The International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Senior Racquetball Championships are underway in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This event began in 1985, and received IRF designation in 1989. Current results are available in Excel files via the IRF website.
One hundred and sixty nine players from seven countries are taking part. Of the 169 players, 48 are women (28%) and 121 are men (72%). That's well below 50% but it's a higher percentage of women participants than at many other racquetball tournaments.
Women's participation in racquetball is something that concerns us, because they are half the population, so we definitely want to see more of them participating in the game. Women can certainly have as much fun playing racquetball as guys.
However, women's participation in tournaments is a concern to the extent that that reflects their participation in the sport overall. In the 2008 Lewis Drugs tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, only 15 of the 161 players (9.3%) were women, which is a shockingly low participation rate.
Furthermore, low participation can also be seen in junior tournaments. For example, the 2008 California State Junior Championships had seven girls in 47 total players (14.9%). Girls' participation was higher in the U.S. Junior Olympics, where 22% of the players were girls (48 of 211 players), but that's still not very high.
It's great that World Seniors has almost a 30% women's participation rate, but it's disturbing that girls' participation in junior tournaments is lower. We need to have more women, especially younger women, playing racquetball.
Curiously, women's participation in racquetball in Korea is 60% (reported on the IRF website). We're not sure why it's so high there, but it's great to see. Maybe the rest of the world could learn something from Korea.
Because if women's overall participation in racquetball isn't addressed, it'll put the sport a worse place than Bugs Bunny's wrong turn at Albuquerque.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Happy 26th Birthday Karina Odegard!
You were a prodigal player, winning Canadian Junior National titles every year between 1992 and 1999, including wins in both Girls 16 and under and 18 and under categories in '98 and '99. You were still eligible to play Junior Nationals in 2000 and 2001, but chose not to.
By that point, you'd already appeared on the Canadian National Team. You won silver medals at the 2000 and 2002 World Championships in women's doubles playing with Amanda MacDonald. In 2000 when you were just 17, you and MacDonald took Americans Kersten Hallander and Kim Russell to a tie-breaker before losing 11-7.
You struck gold with Lori-Jane Powell at the 2002 Pan American Championships. But that would be the second last of your five appearances on Team Canada.
Because despite your considerable success - winning your age category at Junior Worlds 7 of 8 times between 1991 and 1998 as well as three Junior Worlds doubles titles, and two Canadian National doubles titles with MacDonald in 2000 and 2002 - you retired following the 2004 Canadian Nationals.
Many people argue that "juniors are the future of racquetball!" but we know that's simply not so. It may be that future champions will have been good players when they were juniors (two guys named Huczek and Vanderson won boys' Junior Worlds titles in a two of the years you won girls' titles, and they've done all right for themselves), but that's not the same thing as pinning future adult racquetball participation on those who are now junior players.
Because we know that most of the junior racquetball players will stop playing once they become adults. This isn't a racquetball phenomenon; it happens across sports. Once people get to be 18 or 19, their lives change and many of the things that they were doing prior to that age drop away or are replaced with other things.
And that's why, in addition to junior racquetball programs, racquetball needs adult racquetball programs, perhaps especially women's racquetball programs, to attract new players to the game and encourage those who are already playing to continue their participation. Perhaps such programs can entice some of those juniors who stopped playing to come back to racquetball.
We doubt we'll see you come back, Karina, although we'd welcome it, and at a mere 26 years of age - we can hardly believe you're only 26! - time wouldn't prevent a comeback. However, we're happy that you did play racquetball, even if you decided to leave it behind, and we hope that wherever you are, you're having a happy birthday.
By that point, you'd already appeared on the Canadian National Team. You won silver medals at the 2000 and 2002 World Championships in women's doubles playing with Amanda MacDonald. In 2000 when you were just 17, you and MacDonald took Americans Kersten Hallander and Kim Russell to a tie-breaker before losing 11-7.
You struck gold with Lori-Jane Powell at the 2002 Pan American Championships. But that would be the second last of your five appearances on Team Canada.
Because despite your considerable success - winning your age category at Junior Worlds 7 of 8 times between 1991 and 1998 as well as three Junior Worlds doubles titles, and two Canadian National doubles titles with MacDonald in 2000 and 2002 - you retired following the 2004 Canadian Nationals.
Many people argue that "juniors are the future of racquetball!" but we know that's simply not so. It may be that future champions will have been good players when they were juniors (two guys named Huczek and Vanderson won boys' Junior Worlds titles in a two of the years you won girls' titles, and they've done all right for themselves), but that's not the same thing as pinning future adult racquetball participation on those who are now junior players.
Because we know that most of the junior racquetball players will stop playing once they become adults. This isn't a racquetball phenomenon; it happens across sports. Once people get to be 18 or 19, their lives change and many of the things that they were doing prior to that age drop away or are replaced with other things.
