventing. The 3rd Round of Qualifying goes Friday morning at 10 and 11 AM with the Round of 16 from 5 PM Friday afternoon. The quarterfinals will be 10 and 11 AM Saturday morning. The semi-finals will be at 5:30 PM and 6:30 PM Saturday with the final at noon Sunday. All times central.

2019 IRT Shamrock Shootout, March 14-17, 2019
Lombard, Illinois

Qualifying Round 1 - Thursday

John Wolfe v. Kalyan Kosetty
Jeovany Mendoza v. Javier Martinez
Eduardo Garay v. Hanzel Martinez

Qualifying Round 2 - Thursday

Jose Diaz v. Jeovany Mendoza or Javier Martinez
Hiroshi Shimizu or Alok Mehta

Thomas Carter v. Geoff Goldblatt
Felipe Camacho v. Kyle Ulliman

Jake Bredenbeck v. Juan Martinez
Eduardo Portillo v. Edwin Galicia

Adam Manilla v. Jordy Alonso
Robert Collins v. Christian Wer

Rodrigo Montoya v. Justus Benson
Gerardo Franco v. Nadeem Sharifuddin

Jansen Allen v. Juan Salvatierra
Troy Warigon v. Ferd Samson

Mario Mercado v. John Wolfe or Kalyan Kosetty
Maurice Miller v. Mauricio Zelada

David Horn v. Eduardo Garay or Hanzel Martinez
Scott McClellan v. Michael Arterburn

Qualifying Round 3 - Friday morning

Q8 - Thomas Carter or Geoff Goldblatt v. Felipe Camacho or Kyle Ulliman - 10 AM
Q1 - Jose Diaz or Jeovany Mendoza or Javier Martinez v. Hiroshi Shimizu or Alok Mehta - 10 AM

Q4 - Jansen Allen or Juan Salvatierra v. Troy Warigon or Ferd Samson - 10 AM
Q5 - Jake Bredenbeck or Juan Martinez v. Eduardo Portillo or Edwin Galicia - 10 AM

Q6 - Rodrigo Montoya or Justus Benson v. Gerardo Franco or Nadeem Sharifuddin - 11 AM
Q3 - Mario Mercado or John Wolfe or Kalyan Kosetty v. Maurice Miller or Mauricio Zelada - 11 AM

Q2 - David Horn or Eduardo Garay or Hanzel Martinez v. Scott McClellan or Michael Arterburn - 11 AM
Q7 - Adam Manilla or Jordy Alonso v. Robert Collins or Christian Wer - 11 AM

Round of 16 - Friday

Kane Waselenchuk v. Q8 - 5 PM
Sebastian Franco v. Q1 - 5 PM

Andree Parrilla v. Q4 - 5 PM
Alejandro Landa v. Q5 - 5 PM

Daniel De La Rosa v. Q6 - 6 PM
Alvaro Beltran v. Q3 - 6 PM

Samuel Murray v. Q2 - 6 PM
Rocky Carson v. Q7 - 6 PM

IRT Doubles - Round of 16 - Friday

1) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa v. 16) Javier Martinez & Jeovany Mendoza - 3 PM
8) Felipe Camacho & Eduardo Garay v. 9) Robert Collins & David Horn - 3 PM

5) Rodrigo Montoya & Andree Parrilla v. 12) Rom Dresbach & Juan Martinez - 2 PM
4) Sebastian Franco & Mario Mercado v. 13) Edwin Galicia & Christian Wer - 3 PM

3) Jake Bredenbeck & Jose Diaz v. 14) Hanzel Martinez & Juan Salvatierra - 2 PM
6) Ben Croft & Kane Waselenchuk v. 11) Maurice Miller & Troy Warigon - 2 PM

7) Rocky Carson & Adam Manilla v. 10) Thomas Carter & Kyle Ulliman - 3 PM
2) Alejandro Landa & Samuel Murray v. 15) Timothy Holder & Thomas Moretz - 2 PM

Follow the bouncing ball….