Tag: alejandro romo

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San Luis Open 2019 Wrap-up

Portillo gets a win on home soil. Photo US Open 2019, Photographer Kevin Savory

RKT hosted a solid event in San Luis Potosi over the weekend. The 2019 San Luis Potosi open. The draws weren’t online: thanks to Lalo Portillo for emailing me a picture of the draw so that I can do this recap.

Lets recap the Men’s singles event:

In the 16s, just two upsets by seeds both in the typical spots (8/9 and 7/10 matches):

– #1 Andree Parrilla took out #16 Rodrigo Nino
– #9 Jordy Alonso got a nice win over #8 Christian Longoria.
– #5 Javier Estrada took out #12 Andres Trejo
– #4 Javier Mar beat #13 Emir Mtz, fresh of an appearance at the junior worlds.
– #3 Rodrigo Montoya Solís took out Cristhian Sanchez Rico in two.
– #6 Alan Natera Chavez defeated Saul Rivera in two.
– #10 Alejandro Romo took out the youngster Elias NIeeto Zedalav in two closer games.
– #2 Lalo Portillo99 defeated Diego Gastelum in two.

These results setup some really solid quarter finals.
– #1 Parrilla took out #9 Alonso 9,6
– #4 Mar handled #5 Estrada in two games 5,6 to avenge a loss in an RKT event earlier this fall in Mexico City.
– #6 Natera got a solid win over Montoya 10,9. These two have split matches evenly against each other all year.
– #2 Portillo crushed the upset minded Romo in two.

In the semis, we got the 1-2 final we sought.
– #1 Parrilla took out #4 Mar (13),10,9. Despite the seeding (which was done with IRT points b/c this was an IRT sanctioned event), this is an upset in my book.
– #2 Portillo advanced with a solid two game win over Natera 12,12 (this may have been 2,12; the handwriting on the draw is pretty scratchy). Either way, this is not the first time in 2019 that Portillo has beaten Natera in SLP on home soil.

In the final:
– #2 Portillo got one of the best wins of his career, topping #1 Parrilla (13),12,5 to take the event.

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This event was purportedly an IRT Tier 5 event, so the players will get a bit of a ratings bump ahead of next weekend’s IRT event in Oregon. It won’t be enough for Portillo to eclipse Samuel Murray for 8th place on the tour, but he’s well on his way to that goal.

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Next up! IRT Tier 1 action in Oregon, with one of the better events of the year.

International Racquetball Tour
RKT
Federación Mexicana de Raquetbol

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Abierto Nacional 2019 (Mexico City) Wrap-up

Estrada tops a solid field with a couple of good wins to take the title. Photo via US Open 2019, Photographer: Kevin Savory

Here’s a quick wrap up of the excellent RKT event held this past weekend in Mexico City, Mexico, which featured a solid set of top seeds of Mexican Nationals, a full 32-man Open draw, and a solid 15-team doubles draw.

R2 Sports App link:https://www.r2sports.com/tourney/home.asp?TID=31579

Even experienced fans may have had a tough time recognizing the bulk of the draw in this event; past the top 8 seeds there are not too many players who have appeared in pro events in the past, but the top seeds in this event made for a great saturday/sunday of action. Lets recap the action:

There were no real surprises in the round of 32.

In the 16s, just two close matches:
– #12 Jordy Alonso stretched #5 Ernesto Ochoa to a breaker before falling.
– #7 Oscar Nieto was taken to the limit by #10 Alejandro Romo Gonzalez advancing 11-10 to the quarters.

The quarters featured top-level racquetball by number of Mexico’s finest:
– #1 @Gerardo Gerardo Franco Gonzalez took out youngster Erick Cuevas 12,3. Franco had benefited from the rare double forfeit to basically get a bye into the quarters here.
– #5 Ochoa got a very solid win over #4 Alan Natera Chavez 11,4. Ochoa lost to Natera in a local Juarez event earlier this year, but turned the tides to take this solid win.
– #3 Javier Estrada had the most impressive win in the round, avenging a loss in the Juarez event earlier this year and topping the dangerous former WRT champ Alex Cardona 11,13 to move on. Since his Black Gold win, Estrada has struggled to maintain consistency in his results and could use a solid run of wins.
– #2 Javier Mar, the tourney favorite despite being seeded behind Franco, eased past NIeto 5,10 to setup an excellent semi against Estrada.

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In the semis, a couple of upsets and surprising results.

– #5 Ochoa continued his run of upsets, taking out #1 Franco in two solid games. Great tourney for Ochoa.

– #3 Estrada outlasted #2 Mar in an 11-8 tie-breaker. This is the best win Estrada has had since he took the Black Gold Cup.

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In the final, Estrada held off Ochoa’s attempts in game 2 to push the match to a tiebreaker and took the title 9,14.

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In the solid Doubles draw:

– Mar/Ochoa, as the 1 seeds, advanced to the final with a walkover win over Ruben Martinez/Romo in the semis.
– Franco/Cardona upset the #2 seeded team of Estrada/Natera 11-8 to make the final.

In the final, Cardona continued to show why he’s one of the best doubles players out there by helping his team to victory, winning 10,13.

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Great event, I hope they continue it and coordinate with the IRT next year so there’s not a scheduling conflict.

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RKT
Federación Mexicana de Raquetbol