IRT 2013 Red Swain Shootout - Round of 16

Cliff Swain is turning back the clock at the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) event named after his father: the Red Swain Shootout in Davison, Michigan, where he defeated IRT #1 Jose Rojas in four games in the Round of 16, 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 11-3.

Swain, a former IRT #1 player, will play another Rojas in the quarter finals later on Friday, as Jose's younger brother Marco defeated Jose Diaz, 11-1, 12-14, 11-2, 11-8, in the 16s.

There were no other upsets in the Round of 16, as other top seeds - Rocky Carson, Alvaro Beltran and Ben Croft - got through to the quarter finals without incident, although Beltran did drop a game against Marcelo Zelada, winning in four 11-4, 9-11, 11-2, 11-6. Both Carson and Croft won in three straight.

Matches can be viewed over the web via the IRT Network.

2013 Red Swain Shootout
Davison, Michigan

Round of 16

Rocky Carson d. Charlie Pratt, 11-1, 11-3, 11-4
Tony Carson d. Jansen Allen, 11-7, 11-5, 12-10

Daniel De La Rosa d. Alex Ackermann, 11-7, 11-9, 3-11, 11-7
Ben Croft d. Brad Schopieray, 11-2, 11-3, 11-9

Cliff Swain d. Jose Rojas, 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 11-3
Marco Rojas d. Jose Diaz, 11-1, 12-14, 11-2, 11-8

Chris Crowther d. Eric Desrochers, 11-1, 11-9, 11-3
Alvaro Beltran d. Mauricio Zelada, 11-4, 9-11, 11-2, 11-6

Quarter finals

Rocky Carson v. Tony Carson
Ben Croft v. Daniel De La Rosa

Marco Rojas v. Cliff Swain
Alvaro Beltran v. Chris Crowther

Follow the bouncing ball…

IRT - Red Swain Shootout - Preliminary Results

The International Racquetball Tour (IRT) is back in action this weekend, and the preliminary round is complete at the Red Swain Shootout in Davison, Michigan, where Eric Desrochers came back from two games down to upset veteran Andy Hawthorne in five games, 7-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6.

The win puts Desrochers in the Round of 16 on Friday against another veteran Chris Crowther.

Earlier, Mike Green lost to Greg Lawerenz, although it was by default. Lawerenz will play Mauricio Zelada in the second round of qualifying for a spot in the Round of 16 on Friday.

Matches can be viewed over the web via the IRT Network.

2013 Red Swain Shootout
Davison, Michigan

Qualifying Round 1

Charlie Pratt d. Thomas Carter, 13-11, 11-1, 11-6
Tom Fuhrmann d. John Scott, 11-3, 11-9, 11-3

Filip Vesely d. Nathan Tucker, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-2
Brian Simpson d. William Garrow, 11-1, 11-2, 11-1

Robert Collins d. Anthony Schonberger, 6-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-3
Jeon Seung Jun d. Lee Connell, 13-11, 11-8, 8-11, 2-11, 11-6

Eric Desrochers d. Cesar Castillo, 11-4, 6-11, 11-5, 11-9
Greg Lawerenz d. Mike Green, forfeit

Qualifying Round 2

Q8: Charlie Pratt d. Hiroshi Shimizu, 11-2, 8-11, 11-2, 11-5
Q1: Jansen Allen d. Tom Fuhrmann, 11-5, 11-6, 11-1

Q4: Alex Ackermann d. Filip Vesely, 11-6, 11-7, 11-2
Q5: Brad Schopieray d. Brian Simpson, 11-5, 11-4, 11-1

Q6: Cliff Swain d. Robert Collins, 11-1, 11-4, 11-6
Q3: Jose Diaz d. Jeon Seung Jun, 11-4, 11-9, 11-7

Q2: Eric Desrochers d. Andy Hawthorne, 7-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6
Q7: Mauricio Zelada d. Greg Lawrenz, 11-3, 11-1, 6-11, 11-2

Round of 16 - Friday

Rocky Carson v. Charlie Pratt
Tony Carson v. Jansen Allen

Daniel De La Rosa v. Alex Ackermann
Ben Croft v. Brad Schopieray

Jose Rojas v. Cliff Swain
Marco Rojas v. Jose Diaz

Chris Crowther v. Eric Desrochers
Alvaro Beltran v. Mauricio Zelada

Follow the bouncing ball…

IRT Rankings - November 5, 2013

How hard is it to get ahead in the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) rankings? Consider that so far this season Jose Rojas won a Tier 1 event and finished in the semi-finals in a Grand Slam event, and he's still 4th. In fact, he's closer to 5th than 3rd. That's how solid the top three players are in the rankings.

Kane Waselenchuk, now the all time IRT tournament wins leader, is #1, followed by Rocky Carson at #2, Alvaro Beltran at #3, and Rojas in 4th.

Ben Croft is right behind Rojas in 5th with Chris Crowther in 6th, Tony Carson 7th and Daniel De La Rosa in 8th. In fact, there were no changes in the top 8 players.

However, there are two new players in the 9th and 10th spots, as Marco Rojas and Jansen Allen have broken into the top 10 for the first time in their young careers. Rojas is up 2 spots to 9th while Allen is up 5 to 10th.

In the next 10, veteran Andy Hawthorne is hanging around at #11 with young Jose Diaz at #12.

Inactivity has dropped veterans Javier Moreno and Shane Vanderson down to 13th and 15th, respectively. On the other hand, Cliff Swain is more active than he has been in a few years and he's back in the top 20 at #20.

The IRT's third event of 2013-14 is the Red Swain Shootout in Davison, Michigan beginning tomorrow November 7 and running to Sunday November 10.

IRT Rankings - November 5, 2013

Rank - Player - Country - Points

1 Kane WASELENCHUK (Canada) 3844
2 Rocky CARSON (USA) 3456
3 Alvaro BELTRAN (Mexico) 2472
4 Jose ROJAS (USA) 2272
5 Ben CROFT (USA) 2162

6 Chris CROWTHER (USA) 1690
7 Tony CARSON (USA) 1420
8 Daniel DE LA ROSA (Mexico) 1319
9 Marco ROJAS (USA) 1040
10 Jansen ALLEN (USA) 954

11 Andy HAWTHORNE (USA) 914
12 Jose DIAZ (USA) 860
13 Javier MORENO (Mexico) 843
14 Alejandro LANDA (Mexico) 800
15 Shane VANDERSON (USA) 764

16 Alex ACKERMANN (USA) 758
17 Anthony HERRERA (USA) 734
18 Brad SCHOPIERAY (USA) 639
19 David HORN (USA) 563
20 Cliff Swain (USA) 466

Follow the bouncing ball....