Another day, another Rodrigo Montoya upset win. This time he beat Conrrado Moscoso, the #2 player on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT), 15-13, 15-3, in the semi-finals of the KWM Gutterman Minnesota Hall of Fame Event in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Moscoso was in two of the first three finals this year, but he won’t be in the final Sunday.
”I’m so happy for this win,” said Montoya afterwards. He was very complimentary to Moscoso, saying “Conrrado’s never an easy player, and if I was up 14-3 you never know Conrrado could get back in and take the game.” But Montoya’s “happy to play in another final tomorrow.”
Daniel De La Rosa - the #1 IRT player - will be in the final against Montoya, although it looked like De La Rosa wasn’t going to make it, as Jake Bredenbeck won the first game of their semi-final match. But De La Rosa recovered to win the next two games, winning the match 2 games to 1 by scores of 7-15, 15-10, 11-2.
Sunday’s final will be De La Rosa’s fourth of this year, and he’s won two of the previous three.
Afterwards De La Rosa said Bredenbeck was “amazing” in the first game, but he just tried to “stay postiive” and “keep fighting” and in game two he found his rhythm and was able to carry that through the rest of the match.
Montoya and Moscoso were back and forth in game one of their semi. Montoya led 5-2, then they were tied 7-7 and 9-9. Moscoso went ahead from there to lead 12-9 and 13-11. But Montoya held him there, and got the last four points of the game, two of them come off the serve.
He hit a drive serve to the left side for an ace that made it 13-13. Then on his first game point Montoya hit a drive jam serve that Moscoso turned to take with his forehand and skipped that shot.
Game two was like the first game of Montoya’s quarterfinal against Eduardo Portillo, as Moscoso got the first three points of the game - just as Portillo got the first four points in game one against Montoya. But for the second time, Montoya ran the table
De La Rosa and Montoya will face off twice Sunday, as they are on the opposite sides of the doubles final also. Montoya is playing with Javier Mar, his usual doubles partner, and De La Rosa is playing with Moscoso.
In the doubles semis, top seeds Mar Montoya defeated 5th seeds Jake Bredenbeck and Sam Bredenbeck, 15-12, 15-10, and 2nd seeds De La Rosa and Moscoso needed three games to fend off a strong challenge from 3rd seeds Andrés Acuña and Portillo, 15-12, 4-15, 11-3.
You can see the IRT finals via the usual IRT media outlets: The IRT YouTube channel or the IRT Facebook page. The singles final is Sunday at 11 AM with doubles to follow at 1 PM. All times Central.
2023 KWM Gutterman Minnesota Hall of Fame Event
March 2-5, 2023 - Minneapolis, Minnesota
IRT Singles - Semi-finals - Saturday
1) Daniel De La Rosa d. 4) Jake Bredenbeck, 7-15, 15-10, 11-2
6) Rodrigo Montoya d. 2) Conrrado Moscoso, 15-13, 15-3
IRT Singles - Final - Sunday
1) Daniel De La Rosa v. 6) Rodrigo Montoya - 11 AM
IRT Doubles - Semi-finals - Saturday
1) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya d. 5) Jake Bredenbeck & Sam Bredenbeck, 15-12, 15-10
2) Daniel De La Rosa & Conrrado Moscoso d. 3) Andrés Acuña & Eduardo Portillo, 15-12, 4-15, 11-3
IRT Doubles - Final - Sunday
1) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya v. 2) Daniel De La Rosa & Conrrado Moscoso - 1 PM
Follow the bouncing ball….
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