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2006 National Doubles Preview – Men’s Open

September 28th, 2006 by Geoff Thomsen

I think the Men’s Open draw at the 2006 USA Racquetball National Doubles Championships is the most exciting one I’ve seen in a while.  There should be some awesome matchups this weekend, with finalists from last year battling their way through the draw to earn that spot again.  There is no way I can talk about every matchup this early, so I’m just going to highlight some areas of my personal interest, and make some quarterfinal predictions.

  • Shawn Royster / John Ellis vs. Charlie Pratt / Sanjay Laforest – This should be a real showdown.  Pratt and Laforest played INCREDIBLE last year, almost earning a HUGE upset over Solis / Dunn (11-9 breaker).  Let’s see what a year of practice does for these up-and-comers (although they need over the #1 seeds to make a semi appearance)
  • Josh Tucker / Shane Vanderson – These guys have been moving up the IRT ranks quickly, but will have a good match against the doubles veterans Ganim and Bell.
  • Greg Solis / John Dunn vs. Dan Darling / Jason Samora – This is one match I’m to regret missing! Dan and Jason are my hometown boys, and GREAT players.  Will they have enough for a win against one of the best teams of all time?
  • Andy Hawthorne / Jeff Stark – This is one interesting matchup.  I’ve never seen Andy Play doubles, but these have the potential for a win against Thoerner / Williams.
  • Last but not least, the top seeds.  Rocky Carson / Jack Huczek and Mitch Williams / Jason Thoerner.  These guys have had some real battles the last two years, each time Carson / Huczek rising in the breaker.  Both teams have some STIFF competition in the early rounds, and another 3-gamer if they meet in the finals!

Predictions for the quarterfinals:

Q1: Huczek / Carson vs. Laforest / Pratt
Q2: Tucker / Vanderson vs. Ganim / Bell
Q3: Croft / Clouse vs. Darling / Samora (gotta pull for the hometown boys!)
Q4:  Thoerner / Williams vs. Hawthorne / Stark

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