Beltran & De La Rosa win doubles, Waselenchuk & Landa in singles final at 35th Annual KWM Gutterman IRT Shamrock Shootout

The International Racquetball Tour’s (IRT’s) #1 player faces off with the #2 player Sunday in the final of the 35th Annual KWM Gutterman IRT Shamrock Shootout in Lombard, Illinois, when Kane Waselenchuk, the IRT’s #1 player, plays #2 Alejandro Landa. In Saturday’s semi-finals, Waselenchuk beat 5th seed Andree Parrilla, 15-6, 15-11, while Landa had to come back from a game down to defeat 6th seed Daniel De La Rosa, 13-15, 15-12, 11-7.

Doubles Final

Top seeds Alvaro Beltran and Daniel De La Rosa won the doubles event Saturday night, as they beat 3rd seeds Javier Mar and Rodrigo Montoya, 15-10, 15-13. Beltran and De La Rosa never trailed in game one, but game two was more back and forth.

Beltran and De La Rosa led 3-0, and then Mar and Montoya led 6-3. Beltran and De La Rosa led 8-7. Then Mar and Montoya led 10-8, and a tie-breaker looked like a possibility. But from there Beltran and De La Rosa got six straight points to make it 14-10.

A long rally ensued, and on the 21st shot De La Rosa skipped a backhand shot, which was an unforced error, and gave the serve back to his opponents. Mar and Montoya took advantage, as they ran off three quick points to get within one at 14-13. Beltran and De La Rosa called a timeout.

When play resumed, De La Rosa hit a winner to put Mar and Montoya half down. Then Montoya skipped a forehand shot that gave the serve back to Beltran and De La Rosa for their second match point.

Beltran served a high lob down the right side, which is a very common serve for him. Montoya returned it with his forehand, and tried to go cross court, but the ball skipped to the front wall, giving Beltran and De La Rosa the match winning point.

But the rally of the match, which you can see on the IRT YouTube channel (go to the 22 min mark of the recording), happened in game one, as they played a 36 shot rally that De La Rosa ended with a simple pass down the right side that Mar and Montoya couldn’t cover. Montoya had fallen over on the right side making the previous shot, and Mar seemed to let the ball go past him on the belief that Montoya would be able to cover it.

The Shamrock Shootout final can be seen at 1 PM central time Sunday via the usual IRT media outlets: The IRT YouTube channel or the IRT Facebook page.

2020 35th Annual IRT KWM Gutterman Shamrock Shootout, March 12-15, 2020
Lombard, Illinois

Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Kane Waselenchuk d. 5) Andree Parrilla, 15-6, 15-11
2) Alejandro Landa d. 6) Daniel De La Rosa, 13-15, 15-12, 11-7

Final - Sunday

1) Kane Waselenchuk v. 2) Alejandro Landa - 1 PM

IRT Doubles - Final - Saturday

1) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa d. 3) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya, 15-10, 15-13

Follow the bouncing ball….