The 2007 One Shot Orange County Open

Fountain Valley Ca.- Los Caballeros Sports and Racquet Club was the host for the One Shot Orange County Open in southern California. The club is a beautiful complex offering everything from tennis to gymnastics as well as 14 racquetball courts.

This event would showcase the largest draw amateur that southern California has seen in recent years. The men’s pro draw also was very large and had some great locals battling on Thursday afternoon through the evening. The main IRT draw would be lacking Cliff Swain who recently started a new business venture, the bar/restaurant Lucky’s @ 951 in Naples Florida. This will be Cliff’s last year full time on the IRT. Also missing was Sudsy Monchik who is still nursing a back injury suffered at the US OPEN.

Qualifying rounds began at 3:00pm and event director and One Shot proprietor Son Nguyen played his heart out losing a tough battle to Terry Durham. Terry’s brother Tom also played in the later round and also moved on. These two young players from Fresno are very talented. Former tour stand out Greg Thomas was back to see how much things have changed in five years and played well losing to Ruben Gonzalez Another tough player from Northern California, Jason Samora, made his mark in the qualifying draw winning two tough matches before being taken out by Ben Croft. Tucson transplant Tom Furhmann also played some great ball in the early rounds before losing to Juan Herrera in four. The Herrera brother’s Juan and Andres moved into the main draw and Alejandro

(No relation) made it a Herrera trifecta as Colombia’s best continue to play some good hard nosed racquetball. John Ellis’s last appearance here was a pro national title in 2002 and he continued his winning ways here at Los Cab on the IRT taking out Willie Tilton in a tough five gamer to move on to the main draw. Japan’s Hiroshi Shimizu played well as did Andy Hawthorne who ran into a tough Midwest player John Goth. University of Colorado Pueblo star Ben Croft moved on taking out Jason Samora. All in all it was a great night of racquetball here in Orange County.

The round of sixteen-match ups look like this

11:30 Jason Mannino vs. Andres Herrera

Ben Croft vs. Chris Crowther

12:30 Jack Huczek vs. John Ellis

Andy Hawthorne vs. Shane Vanderson

1:30 Rocky Carson vs. Juan Herrera

Alejandro Herrera vs. Mitch Williams

2:30 Ruben Gonzalez vs. Alvaro Beltran

Jason Thoerner vs. Hiroshi Shimizu

All matches Pacific Time

The Round of Sixteen

The round of sixteen went off without much a hitch as the entire top seeds advanced in three straight games with the exception of the Thoerner Shimizu match, which ended in four. Ruben Gonzalez continues to entertain the crowd and the racquetball fans hitting some great shots in his loss to Alvaro Beltran. Alvaro had some large fan support here in the OC as did Rocky Carson and Jason Mannino all California residents. Jack Huczek looked very sharp in his first round as he took out John Ellis in three. The event staff here at the Orange County Open is a good one as the amateur side of the draw with well over 200 players kicked off at 2:00pm

The Quarterfinal match ups look like this:

5:30 Jason Mannino over Chris Crowther 6 (3) 9 7

6:30 Jack Huczek over Shane Vanderson 3 4 4

7:30 Rocky Carson over Mitch Williams 6 2 4

8:30 Jason Thoerner over Alvaro Beltran 9 9 9

All pacific time

The Quarterfinals

The first match of the night featured 2006 US OPEN champion Jason Mannino and Chris Crowther. The rust showed in the first game as both players had some unusual unforced errors; Mannino would outlast Chris in the first 11-6. Crowther would catch fire in game two and not miss a shot and killed everything Jason hit at him winning 11-3. Mannino though, used his experience and did not let that affect his game plan as he stayed on course and Chris would eventually cool down and Mannino would move into the semi’s here at Los Cab winning the last two game 11-9 and 11-7.

The second match of the evening in front of a packed house showcased number one Jack Huczek against Shane Vanderson. Shane battled the best he could battling a flu bug but just did not have it tonight. Jack would not let up and pushed Shane to the limit and taking the victory in three straight 3 4 4. Jack will move on to meet the winner of the Beltran/Thoerner match.

Match number three saw local favorite Rocky Carson facing off against Mitch Williams. Rocky took full advantage of the large fan base here and the home court cracks as he played some great ball taking out Mitch in three straight. Rocky was sporting his new “colors” in full Ektelon gear. Ektelon’s hierarchy Scott Winters and Andy Roberts were in attendance to watch Rocky’s debut for Ektelon. Mitch still continues to show improvement each time he steps on the court and will be a true force on the IRT in the near future. Rocky will take on Jason Mannino in Saturday’s semi-final.

