2024 Pan American Championships - Medal summary

The XXXV Pan American Championships wrapped up last Saturday in Guatemala City, so it’s high time we went through a summary of the results for you. Argentina and Mexico were the big winners, although they did it in different ways. Argentina won on the women’s side, while Mexico won on the men’s side. Argentina only had one man, and Mexico no women in Guatemala.

Argentina’s Maria José Vargas won three gold medals taking the singles, doubles and team titles. Her team-mate Natalia Mendez shared two of those gold medals, and also earned bronze in singles.

Mexican Rodrigo Montoya won two gold medals: one in singles and the other in the team event. Sebastian Hernández shared in the team medal, and they also got bronze in doubles.

Costa Ricans Andrés Acuña and Gabriel Garcia won gold in Men’s Doubles, and they were bronze medalists in the team event. Acuña also got bronze in singles.

Americans Sam Bredenbeck and Michelle Key won gold in Mixed Doubles, which was the first USA gold medal at Pan Am Championships since 2018, when Rhonda Rajsich won gold in Women’s Singles. The USA also took silver in the Men’s Team event - Jake and Sam Bredenbeck and Charlie Pratt - as well as in Women’s Doubles from Naomi Ros and Lexi York. Americans took three bronze medals too: men’s singles (Jake Bredenbeck), men’s doubles (Bredenbeck and Bredenbeck) and the women’s team event (Michelle Key, Ros and York).

Three other countries won silver medals: Canada with three, and Chile and the Dominican Republic with one each. A complete medal summary is below.

Upcoming events

The International Racquetball Federation (IRF) 2024 World Championships will be in San Antonio, Texas, August 23-31. That is also the qualifying event for the 2025 World Games that will take place in Chengdu, China, so players in singles will play down for all the qualifying spots.

Those qualifying spots will be to the country, rather than the specific individuals, as in years past. Thus, if an American qualifies 1st, that spot is to go to a player from the USA, but not necessarily the particular player who won that spot. Thus, if a player can’t go to the World Game for any reason, then another player from that country can go, rather than the country forfeiting the spot.

Additionally, racquetball at the 2025 World Games will include Mixed Doubles for the first time. Previously, racquetball competitions at the World Games have been singles only. The only exception to that was back in 1981 at the first World Games, when there were men’s and women’s doubles as well as singles.

The strong rumor is that the 2024 IRF World Junior Championships will be in Guatemala, which is a fine location for the event. It’s relatively easy to get to, and the distance between the club and hotel is not far. But Guatemala's selection hasn't been confirmed.

Finally, there were many good matches at this year’s Pan American Championships in Guatemala, and we encourage to watch some of them (or watch them again) via the IRF YouTube channel.

XXXV Pan American Racquetball Championships
Guatemala City, Guatemala - March 23-31, 2024

Women’s Singles

GOLD: María José Vargas (Argentina)
SILVER: Carla Muñoz (Chile)
BRONZE: Merynanyelly Delgado (Dominican Republic) and Natalia Mendez (Argentina)

Men's Singles

GOLD: Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico)
SILVER: Samuel Murray (Canada)
BRONZE: Andres Acuña (Costa Rica) and Jake Bredenbeck (USA)

Women's Doubles

GOLD: Natalia Mendez & Maria José Vargas (Argentina)
SILVER: Naomi Ros & Lexi York (USA)
BRONZE: Maria Cespedes & Merynanyelly Delgado (Dominican Republic) and Paula Mansilla & Carla Muñoz (Chile)

Men's Doubles

GOLD: Andrés Acuña & Gabriel Garcia (Costa Rica)
SILVER: Coby Iwaasa & Samuel Murray (Canada)
BRONZE: Sebastian Hernández & Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico) and Jake Bredenbeck & Sam Bredenbeck (USA)

Mixed Doubles

GOLD: Sam Bredenbeck & Michelle Key (USA)
SILVER: Coby Iwaasa & Juliette Parent (Canada)
BRONZE: Jaime Mansilla & Carla Muñoz (Chile) and Gerson Miranda & Natalia Mendez (Argentina)

Women's Team Event

GOLD: Argentina - Natalia Mendez & Maria Jose Vargas
SILVER: Dominican Republic - Maria Cespedes, Merynanyelly Delgado & Alejandra Jimenez
BRONZE: Chile - Paula Mansilla & Carla Muñoz
BRONZE: USA - Michelle Key, Naomi Ros & Lexi York

Men's Team Event

GOLD: Mexico - Sebastian Hernández & Rodrigo Montoya
SILVER: USA - Maria Cespedes, Merynanyelly Delgado & Alejandra Jimenez
BRONZE: Canada - Kurtis Cullen, Coby Iwaasa & Samuel Murray
BRONZE: Costa Rica - Andrés Acuña & Gabriel Garcia

Medal Summary

1) Argentina - 3 Gold, 0 Silver, 2 Bronze
2) Mexico - 2, 0, 1
3) USA - 1, 2, 3
4) Costa Rica - 1, 0, 2
5) Canada - 0, 3, 1
6) Chile - 0, 1, 3
7) Dominican Republic - 0, 1, 2

Follow the bouncing ball….

