Thursday, May 2, 2013

IRT - 2013 Stockton Pro-Am Preview

The International Racquetball Tour (IRT) is completing a back-to-back this weekend with the Stockton Pro-Am in Stockton, California. Like last weekend's Ektelon Tournament of Champions in Portland, Oregon, Stockton has a long history of racquetball excellence, including many home grown players, such as John Ellis and Jose Rojas.

The first Stockton men's pro tournament was in 1983, when Ed Andrews beat Scott Oliver for the title. The event happened 22 years in a row ending in 2004, and then it was restarted last year, when current IRT #1 Kane Waselenchuk defeated Alvaro Beltran in the final.

Cliff Swain's six tournament wins are the most in Stockton. His first Stockton win was in 1986 against Marty Hogan, and his last was 18 years later in 2004, when he defeated Beltran in the final.

Beltran has the distinction of most runner-up finishes in Stockton, as he's been the runner-up in the last five Stockton tournaments. Beltran reached the final in 2001 and 2002, losing those to Jason Mannino, 2003 (Jack Huczek), 2004 (Swain) and 2012 (Waselenchuk).

Sudsy Monchik was runner up on four occasions, but also won three times. He and Swain have the most finals appearances in Stockton with seven each.

(note: records are taken from the IRT Historical Data Archive, which doesn't have results for 1987 and 1988, although those events clearly happened based the naming of the events, as 1984 was the 4th and 1989 was the 7th Stockton event; it's possible the tournament happened but was not an IRT event)

Qualifying rounds

Cliff Swain is back in Stockton, as he's in the qualifying rounds on Thursday. Swain will first face Armando Bermudez, and a win there would put him against Jose Diaz, one of the up and coming Stockton players. The winner of that will face Ben Croft in the Round of 16 on Friday.

The other match that interests us is left-hander Brad Schopieray against David Horn, which could happen in the last round of qualifying with the winner to claim a spot in the 16s against Rocky Carson.

The IRT Network will be web-cast the final round of qualifying Thursday night and then the Round of 16 beginning at 10 AM PDT Friday morning.

2013 Stockton Pro-Am, Stockton, California
Qualifying Rounds

Round 1


Justin Ivers v. Jimmy Oliver
Jose Daniel Ugalde v. Jose Daniel Alvarez
Connor Laffey v. Joe Adler
Christian Chavez v. Fernando Rios

Round 2

Arthur Schmeiser v. Mauro Rojas
Charlie Pratt v. Justin Ivers or Jimmy Oliver

Tim Prigo v. Robert Collins
Cliff Swain v. Armando Bermudez

Jansen Allen v. Jose Daniel Ugalde or Jose Daniel Alvarez
Francisco Troncoso v. Diego Crespo

Sebastian Franco v. Ismael Aldana
Juan Herrera v. Connor Laffey or Joe Adler

Mike Orr v. James Swift
Jose Serrano v. Ryan Meyer

Brad Schopieray v. Christian Chavez or Fernando Rios
David Horn v. Ralph Comer

Round 3

Q8: Arthur Schmeiser or Mauro Rojas v. Charlie Pratt or Justin Ivers or Jimmy Oliver
Q1: Alex Ackermann v. Tim Prigo or Robert Collins

Q4: Jose Diaz v. Cliff Swain or Armando Bermudez
Q5: Jansen Allen or Jose Daniel Ugalde or Jose Daniel Alvarez v. Francisco Troncoso or Diego Crespo

Q6: Juan Herrera or Connor Laffey or Joe Adler v. Sebastian Franco or Ismael Aldana
Q3: Daniel De La Rosa v. Mike Orr or James Swift

Q2: Marco Rojas v. Jose Serrano or Ryan Meyer
Q7: Brad Schopieray or Christian Chavez or Fernando Rios v. David Horn or Ralph Comer

Main Draw - Round of 16

Kane Waselenchuk v. Q8
Jose Rojas v. Q1

Ben Croft v. Q4
Chris Crowther v. Q5

Alvaro Beltran v. Q6
Javier Moreno v. Q3

Andy Hawthorne v. Q2
Rocky Carson v. Q7

Follow the bouncing ball....

No comments: