Top seeds advance at 2019 IRT Shamrock Shootout

The top two seeds are through to the semi-finals at the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) 34th Annual Shamrock Shootout in Lombard, Illinois. IRT #1 Kane Waselenchuk beat 8th seed Sebastian Franco, 15-7, 15-0, and IRT #2 Rocky Carson needed three games to defeat 7th seed Samuel Murray, 15-7, 13-15, 11-2.

But the other two semi-finalists were upset winners in the quarters. Rodrigo Montoya defeated Mexican veteran Alvaro Beltran, 15-8, 15-9, and will play Carson in the semis, while 5th seed Andree Parrilla beat 4th seed Alejandro Landa, 15-8, 15-9, to set up a showdown with Waselenchuk. Parrilla is the defending champion at this event, and was runner up to Waselenchuk two years ago, so he’s trying to make it three finals in a row in Lombard.

In the Carson-Murray match, Carson led throughout game one, winning 15-7, and then Murray led throughout game two. But Carson did tie Murray in game two at 5-5 and 6-6. Murray then went up 13-8, only to see Carson come back and tie it again at 13-13.

It looked like last year’s #1 player would pull it out in two games, but Murray held firm. After an exchange of sideouts, Murray called a timeout prior to sering at 13-13. He got a point when Carson made an unforced error by skipping a forehand shot. However, Carson did fight off two game points, but couldn’t score himself. On Murray’s third game point he finished it with a forehand kill shot.

Unfortunately for Murray that momentum didn’t carry over into the tie-breaker, as Carson went up 6-0. At 8-1, Murray called a timeout, but all he managed was one more point from there, as Carson won it 11-2.

In doubles, top seeds Alvaro Beltran and Daniel De La Rosa defeated 4th seeds Jake Bredenbeck and Jose Diaz, 15-9, 15-12, in the semi-finals. They led throughout both games, and had big leads - 14-4 in game one and 11-1 in game two, but credit Bredenbeck and Diaz for not giving up, and making it close late in the games. But it wasn’t enough.

Beltran and De La Rosa will play Ben Croft and Waselenchuk in the final tonight at 8:30. Croft and Waselenchuk were to play 2nd seeds Landa and Murray, but Landa picked up an arm injury - likely in his singles match versus Parrilla, so they defaulted. The final will be a repeat of the 2018 US Open final, which was won by Beltran and De La Rosa.

The usual IRT media outlets will have the action from Lombard: The IRT Network or the IRT Facebook page. The semi-finals will be at 5:30 PM and 6:30 PM Saturday with the final at noon Sunday. The doubles semis will be 1 and 2 PM with the final at 8:30 PM Saturday. All times central.

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

Quarterfinals - Saturday

1) Kane Waselenchuk d. 8) Sebastian Franco, 15-7, 15-0
5) Andree Parrilla d. 4) Alejandro Landa, 15-8, 15-9

Rodrigo Montoya d. 6) Alvaro Beltran, 15-8, 15-9
2) Rocky Carson d. 7) Samuel Murray, 15-7, 13-15, 11-2

Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Kane Waselenchuk v. 5) Andree Parrilla - 6:30 PM
2) Rocky Carson v. Rodrigo Montoya - 5:30 PM

IRT Doubles - Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa d. 4) Jake Bredenbeck & Jose Diaz, 15-8, 15-12
6) Ben Croft & Kane Waselenchuk d. 2) Alejandro Landa & Samuel Murray, injury default

IRT Doubles - Final - Saturday

1) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa v. 6) Ben Croft & Kane Waselenchuk - 8:30 PM

Follow the bouncing ball….