Quick Facts
Biography
Sebastian Franco (born February 5, 1993) is an Colombian racquetball player. Franco is a former World Champion in Men's Doubles, winning the title in 2014 with Alejandro Herrera. Franco is a top 10 player on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT). He finished the 2015-16 IRT season ranked 9th.
International career
Franco won Men’s Doubles at the 2014 World Championships with Alejandro Herrera in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. They played the home country team of Canadians Mike Green and Vincent Gagnon in the final, winning 15-11, 15-5.
Franco and Herrera attempted to defend their gold medal on home soil at the 2016 World Championships, which was held in Cali, Colombia, but they lost in the semi-finals to Mexicans Alvaro Beltran and Javier Moreno, 15-2, 15-5.
Franco also represented Colombia at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, where he played Men’s Doubles with Herrera. They lost in the quarterfinals to Bolivians Conrrado Moscoso and Roland Keller, 8-15, 15-9, 11-6.
Franco and Herrera were also bronze medalists at the 2013 Bolivarian Games in Trujillo, Peru.
Professional career
Franco has made several firsts for a South American player on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT). He was the first South American in an IRT semi-final, when he reached the semis at the Krowning Moment Pro Invitational in San Marcos, Texas in October 2015, when he upset Daniel De La Rosa in the Round of 16, 2-11, 11-4, 11-6, 6-11, 11-7, and then beat Robert Collins, 12-15, 11-9, 11-5, 11-4, in the quarterfinals, to set up a semi-final match with Rocky Carson, which Carson won, 11-8, 11-3, 11-7.
Franco got to the semi-finals on three other occasions in the 2015-16 IRT season, and as a result he was ranked 9th at the end of the season, becoming one of the first South Americans to finish an IRT season in the top 10 (Mario Mercado of Bolivia was 10th that season).
Franco reached the quarterfinals of the US Open in 2016, which was the furthest a South American men’s player has reached in racquetball’s premier professional event. Franco and Mario Mercado also reached the quarterfinals of IRT Doubles at the 2016 US Open, losing to Jake Bredenbeck and Jose Diaz, 15-13, 10-15, 11-7.