Rodrigo Montoya upset 3rd seed Eduardo Portillo, 15-4, 15-4, in an all Mexico battle in the quarterfinals at the 2023 International Racquetball Tour (IRT) KWM Gutterman Minnesota Hall of Fame Event in Minneapolis, Minnesota Friday. Remarkably, Montoya, the 6th seed, was down 4-0 in game one, but then won 15 unanswered points to win game one, and take the wind out of Portillo’s sails.
Montoya will face IRT #2 Conrrado Moscoso in the semi-finals, although Moscoso’s quarterfinal victory over 7th seed Samuel Murray wasn’t as straight forward as the 15-13, 15-3, scoreline suggests. They were back and forth early in game one, and tied at 10-10. Moscoso then went out to a 14-10 lead, but Murray kept battling, and fought off six game points before Moscoso was able to finish it off at 15-13.
Moscoso had an early 4-1 lead in game two, when he slipped on the floor, likely due to sweat on the floor, as Murray has just dove to get to the ball where Moscoso slipped. He stayed down clutching at his left knee, and an injury timeout ensued.
After 9 min, Moscoso felt he was fit to continue, but it seemed he didn’t want to put a lot of pressure on his left leg, which meant no drive serving. Moscoso’s drive serve is a big weapon, so you’d think he’d be in tough without it.
However, he hit high lob serves along the right wall that Murray had some difficulty returning. The result was Moscoso taking 11 of the 12 points after play resumed following Moscoso’s injury, and a straight game win.
On the top of the draw, IRT #1 Daniel De La Rosa beat 8th seed Adam Manilla, 15-7, 15-9. Manilla tied De La Rosa in game two, 8-8, but De La Rosa turned it on from there to outscore Manilla 7-1 to win 15-9 and avoid going to a tie-breaker.
There was a tie-breaker in the last quarterfinal, as Jake Bredenbeck had to come back from a game down against Alan Natera, winning 13-15, 15-3, 11-4, so he’ll play De La Rosa in the semis on Saturday. That will be a rematch of the Georgia final two weeks ago, which was won by De La Rosa.
You can see the IRT action via the usual IRT media outlets: The IRT YouTube channel or the IRT Facebook page. The singles semi-finals will be at 3 & 4 PM with the doubles semis Saturday morning at 10 and 11 AM. 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 - Quarterfinals - Friday
1) Daniel De La Rosa d. 8) Adam Manilla, 15-7, 15-9
4) Jake Bredenbeck d. 12) Alan Natera, 13-15, 15-3, 11-4
6) Rodrigo Montoya d. 3) Eduardo Portillo, 15-4, 15-4
2) Conrrado Moscoso d. 7) Samuel Murray, 15-13, 15-3
IRT Singles - Semi-finals - Saturday
1) Daniel De La Rosa v. 4) Jake Bredenbeck - 4 PM
2) Conrrado Moscoso v. 6) Rodrigo Montoya - 3 PM
IRT Doubles - Semi-finals - Saturday
1) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya v. 5) Jake Bredenbeck & Sam Bredenbeck - 11 AM
2) Daniel De La Rosa & Conrrado Moscoso v. 3) Andrés Acuña & Eduardo Portillo - 10 AM
Follow the bouncing ball….
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment