We don't recommend losing the first game of a match, but that worked out for three of doubles teams in the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) draw Thursday morning at the 24th UnitedHealthcare US Open Racquetball Championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and all three were upset wins. Some have called this the best men's doubles draw ever, and this morning's results support that claim.
The wily veterans Rocky Carson and Cliff Swain were one of the upset winners, as they came back from a game down to defeat Charles Pratt and Dylan Reid, 10-15, 15-2, 11-8.
Carson and Swain had an early lead in the breaker, but Pratt and Reid caught up at 5-5 and 7-7, and went ahead 8-7. But Carson's backhand reverse pinch got his side the serve back.
However, the veterans didn't put points on the board, so Pratt and Reid had a chance to add to their lead. Yet they couldn't score either, as play intensified with Swain hitting a pinch winner and Pratt being forced into skipping a shot.
A Swain cross court shot forced a skip out of Reid to make it 8-8, then Swain hit a drive serve ace to the right side that Pratt and Reid thought was short, but it was called good: 9-8.
Carson finished off the match with a pinch winner for 10-8, and then a reverse pinch winner for match point. Their win puts Carson and Swain into the quarterfinals tonight against top seeds and defending champions Alvaro Beltran and Daniel De La Rosa.
In other action, the top seeds in qualifying - Jake Bredenbeck and Jose Diaz - were knocked off by Kadim Carrasco and Carlos Keller, 6-15, 15-9, 11-8. Carrasco and Keller will play Sebastian Franco and Mario Mercado in the quarterfinals tonight.
And Keller's older brother Roland was also a winner with Conrrado Moscoso, as they came back to defeat the Pan American Games gold medalists Javier Mar and Rodrigo Montoya, 8-15, 15-11, 11-6.
In the final qualifying match, Javier Estrada and Ernesto Ochoa upset Adam Manilla and Nicholas Riffel, 15-8, 15-14, so none of the top four seeded teams in qualifying made the quarterfinals.
Check out the action from Minneapolis via the IRT media outlets: The IRT YouTube channel or the IRT Facebook page.
2019 UnitedHealthcare US Open Racquetball Championships
Minneapolis, Minnesota - October 2-6, 2019
IRT Doubles Qualifying - Round of 16 - Thursday
Q1: 9) Kadim Carrasco & Carlos Keller d. 1) Jake Bredenbeck & Jose Diaz, 6-15, 15-9, 11-8
Q4: 13) Rocky Carson & Cliff Swain d. 12) Charles Pratt & Dylan Reid, 10-15, 15-2, 11-8
Q3: 22) Javier Estrada & Ernesto Ochoa d. 3) Adam Manilla & Nicholas Riffel, 15-8, 15-14
Q2: 7) Roland Keller & Conrrado Moscoso d. 2) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya, 8-15, 15-11, 11-6
IRT Doubles - Quarterfinals - Thursday
1) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa v. Rocky Carson & Cliff Swain - 7:50 PM
3) Sebastian Franco & Mario Mercado v. Kadim Carrasco & Carlos Keller - 7:50 PM
3) Alejandro Landa & Samuel Murray v. Roland Keller & Conrrado Moscoso - 9 PM
2) Ben Croft & Kane Waselenchuk v. Javier Estrada & Ernesto Ochoa - 9 PM
Follow the bouncing ball….
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment