Friday, October 9, 2015

2015 US Open IRT Doubles Quarterfinals

Tie-breakers were the order of the night Thursday in the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) quarterfinals at the 2015 United Healthcare US Open Racquetball Championships in Minneapolis, and two of the results were upsets.

But the top seeds and defending champions Ben Croft and Kane Waselenchuk survived, albeit barely, as Croft is clearly not 100% with his right arm a few months after having major shoulder surgery. But after switching to an I formation serve return late in game one, they were able to come back and defeat David Horn and Andree Parrilla, 5-15, 15-6, 11-10.

They'll play brothers Jose and Marco Rojas in the semi-finals, as the brothers beat Chris Crowther and Javier Moreno, 12-15, 15-7, 11-3.

The upsets happened on the bottom of the draw. Second seeds, and last year's runners up, Alvaro Beltran and Rocky Carson fell to Jake Bredenbeck and Jose Diaz, 15-7, 14-15, 11-10.

After squeaking out the second game, Beltran and Carson carried the momentum over into the tie-breaker, and went up 6-0. However, Bredenbeck and Diaz chipped away at the lead getting to within one at 8-7.

But the veterans Beltran and Carson got to match point first, leading 10-7 after an penalty hinder call and a Diaz skipped shot.

Then Bredenbeck took over. He got a hideout, and served up a drive serve ace to Carson. He followed that up with a forehand winner, and then Beltran skipped a shot to make it 10-10.

Carson hit a winner to save the first match point, but on the next rally Diaz hit a forehand on the right side that forced Beltran to a skip a shot, and the match was theirs.

Bredenbeck and Diaz will face Jansen Allen and Charlie Pratt in the semi-finals, as they upset the 3rd seeds Daniel De La Rosa and Alejandro Landa, 15-9, 6-15, 11-5.

With the top seeds not fully fit due to Croft's injury and the 2nd seeds out of the event, it seems wide open as to who will be the winner of the 2015 US Open IRT doubles competition.

Matches are being streamed live via the IRT Network.

2015 United Healthcare US Open - IRT Draw
Minneapolis, Minnesota - October 7-11, 2015


Quarterfinals

1) Ben Croft & Kane Waselenchuk d. David Horn & Andree Parrilla, 5-15, 15-6, 11-10
4) Jose Rojas & Marco Rojas v. Chris Crowther & Javier Moreno, 12-15, 15-7, 11-3

Jansen Allen & Charlie Pratt d. 3) Daniel De La Rosa & Alejandro Landa, 15-9, 6-15, 11-5
Jake Bredenbeck & Jose Diaz d. 2) Alvaro Beltran & Rocky Carson, 15-7, 14-15, 11-10

Semi-finals - Friday

1) Ben Croft & Kane Waselenchuk v. 4) Jose Rojas & Marco Rojas - 8:40 PM CDT
Jake Bredenbeck & Jose Diaz v. Jansen Allen & Charlie Pratt - 6:20 PM CDT

Follow the bouncing ball….

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