Argentina & Mexico win team event at 2024 Pan American Racquetball Championships

The top seeds won both the women’s and men’s team events on the final day of competition at the XXXV Pan American Championships in Guatemala City Saturday. Argentina defeated the Dominican Republic in two straight matches, while Mexico needed three matches to beat the USA.

In the first match of the women’s final, Argentina’s Natalia Mendez beat Dominican Alejandra Jimenez, 11-7, 11-4, 11-4, and then Maria Jose Vargas - who won the Women’s Singles title earlier in the week - defeated Merynanyelly Delgado, 11-4, 11-9, 8-11, 11-2, in what was a rematch of one of the women’s singles semi-finals that Vargas won in three straight games.

Delgado put in a strong performance on Saturday, and for a time had some people thinking that maybe there was a chance of an upset after she won game three. However, that was short lived, as Vargas took a 9-1 lead in game four, closing it out 11-2.

Veteran Charlie Pratt got things off to a good start for the USA in the men’s final, as he defeated Mexican Sebastian Hernández, 11-8, 12-14, 11-6, 11-8. However, Rodrigo Montoya levelled the final at 1-1 by beating Jake Bredenbeck, 11-4, 11-6, 11-3.

That meant a doubles match to break the tie, which Hernandez and Montoya won in three straight games against brothers Jake and Sam Bredenbeck, 11-9, 11-7, 11-2.

All five matches of the team event finals were live streamed, so you can watch them - or watch them again via the IRF YouTube channel.

XXXV Pan American Racquetball Championships
Guatemala City, Guatemala - March 23-31, 2024

Women's Team Event - Final Saturday

1) Argentina d. 3) Dominican Republic, 2-0 Natalia Mendez d. Alejandra Jimenez, 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 Maria Jose Vargas d. Merynanyelly Delgado, 11-4, 11-9, 8-11, 11-2

Men's Team Event - Final Saturday

1) Mexico d. 3) USA, 2-1 Charlie Pratt d. Sebastian Hernández, 11-8, 12-14, 11-6, 11-8 Rodrigo Montoya d. Jake Bredenbeck, 11-4, 11-6, 11-3 Hernández & Montoya d. Jake Bredenbeck & Sam Bredenbeck, 11-9, 11-7, 11-2

Follow the bouncing ball….

Dominican Republic, Argentina, Mexico and USA make team finals at 2024 Pan American Racquetball Championships

The Dominican Republic will have a chance to win gold in the Women’s Team event at the XXXV Pan American Championships in Guatemala City on Saturday, as they defeated Chile in the semi-finals on Friday. We believe this is the first time the Domincan has been in a team final. The Dominican’s opponent in the final will be top seeds Argentina. The Men’s Team final will be between two long time racquetball rivals: Mexico and the USA.

Both the Dominican and Argentinian women won their semi-finals in two straight matches. The 3rd seeded Dominican defeated 2nd seeds Chile, while Argentina beat the 4th seeded USA team.

In one semi-final, Dominican Alejandra Jimenez defeated Chilean Paula Mansilla, 11-5, 11-3, 6-11, 11-8, and then Merynanyelly Delgado and Maria Cespedes took out Mansilla and Carla Muñoz, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4, 11-6. In the other semi, Argentina’s Natalia Mendez defeated American Lexi York, 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-5, and then she and Maria Jose Vargas beat Naomi Ros and York, 11-4, 11-5, 11-5, which was the score line we were expecting when those two teams met in the Women’s Doubles final on Thursday, but which went to a tie-breaker before Argentina prevailed.

On the men’s side, both semi-finals needed three matches to decide the winner. In the Mexico-Canada semi, Mexican Sebastian Hernández somehow prevailed over Canadian Coby Iwaasa, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 16-14, 11-4, because it looked like Hernández was running on fumes in the second half of that match. Yet he fought off five match points in the fourth game to force a deciding fifth, which he won.

Iwaasa recovered and helped Samuel Murray beat Hernandez and Rodrigo Montoya in doubles, 11-3, 11-7, 11-7, and Canada never trailed in that match. The deciding match was between Montoya and Kurtis Cullen, who were meeting for the second time this tournament, having played in the group stage. This result was the same, as Montoya won in three straight games, 11-7, 11-8, 11-6.

Team USA veteran Charlie Pratt did his job by holding on to defeat Costa Rican Gabriel Garcia, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, in the first match of their semi-final. But Garcia and Andrés Acuña defeated brothers Jake and Sam Bredenbeck, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8, in the doubles match to set up a deciding singles match between Jake Bredenbeck and Acuña. Acuña won the first game, but Bredenbeck won the next three, finishing off the match with a drive serve ace to the right side, to win it, 6-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-5.

