Jose Rojas (racquetball)

Jose Rojas
Personal information
Nationality American
Born April 27, 1990
Stockton, California
Residence Stockton, California
Height 5'8"
Sport
Sport Racquetball
College team Delta College
Turned pro 2009
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking No. 3

Jose Rojas (born April 27, 1990) is a professional racquetball player. Rojas's highest ranking is #3 on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT), which he was at the end of the 2011-12 season.[1] At the end of 2013-14, Rojas was #4,[2] and his fifth time in the IRT top 10 at season's end.

Professional career

Rojas has two wins on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT). His latest was at the Kansas City Pro-Am in September 2013, when he defeated Rocky Carson in the final, 11-4, 11-5, 9-11, 3-11, 13-11, and more remarkably beat Kane Waselenchuk, in the semi-finals, 2-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4, which was Waselenchuk's first loss in a complete match since January 2009.[3]

Rojas's previous win was in February 2012 at the San Diego Open, when he beat Alvaro Beltran in the final. His only other finals appearance was at the 2013 New York City Pro-Am, which was a loss to Carson, 11-7, 11-9, 11-4.[4]

Rojas had an impressive start to his pro career, as he made it through qualifying in his first IRT event: the 2008 Motorola IRT World Championships in Denver before losing to Alvaro Beltran in the Round of 16. Later that season, Rojas made the semi-finals at the 2009 California Open before losing to Rocky Carson in four games.[4]

International Career

Rojas has been on Team USA five times. Most significantly, Rojas won gold in singles at the 2014 Pan American Championships by defeating Andres Parrilla of Mexico in the final, 15-4, 15-11, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia,[5] where he also earned a silver medal in doubles with David Horn after losing the final to Mexicans Daniel De La Rosa and Edson Martinez, 14-15, 15-12, 11-1.[6]

Rojas was part of the American gold medal team at the 16th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships, winning the final for the USA by defeating Kris Odegard, 15-14, 15-10, giving the USA a 2-0 win over Canada.[7] Also at the 2012 Worlds, Rojas earned a bronze medal in men's singles by reaching the semi-finals, where he lost to Polo Gutierrez of Mexico, 10-15, 15-12, 11-6.[8]

Rojas was a bronze medalist at the 2014 World Championships in Burlington, Ontario, where he lost to fellow American Rocky Carson, 15-8, 15-12, in the semi-finals.

Rojas's performance at Worlds in 2012 qualified him for the 2013 World Games, where he reached the semi-finals, losing to Gutierrez, 15-9, 8-15, 11-9, and dropping the 3rd place match to Carson, 15-12, 9-15, 11-5.

Rojas's first appearance on Team USA was at the 2008 Pan Am Championships in Costa Rica, where he played singles, losing in the quarter finals to Gutierrez, who was the silver medalist that year.[9]

As a junior player, Rojas won the IRF Junior World Boys U18 title twice, in 2008 and 2009.[10] He's one of only four players to do so, including Sudsy Monchik, Rocky Carson, Jack Huczek and Ben Croft.

USA Competitions

Rojas won the USA Racquetball National Doubles title in 2014 with Carson as his partner. They defeated Ben Croft and Tom Fuhrmann in the final, 12-15, 15-14, 11-3.[11]

Rojas won the USA Racquetball Boys U18 Championship three times: 2007, 2008 and 2009.[12] He also won the USA Racquetball U18 doubles title in 2008 with Jansen Allen and 2009 with Jose Serrano.[12]

Rojas attended Delta College and won the USA Racquetball collegiate men's title in 2009 and 2010, and in 2010 also took the doubles title with David Horn.[13]

Rojas is sponsored by Ektelon.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.theracquetballblog.blogspot.ca/2013/05/final-irt-rankings-for-2012-13.html"
  2. ↑ http://www.irt-tour.com/index.php/latest-rankings/2012-13-irt-rankings
  3. ↑ http://www.irt-tour.com/draws/2013_Draw_Kansas.pdf
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://www.bossconsulting.com/irt/ IRT Historical Data Archive
  5. ↑ https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6c9sdoswook98pz/xQs_jjoiWY/1-OPEN/Llave-Men%20Singles-2.pdf
  6. ↑ https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6c9sdoswook98pz/xptpDHH3oq/1-OPEN/Llave-Men%20Doubles-2.pdf
  7. ↑ Racquetball Canada. "Press Release". SIRC. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  8. ↑ IRF. "IRF Junior World Records". IRF. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  9. ↑ PARC. "2008 Pan Am Championship Men's Draw". R2 Sports. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  10. ↑ IRF. [est-1989.aspx "IRF Junior World Records"]. IRF. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  11. ↑ http://www.r2sports.com/tourney/drawsOut/view-bracket.asp?leftFrame=&TID=11203&divID=1416&combinedID=0&print=&fromPage=&highlightMatchNum=&drawVar=&message=
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 USA Racquetball. "USA Racquetball Junior Olympic Champions". USA Racquetball. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  13. ↑ The Racquetball Blog. "USAR Intercollegiate Champions Summary". The Racquetball Blog. Retrieved 22 June 2012.