Congrats to your winners on the weekend:
– Boys #1 Gold Singles: Antonio Rojas
– Girls #1 Gold Singles: Annie Roberts
– Boys #1 Doubles:Darren Lee/Vedant Chauhan,
– Girls #1 Doubles: Annie Roberts/Kelsey Klinger
– Boys Team winner: St. Louis University HS, St. Louis MO
– Girls Team Winner: Barlow HS, Gresham OR
– Overall Team winner: Sprague HS, Salem OR
Special mention to Barlow’s coach Brian Ancheta, who was named HS Coach of the year.
Roberts wins her 3rd straight #1 title, Rojas wins his second straight. Roberts the double winner on the weekend. With these wins, both players qualify for the US Junior National team for 2020.
R2 Sports App home page for event: https://www.r2sports.com/portfolio/r2-event.asp?TID=31700
Reminder: no High School data in the database online. This is a recap as a fan of the game 🙂
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Lets review the Boys #1 Singles draw.
All top 8 seeds advanced to the quarters, mostly in two straight dominant games. #7 Rory Lampe was stretched to a breaker by #10 Nick Schulze in the round’s closest match.
In the Quarters
– The #1 and #3 seeds (and pre-tourney favorites) each advanced in two quick games.
– The #2 seed Vedant Chauhan took a closer two game win 9,8 over #7 Lampe.
– The sole upset of the round came in the 4/5; Stockton’s Julius Ellis took out #4 Cody Boucher 11-5 in the breaker to move into the semis.
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In the Semis
– #1 Rojas dominated his friend and frequent playing NorCal playing partner #5 Ellis 1,5 to move into the final.
– #3 Prasad took out his rival #2 Chauhan in a tie-breaker to move into the final.
In the Finals, the beginning of the match made it seem like it would be a blow-out win for Rojas, whose pace and shot selection is amazingly advanced for a 17yr old. But the 14-yr old Prasad made the adjustments needed to not only get back into game one but to make it a close match. So close that it went 11-10.
But the way it GOT to 11-10 was … well pretty amazing. Prasad came out swinging in the tiebreaker and was up 7-1 and then 10-2 … Rojas came all the way back, the two traded serves three times at 10-10, appeals, kill shots, everything. Leo Ray Vasquez called it “the best match he’s ever commentated.” Rojas on his 4th match point hit an ace serve to end it. Pretty amazing. I highly suggest watching the tie-breaker online (all video is available by going to USA Racquetball’s facebook home page).
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Lets review the Girls #1 Singles draw.
The top 8 seeds advanced to the quarter finals.
In the Quarters
– the top 2 seeds advanced in two games.
– The #3 and #4 seeds were both upset. #5 Erin Slutzky dominated #4 Arya Cyril 3,2 to move on, while Texas’ #6 Shane Diaz took an 11-9 win over #3 Stocktonian Alondra Canchola.
In the Semis
– #1 Roberts beat #5 Slutzky in two solid games 9,10
– #2 Mahoney cruised over #6 Diaz 6,9 to make her first final.
In the Finals, Roberts made it three titles in a row with a dominant win over her younger junior national teammate 3,11. Roberts dominated with great pace and accuracy on her drive serves and really controlled the tempo of the match.
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Next up?
LPRT in Boston this coming weekend, then IRT in Chicago the next.
International Racquetball Tour
LPRT
International Racquetball Federation – IRF
USA Racquetball