Three tie-breakers & two upsets at the 2018 IRT Shamrock Shootout

The quarterfinals of the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) Shamrock Shootout in Lombard, Illinois had three tie-breakers and two upsets, as the 1st and 3rd seeds bowed out. Andree Parrilla was the giant killer, as he took down top seed Rocky Carson in three games, 15-12, 14-15, 11-8.

Parrilla will play Samuel Murray in the semi-finals, as Murray defeated Charles Pratt, 15-14, 15-7, in the quarters. Parrilla will be in only his 2nd career semi-final. He won that semi, getting to his first final at last year’s Shamrock Shootout, when he lost to Kane Waselenchuk in the final. Clearly, Parrilla plays well in Lombard.

Murray has played in three semis, but has yet to win one. He’ll try to change that in Lombard.

David Horn upset 3rd seed Alvaro Beltran, 15-3, 6-15, 11-10, in what was his sixth career quarterfinal appearance. The win was Horn’s first in a quarterfinal, so he’ll be in the semi-finals for the first time.

Standing between Horn and the final is 2nd seed Daniel De La Rosa, who won a close match against Ben Croft, 14-15, 15-14, 11-5.

Thus, there were four good matches in the quarterfinals in Lombard. Let’s hope that competitiveness continues throughout the remainder of the tournament.

The semi-finals will be at 5 PM and 7 PM Saturday, and can be seen on the IRT Network, and also check out the IRT FaceBook page. The final will be noon Sunday. All times central.

2018 IRT Shamrock Shootout, March 15-18, 2018
Lombard, Illinois

Quarterfinals - Saturday

Andree Parrilla d. 1) Rocky Carson, 15-12, 14-15, 11-8
5) Samuel Murray d. Charles Pratt, 15-14, 15-7

David Horn d. 3) Alvaro Beltran, 15-3, 6-15, 11-10
2) Daniel De La Rosa d. Ben Croft, 14-15, 15-14, 11-5

Semi-finals - Saturday

5) Samuel Murray v. Andree Parrilla - 7 PM
2) Daniel De La Rosa v. David Horn - 5 PM

IRT Doubles - Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa v. 4) Alejandro Landa & Samuel Murray - 8 PM
2) Jansen Allen & Felipe Camacho v. 3) Sebastian Franco Mario Mercado or 6) Adam Manilla & Nicholas Riffel - 9 PM

Follow the bouncing ball….