Where’s Kane?
It looks like contract negotiations hit a snag for Kane this past weekend. No signed sponsor = no playing on the tour … when will he be back?
January 23rd, 2006 by Geoff Thomsen
IRT Rumor Mill – Kane’s Contract
Unless Jack Huczek beats Kane Waslenchuk in the finals of the New York City Pro-Am (thus widening the gap in his number one tour rank), the biggest news of the event just may be Kane’s new racquet. Much speculation surfaced after Kane missed the last stop – the most popular rumor being that Kane didn’t play due “contract negotiations” being held (i.e. no sponsor). Could another manufacturer be signing racquetball’s number one player?
January 19th, 2006 by Geoff Thomsen
Kane’s crazy diving!
Lot’s of great action at the 2005 US Open Racquetball Championships .. Kane had a little more incentive to move around the court this year – opponents ready to take the win!
Kane was making some pretty amazing shots, and his gets were incredible! My favorite by far was one he did a few times throughout the tournament. Diving for a shot into the back right corner, Kave would “flick” his racquet around to actually hit the ball to the front wall (although it had already passed him). In the post below, there is a great view of that dive from the front court. Here is one from the back:
December 8th, 2005 by Geoff Thomsen
IRT Pro Doubles draws are up
The stage is set for Men’s Pro Doubles Racquetball this weekend in Chicago. Should be some very interesting matches, as you don’t usually see four of these guys on a court at a time.
From IRT-Tour.com :
The IRT pros will converge on Schaumburg Illinois October 28-30 at the STP club to test their skills in the first pro doubles event in 5 years on the tour. The event will also offer singles divisions for men.women and juniors. Many of the top ranked professionals will be playing the event . Look for the likes of Kane Waselenchuk and Mike Guidry, Jack Huczek and Rocky Carson, Cliff Swain and Alvaro Beltran, Shane Vanderson and Josh Tucker to name a few.The racquetball fans of Chicago and the Midwest will be treated to some great doubles. Entry forms are available on the IRT site. Just click on the tournament link on the front page. We look forward to seeing you at the event!!
Check back for updates!
From http://www.irt-tour.com:
UPDATE OCT 29TH 2:00AM
TOP SEEDS ADVANCED TO THE SEMIFINALS OF THE CHICAGO OPEN IRT PRO DOUBLES
All the top seeds advanced tonight in Chicago with relative ease in the first three matches of the evening . After a little scare in the first game winning 12-10 Swain/Beltran settled down to defeat Minor/Amatulli in three games. Keith Minor of KWM Gutterman Intl. is a sponsor of the event and very active in keeping racquetball alive in the Chicagoland area as is John Amatulli. The next match up featured tour commissioer Dave Negrete and fitness specialist to the pros, Eugene Coyle against Jack Huczek and Rocky Carson. After handling the commssioner’s trash talking Carson turned on the heat as did Huczek to win in three straight. No fines were issued. The next match featured an odd team of lefties, the best in the world Kane Waselenchuk and multiple US doubles champion Mike Guidry versus two time 18 and under world junior champion Ben Croft and one of the IRT ’s top 12 Andy Hawthorne. Kane showed why his is the best in the world and Guidry held up the left side to defeat Team Ektelon in three games. The last match of the evening proved to be the best as Team Head was well represented with Shane Vanderson and Josh Tucker adavncing over Jason Thoerner and Kyle Veenstra in a five game battle. This was the match of the night and the crowd showed their emotions coming to their feet numerous times thoughout the match.
The semifinals will begin at noon central with Swain/Beltran vs. Guidry/Waselenchuk and in the 1pm match Vanderson/Tucker vs. Carson/Huczek. The finals will held at 7:30pm Saturday evening.
1 comment October 27th, 2005 by Geoff Thomsen
Jack takes Ontario!
UPDATE: Video streams and DVDs are now available at www.proracquetball.net for several of the matches from Ontario! In his second upset in a row, Jack Huczek beats Kane Waselenchuk in the first Tier 1 event of the season. This is actually the second event in a row Jack has claimed victory, as he also beat Kane in the final event of last season. Full write-up at www.irt-tour.com. In local news, Dan Darling follows up his first ORA (Oregon Racquetball Association) Tour stop Men’s Open title with a second title at the Courthouse Legends Event (results). More info: www.oregonracquetball.org. If anyone saw any of these matches, or anything of the Legends, post some comments!!
1 comment October 18th, 2005 by Geoff Thomsen
Update!
OK, long enough with no updates!
IRT: Kane Waselenchuk maintains his healthy lead in the IRT point standings with a win over Huczek in both New York and Virginia, but has been on a brief hiatus missing the San Diego and Boston pro stops. Jack Huczek takes advantage of Kane’s absence with a win in Boston over Shane Vanderson. Cliff Swain proves the 2004 US Open was no fluke by working through a tough draw in San Diego which included a win over Vanderson in the finals.
IRT Top Three: Waselenchuk, Huczek, Swain
IRT Events: April – Pro Nationals, Chicago; May – Players Championships, Dallas
LPRA: Christie Van Hees storms back from her injury at the US Open with wins in Stockton and Nashville to establish her LPRA ranking of #1. Rhonda Rajsich takes a win in Miami over LPRA Tour up-and-comer Angela Grisar.
LPRA Top Three: Van Hees, Gudinas, RajsichLPRA Events: May – Wilson Pro Nationals
COLLEGIATES: University of Alabama (2nd Mens, 1st Women’s, 1st Team) and Brigham Young University (3rd Men’s, 2nd Men’s, 2nd Team) are the bigger winners at the 2005 USA Racquetball Intercollegiates. I went to Oregon State back in the day (4th Men’s, 4th Women’s, 4th Team), so they get a plug too =)
HIGH SCHOOL: Congrats to Oregon Teams Catlin Gable, Beaverton High, and Sprague High for taking 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in final standings at the 2005 USA Racquetball High Schools. Complete team results are here.
April 14th, 2005 by Geoff Thomsen
Kane Wins New York
Well, #1 ranked Kane Waselenchuk continued his US Open cakewalk with a win in New York this weekend. While the preliminary rounds resulted in dominating victories as in the 2004 US Open, Jack Huczek changed things up in the finals where each of the five games were decided by a mere two points. DRAWS from meetandplay.com, RE-CAP from Vin on meetandplay.com, RE-CAP from Dave Negrete on www.irt-tour.com, and news byte from Slam! Sports.
January 23rd, 2005 by Geoff Thomsen