One men’s quarterfinal needed three matches, as Canada and Guatemala went the distance with Iwaasa and Murray defeating Edwin Galicia and Juan Salvatierra, 11-7, 13-11, 12-10.

In the women’s quarters, both Dominican Republic versus Costa Rica and Chile versus Guatemala needed three matches to decide the winner. In the deciding doubles matches, Dominicans Delgado and Cespedes beat Costa Ricans Larissa Faeth and Jimena Gomez, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6, while Chileans Paula Mansilla and Carla Muñoz defeated Anna Aguilar and Jazmin Aguilar, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7.

The team event begins at 10 AM Friday with the Men’s Team event going first. For draws, look to the R2 Sports website. Also, some of the matches are being streamed live, so check out the IRF Facebook page or the IRF YouTube channel for matches.

XXXV Pan American Racquetball Championships
Guatemala City, Guatemala - March 23-31, 2024

Women's Team Event - Quarterfinals Friday

1) Argentina d. 8) Cuba, 2-0 Natalia Mendez d. Samira Ferrer Marcilli, 11-5, 11-3, 11-2 Maria Jose Vargas d. Kylie Lardner, 11-5, 11-2, 11-3
4) USA d. 5) Canada, 2-0 Lexi York d. Juliette Parent, 8-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-6 Michelle Key d. Danielle Ramsay, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 12-10

Dominican Republic d. Costa Rica, 2-1 Larissa Faeth d. Alejandra Jimenez, 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7 Merynanyelly Delgado d. Jimena Gomez, 11-9, 11-2, 11-3 Delgado & Maria Cespedes d. Faeth & Gomez, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6
Chile d. Guatemala, 2-1 Paula Mansilla d. Jazmin Aguilar, 12-14, 14-12, 11-8, 11-3 Carla Muñoz d. Andrea Reyes, 11-4, 11-4, 10-12, 11-2 Paula Mansilla & Carla Muñoz d. Anna Aguilar & Jazmin Aguilar, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7

Women's Team Event - Semi-finals Friday

1) Argentina d. 4) USA, 2-0 Natalia Mendez d. Lexi York, 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-5 Mendez & Maria Jose Vargas d. Naomi Ros & York, 11-4, 11-5, 11-5

Dominican Republic d. Chile, 2-0 Alejandra Jimenez d. Paula Mansilla, 11-5, 11-3, 6-11, 11-8 Merynanyelly Delgado & Maria Cespedes d. Mansilla & Carla Muñoz, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4, 11-6

Women's Team Event - Final Saturday

1) Argentina v. 3) Dominican Republic 1st - Natalia Mendez v. Alejandra Jimenez 2nd - Maria Jose Vargas v. Merynanyelly Delgado 3rd - Mendea & Vargas v. Delgado & Maria Cespedes

Men's Team Event - Quarterfinals Friday

1) Mexico d. 8) Cuba - 2-0 Sebastian Hernández d. Maikel Moyet, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 Rodrigo Montoya d. Yandy Espinosa, 11-6, 11-6, 11-6
4) Canada d. 5) Guatemala - 2-1 Coby Iwaasa d. Juan Salvatierra, 10-12, 11-6, 8-11, 11-3, 11-7 Edwin Galicia d. Kurtis Cullen, 11-5, 11-8, 7-11, 13-11 Iwaasa & Samuel Murray d. Galicia & Salvatierra, 11-7, 13-11, 12-10

3) USA d. 6) Chile - 2-0 Charlie Pratt d. Rafael Gatica, 15-13, 11-7, 11-4 Jake Bredenbeck d. Jaime Mansilla, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-5

2) Costa Rica d. 7) Dominican Republic - 2-0 Gabriel Garcia d. Ramon De Leon, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 Andrés Acuña d. Jean Marco Pumarol, 11-8, 11-4, 11-1

Men's Team Event - Semi-finals Friday

1) Mexico d. 4) Canada - 2-1 Sebastian Hernández d. Coby Iwaasa, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 16-14, 11-4 Iwaasa & Samuel Murray d. Hernandez & Rodrigo Montoya, 11-3, 11-7, 11-7 Rodrigo Montoya d. Kurtis Cullen, 11-7, 11-8, 11-6

3) USA d. 2) Costa Rica, 2-1 Charlie Pratt d. Gabriel Garcia, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9 Andrés Acuña & Gabriel Garcia d. Jake Bredenbeck & Sam Bredenbeck, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8 Jake Bredenbeck d. Andrés Acuña, 6-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-5

Men's Team Event - Final Saturday

1) Mexico v. 3) USA 1st - Sebastian Hernández v. Charlie Pratt 2nd - Rodrigo Montoya v. Jake Bredenbeck 3rd - Hernández & Montoya v. Jake & Sam Bredenbeck

Follow the bouncing ball….