Ben Croft

Ben Croft (born February 11, 1985) is an American racquetball player. Croft's a former racquetball World Champion, winning men's doubles in 2010 with Mitch Williams. His personal best ranking on the International Racquetball Tour was 3rd at the end of the 2010–11 season.[1] Croft has been in the top 10 every IRT season since he turned pro in 2007. He often dives to keep the ball in play, earning his nickname "Racquetball's Crash Test Dummy".

Ben Croft
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
Born (1985-02-11) February 11, 1985
Lake Forest, Illinois
Height5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Sport
SportRacquetball
College teamColorado State (Pueblo)
Turned pro2007
Achievements and titles
World finals1st Doubles (2010)
National finals1st Doubles (2007, 2010, 2012)
Medal record
Men's Racquetball
Representing  United States
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Burlington Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2010 Seoul Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2010 Seoul Team
Pan Am Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 San Pedro Sula Doubles

Professional career

Croft won the International Racquetball Tour's (IRT's) 2012 Salt Lake City Pro-Am,[2] defeating Álvaro Beltrán in the semi-finals and Rocky Carson in the final. He made his first IRT final at the Mexico Open, which was the last tournament of the 2009–10 season, and was also in the final of 2013 Florida Spring Break tournament and 2013 Tournament of Champions, losing both finals to Kane Waselenchuk.

International career

He has played on Team USA thrice. Croft won two gold medals at the 2010 World Championships, one in men's doubles[3] with Mitch Williams and the other in the men's team competition.[4] Croft and Williams also won gold at the 2009 Pan American Racquetball Championships.

Most recently, Croft played Men's Doubles with Tom Fuhrmann at the 2014 World Championships in Burlington, Ontario, where they lost to the Canadian team of Vincent Gagnon and Mike Green in the semi-finals, thus earning bronze medals.

As a junior player, Croft won the World Junior Racquetball Championship in Boy 18 and under twice: in 2003 and 2004.[5] He was the 4th player to win that category twice, and the previous three – Rocky Carson, Jack Huczek and Sudsy Monchik – went on and became #1 on the IRT.

USA career

Croft has won three US National Doubles titles: two with Williams, in 2007 and 2010, and most recently with Rocky Carson in 2012.[6]

He also holds the record for total Intercollegiate Titles with seven including three singles and four doubles titles from 2004 to 2007.

Personal

Croft attended Colorado State University in Pueblo, Colorado. Croft currently works at Racquetball Warehouse. He married Sarah Spinks in 2012. Their first child was born in 2014.

See also

References
  1. http://www.bossconsulting.com/irt/ IRT Historical Data Archive
  2. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-03-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Men's Doubles Open Gold Single Elimination - Racquetball - 15th IRF World Racquetball Championships 2010".
  4. "(MTOG) Men's Team Competition - Open Gold Single Elimination - Racquetball - 15th IRF World Racquetball Championships 2010".
  5. "RACQUETBALL – International Racquetball Federation – IRF". Archived from the original on 2009-02-08. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
  6. http://www.usaracquetball.com/RecordBooks/DoublesChampions.aspx
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