Kane Waselenchuk defeated Adam Manilla, 15-11, 15-8, to win the 2024 International Racquetball Tour (IRT) Golden State Open in Pleasanton, California. The win should seal Waselenchuk as the IRT #1 for the 15th IRT season. This despite his turning 43 earlier this month. That’s astonishing.
Also astonishing is how few points Waselenchuk surrendered en route to the title. Four in the first two matches, then six in the quarterfinals against Alan Natera, winning 15-3, 15-3, and nine against Javier Mar in the semi-finals, 15-6, 15-3. Manilla’s 19 points was the most scored on Waselenchuk by a long way.
Manilla was also in the doubles final with Jake Bredenbeck, but they lost to Rodrigo Montoya and Mar, 15-6, 15-12.
Despite the losses, Manilla had a great tournament. Seeded 6th in singles, he defeated 3rd seed Montoya in the quarterfinals, 15-11, 9-15, 11-3. Then in the semi-finals against former top 10 player Eduardo Portillo, Manilla came back from a game down to eke out the victory in three games, 11-15, 15-6, 11-10. In the breaker, he fought off a match point at 10-7, and then closed it out with four straight points on consecutive rallies.
In the first IRT final between two left-handed players since April 2009 (Waselenchuk versus Mitch Williams), Manilla led early in game one, only to have Waselenchuk tie it at 6-6, and then lead 9-6. Manilla fought back and tied it at 9-9. Waselenchuk went up 12-9, and again Manilla fought back to get within one at 12-11. But that’s as close as he’d get, as Waselenchuk closed it out 15-11.
In game two, Manilla again led early at 3-0, 4-1, and 7-2. But Waselenchuk scored the next 10 points to lead 12-7. Manilla got one back before Waselenchuk closed it out at 15-8, winning the match in two straight games.
The win was Waselenchuk's fourth tournament victory of the season. Samuel Murray and Conrrado Moscoso won the other two events of the season.
What’s going on with the IRT?
The Golden State Open was the final event of the 2024 IRT season. We’d like to tell you what the first event of 2025 is, but we can’t because it’s not listed on the IRT website. That begs the question of what is going on with the IRT?
There were six events this season, which is one of the fewest totals in the last 20 years. Even in the COVID affected season of 2021 there were six events.
Since 2003-04, there have generally been at least 10 IRT events a season. But three of the last four season have had fewer than 10: six in 2021, nine in 2022, ten last year and now six this year.
Is this a bellwether of the state of racquetball, or is it a reflection of the current IRT management? Probably some of both, of course. There are still some strong racquetball supporters that are willing to sponsor pro events. But it can be difficult to persuade outsiders to support racquetball, as they’ll ask about what the return on investment - ROI - is. It’s not clear how much bang for your buck you’ll get from sponsoring racquetball these days.
That said, it’s still a great game, and the IRT players are great. Proof of how great is on the IRT YouTube channel, which has both final matches from the Golden State Open, as well as many of the matches leading up to them.
2024 Golden State Open - Presented by JMB
Pleasanton, California - November 13-17, 2024
IRT Singles - Final - Sunday
1) Kane Waselenchuk d. 6) Adam Manilla, 15-11, 15-8
IRT Singles - Semi-finals - Saturday
1) Kane Waselenchuk d. 21) Javier Mar, 15-6, 15-3
6) Adam Manilla d. 15) Eduardo Portillo, 11-15, 15-6, 11-10
IRT Singles - Quarterfinals - Saturday
1) Kane Waselenchuk d. 8) Alan Natera, 15-3, 15-3
21) Javier Mar d. 4) Andrés Acuña, injury forfeit
6) Adam Manilla d. 3) Rodrigo Montoya, 15-11, 9-15, 11-3
15) Eduardo Portillo d. 7) Erick Trujillo, 15-7, 15-1
IRT Doubles - Final - Sunday
1) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya d. 2) Jake Bredenbeck & Adam Manilla, 15-6, 15-12
Follow the bouncing ball….
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