The International Racquetball Tour (IRT) is back in action this weekend with play starting later today in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the KWM Gutterman Minnesota Hall of Fame Event. There are 25 players in the field, so it's a bit smaller than usual, but 9 of the top 10 are there, so there will be plenty of good matches. Leading the way will be IRT #1 Daniel De La Rosa, whose win in Georgia two weeks ago put him ahead of Conrrado Moscoso, who’s now #2.
De La Rosa and Moscoso have split the three events so far this year with De La Rosa winning two and Moscoso one. They’ve faced off in two of the three finals, splitting them one a piece. But two weeks ago Moscoso wasn’t at the event in Georgia, where De La Rosa defeated Jake Bredenbeck in the final.
De La Rosa and Moscoso are teaming up for doubles, where they are the 2nd seeds behind Javier Mar and Rodrigo Montoya. Either Mar or Montoya has won each of the three doubles events this season. They did so once together, and once with another partner (Mar with De La Rosa and Montoya with Andree Parrilla), when they both weren’t at the tournament.
A Mar and Montoya versus De La Rosa and Moscoso match is the likely doubles final on Sunday, although a few other teams will try to prevent that - such as 3rd seeds Andrés Acuña and Eduardo Portillo, 4th seeds Adam Manilla and Samuel Murray and 5th seeds Jake Bredenbeck and Sam Bredenbeck, but it would be fun to see the top seeds face off.
Of note, Alejandro Landa, who had a crazy incident two weeks ago, during a doubles match with De La Rosa and against Jake Bredenbeck and Murray, isn’t playing doubles this weekend. We’re uncertain if he chose not to play doubles or he couldn’t find a doubles partner.
You can see some of the IRT action via the usual IRT media outlets: The IRT YouTube channel or the IRT Facebook page. Singles play begins Thursday afternoon and there will be one doubles match Thursday night at 7 PM. The singles Round of 16 will be Friday morning at 10 and 11 AM with the doubles quarterfinals at 2 PM. 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 - Round of 32 - Thursday
Daniel De La Rosa - BYE
16) Jim Douglas v. 17) John Goth - 6 PM
9) Andrés Acuña v. 24) Lee Meinerz - 4 PM
8) Adam Manilla v. 25) Derek Ott - 4 PM
5) Alejandro Landa - BYE
12) Alan Natera v. 21) Kurtis Cullen - 6 PM
13) Robert Collins v. 20) Rodrigo Salgado Jr. - 6 PM
4) Jake Bredenbeck - BYE
3) Eduardo Portillo - BYE
14) Sam Bredenbeck v. 19) Diego Gatica - 5 PM
11) Javier Mar v. 22) Samuel Schulze - 5 PM
6) Rodrigo Montoya - BYE
7) Samuel Murray - BYE
10) Thomas Carter v. 23) Blake Hansen - 5 PM
15) Kadim Carrasco v. 18) Andrés Gómez - 4 PM
2) Conrrado Moscoso - BYE
IRT Doubles - Round of 16 - Thursday
1) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya - BYE
8) Blake Hansen & Derek Ott v. 9) Lee Meinerz & Carlos Pando - 7 PM
5) Jake Bredenbeck & Sam Bredenbeck - BYE
4) Adam Manilla & Samuel Murray - BYE
3) Andrés Acuña & Eduardo Portillo - BYE
6) Kadim Carrasco & Alan Natera - BYE
7) Diego Gatica & Rodrigo Salgado Jr. - BYE
2) Daniel De La Rosa & Conrrado Moscoso - BYE
Follow the bouncing ball….
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2 comments:
Seems like unlike other more publicly popular sports it's difficult to find stories or backstories about racquetball players. So what's up with and where are Kane and Rocky?
Waselenchuk suffered an Achilles injury in September, and the general timeline for recovery from that injury is a year, so he's still on the sidelines due to it. Carson, who will be 44 in May, is playing a reduced schedule, because other things are a higher priority in his life. He competed at the USA Racquetball Doubles Championships last month, so he's still trying to earn a spot on Team USA this year, but playing at every IRT event isn't in the cards.
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