The last match of the evening had another crowd favorite Alvaro Beltran ready to bang it with Jason Thoerner. Jason had struggled the first half of the season and even in his round of sixteen match earlier in the day against Japan’s Hiroshi Shimizu. Beltran on the other hand has been playing some great ball in the first half. Most predicted a three game win in Beltran’s favor but Thoerner came out and played some inspired ball. Taking full advantage of any Beltran miscue, Jason would pull off the upset in three straight close games 9, 9, and 9, to move into his first semi-final of the season. Jason will meet Jack Huczek on Saturday.

Saturday’s semi-finals will look like this

4:00pm #2 Jason Mannino over #3 Rocky Carson 4 9 5

6:00pm #1 Jack Huczek 5 (7) 2 8 #6 Jason Thoerner

All pacific time

The Semi-finals

The house was full as fans were turned away from the sold out stands for the first match of the afternoon, Jason Mannino against Rocky Carson. Both players had some great fan support as each player lives in the area. Jason looked very focused as he pursues his quest for the year-end number one ranking and Rocky looked ready for battle with his family and new sponsor in attendance. Today however would be all Mannino. Jason played some flawless ball and his backhand was right on. Rocky struggled to find a rhythm but never did. This would be all Mannino sporting his new One Shot clothing 4 9 5.

Match number two would showcase number one Jack Huczek celebrating his 24^th birthday and upset minded Jason Thoerner. Thoerner has pushed Huczek in the past and this day Jason would again. Jack kept the pressure on Thoerner moving him around the court and forcing Jason to hit the big shots, which he did very well game two however in the rest of the match it would be Jack hitting the big shot. Huczek in the end would be too much as he completed a hard earned birthday gift with a win 5 (7) 2 8.

It will be a rematch of the great US OPEN semifinal pitting #1 Jack Huczek against #2 Jason Mannino at high noon pacific time in sunny Southern California!!!!

The Finals

A rematch of the US OPEN semi final match that the fans were still talking about took place on Sunday. After the presentation of the colors by the Coast Guard these two players got ready to battle. Jason would come out smoking in the first game making no errors and capitalizing on any set up Jack would hit. Jack would stay within himself and keep grinding away. Keeping the pressure on Jason the next three games to see if Jason could keep up the near flawless racquetball that he was playing seemed to be Jack strategy. Jack kept his focused and eventually would come out on top for his fifth IRT win in six events this season and avenging his loss to Mannino at the Open with a four game win here at Los Cab (3) 4 8 7. The capacity crowd was treated to some fantastic racquetball on Sunday and let the players know it with a long standing ovation upon completion of the match.

Side notes:

Hats of to the great event staff of Deby Pierce, Ryan Schnieder, Greg Solis, Craig Lane and event director Son Ngyuen. They ran a great event and all the players and fans had a great weekend of racquetball, food and fun.

Thanks to Rob Hoff for helping out with the sponsorship of the Outdoor event pitting the IRT players against the WOR players. The IRT did not fair well but had a great time outside in the California sun playing ball.

Big hats off to Orlando Mayo and his wife Lisa for bringing the professional aspect of sound and music to the OC Open. Orlando made the tournament a true “sporting event”

Special thanks to Mike Martinez at Pro Kennex for helping get Los Cab on board with brining the IRT here and donating prizes for all the winners. Thanks for your support of the game.

Thanks you to Ektelon, Scott Winters and Andy Roberts for sponsoring the Saturday party and for their continue support of the IRT and its players.

Son Ngyuen your dedication to the sport both indoors and out is tough to match. The IRT appreciates all that you do for its players as a well as the sport. It was a pleasure working with you and your racquetball family in Orange County.

What a great club to host an event at – Los Cab!! Thanks Mike Kane GM for letting us come in and take over for a weekend. The club is a great one and we look forward to coming back next year.

A few former pro’s stopped by over the weekend and looked great and in shape. Dave Johnson, Tin Doyle and Andy and David Gross.

Northern California will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future on the IRT, as the talent level there is tremendous.

Big thanks to Peggine Tellez for lending support from the CRA.

Lastly, thanks to all those who helped out with supporting the event financially. Your support is what keeps the ball rolling!!!

IRT Pro's Mitch Williams and Shane Vanderson trying the outdoor game against Ruben Gonzalez and Rob Hoff

Rocky Carson skills clinic sponsored by Ektelon

Shane Vanderson hard hit contest presented by Head Penn Racquet Sports
Ruben Gonzalez with the fans in OC