Top 4 seeds through to semi-finals at IRT 209 Battle of the Ages

The top four seeds made it through to the semi-finals at the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) Ektelon 209 Battle of the Ages in Stockton, California, but it was not an easy road for the 3rd and 4th seeds.

Even IRT #1 dropped a game in the quarterfinals, as Kane Waselenchuk needed four games to defeat Ben Croft, 11-0, 11-1, 7-11, 11-3.

But 4th seed Jose Rojas needed to win two five game matches to advance to Saturday. First in the quarterfinals, Rojas was made to go the distance against fellow Stockton player and USA team-mate for last month's Pan American Championships David Horn, 11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 11-6, 14-12.

Then Daniel De La Rosa took Rojas to a fifth game, and even scored more points than Rojas, but it was Rojas who won, 11-5, 1-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8.

The near upset of the tournament happened in the Round of 16 when Cliff Swain - former IRT #1 - won the first two games against 3rd seed Alvaro Beltran, to then forced game three to extra points before Beltran won in 12-10.

Losing game three might have had a carry over to games four and five as they were not as close the first two, as Beltran came back to win in five games, 11-13, 9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-7.

The IRT Network will carry the semi-final action from Stockton Saturday beginning at 4 PM PDT.

Ektelon 209 Battle of the Ages
Stockton, California - May 1-4, 2014

Round of 16

1 Kane Waselenchuk d. Tom Fuhrmann, 11-7, 11-1, 11-3
8 Ben Croft d. 9 Marco Rojas, 11-7, 11-4, 8-11, 11-6

5 Daniel De La Rosa d. 12 Jose Diaz, 11-4, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5
4 Jose Rojas v. 13 David Horn, 11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 11-6, 14-12

3 Alvaro Beltran d. 14 Cliff Swain, 11-13, 9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-7
6 Chris Crowther d. 11 Charlie Pratt, 11-3, 11-9, 8-11, 11-3

10 Jansen Allen d. 7 Tony Carson, 8-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-5, 11-3
2 Rocky Carson d. Francisco Troncoso, 11-0, 11-3, 11-6

Quarterfinals

1 Kane Waselenchuk d. 8 Ben Croft, 11-0, 11-1, 7-11, 11-3
4 Jose Rojas d. 5 Daniel De La Rosa, 11-5, 1-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8

3 Alvaro Beltran d. 6 Chris Crowther, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9
2 Rocky Carson d. 10 Jansen Allen

Semi-finals

1 Kane Waselenchuk v. 4 Jose Rojas - 5 PM PDT
2 Rocky Carson v. 3 Alvaro Beltran - 4 PM PDT

Follow the bouncing ball…