And that's why, in addition to junior racquetball programs, racquetball needs adult racquetball programs, perhaps especially women's racquetball programs, to attract new players to the game and encourage those who are already playing to continue their participation. Perhaps such programs can entice some of those juniors who stopped playing to come back to racquetball.
We doubt we'll see you come back, Karina, although we'd welcome it, and at a mere 26 years of age - we can hardly believe you're only 26! - time wouldn't prevent a comeback. However, we're happy that you did play racquetball, even if you decided to leave it behind, and we hope that wherever you are, you're having a happy birthday.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Not so ancient Chinese wisdom
Qiu Zhonghui, the first Chinese woman to win a sports world championship when she won the 1961 table tennis title said something that struck us as relevant to racquetball. She was commenting on the prospect of China sweeping the gold medals in ping-pong (ping-pong is Mandarin for table tennis, so that's what the sport's called in China).
Qiu said "I am a patriot, but if China always wins, athletes from other countries lose interest. You just end up playing yourself. I think it's good for sport if China does not win everything." (from "Ping-Pong's long legacy" by Rod Mickleburgh, The Globe and Mail, August 23, 2008, p. S5).
We couldn't have said it any better ourselves. And certainly not in Mandarin.
Follow the bouncing ball....
Qiu said "I am a patriot, but if China always wins, athletes from other countries lose interest. You just end up playing yourself. I think it's good for sport if China does not win everything." (from "Ping-Pong's long legacy" by Rod Mickleburgh, The Globe and Mail, August 23, 2008, p. S5).
We couldn't have said it any better ourselves. And certainly not in Mandarin.
Follow the bouncing ball....
Friday, August 22, 2008
Happy 35th Birthday Mike Green!
You've been the dominant men's racquetball player in Canada for most of the past decade, winning Canadian championships in singles in 2002-04, 2006 and 2008 as well as doubles titles in 2000 and 2004-07.
During your most active period on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) you worked your way up to be the 8th ranked player at the end of the 2003-04 IRT season.
Furthermore, you've been selected 19 times to play for Canada - the most for a Canadian man - beginning with the 1996 Pan American Championships. You won the 1999 Pan American Championships in singles and were a part of three World Championship men's gold medal teams (1996, 2000, 2002) as well as the overall team gold medal in 2000.
Earlier this month, you got to the quarter finals at the IRF World Championships, losing to Alvaro Beltran, but in so doing qualified for next year's World Games in Taiwan.
But looking forward to the time of the 2010 World Championships in Korea and the 2011 Pan American Games in Mexico, which are expected to include racquetball, you'll be in your late 30s, so we wonder whether you'll be a part of those teams.
We wouldn't bet against that, but if the rumours of Brian Istace's retirement, who's your current doubles partner, are true, then perhaps now is the time to recruit one of the good young Canadian players as a doubles partner, so as to continue your international career.
During your most active period on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) you worked your way up to be the 8th ranked player at the end of the 2003-04 IRT season.
Furthermore, you've been selected 19 times to play for Canada - the most for a Canadian man - beginning with the 1996 Pan American Championships. You won the 1999 Pan American Championships in singles and were a part of three World Championship men's gold medal teams (1996, 2000, 2002) as well as the overall team gold medal in 2000.
Earlier this month, you got to the quarter finals at the IRF World Championships, losing to Alvaro Beltran, but in so doing qualified for next year's World Games in Taiwan.
But looking forward to the time of the 2010 World Championships in Korea and the 2011 Pan American Games in Mexico, which are expected to include racquetball, you'll be in your late 30s, so we wonder whether you'll be a part of those teams.
We wouldn't bet against that, but if the rumours of Brian Istace's retirement, who's your current doubles partner, are true, then perhaps now is the time to recruit one of the good young Canadian players as a doubles partner, so as to continue your international career.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Brilliant new USA Racquetball website feature
We don't know about you - really, we don't; we're non-judgmental that way - but sometimes we wonder about our place in the world. Like, where exactly do we stand here?
This can be very difficult to determine, leaving us to wonder things like "what did she mean by that?", or "do these shorts make us look fat?", or "where exactly do we rank in the racquetball world?"
Thankfully, the USA Racquetball site allows us to answer at least the last of those questions, and even better it will show us how we got that rank.
Recently, the USA Racquetball association rankings have been integrated with tournaments entered on the R2Sports site, so a player's "Match history" is listed below their current rank. This helps you to remember all those glorious victories and agonizing defeats.
But that's not all.
The match history has hot links to your opponents, as well as to the relevant tournament draw page on the R2Sports site. Thus, you can check out who your opponents played after you bounced them to the consolation side or who they played in the final after they squeaked by you in the semis.
Moreover, you can also use it to scout upcoming matches to see who your future opponent has played. This can be very useful if you're playing a tournament out of town and aren't familiar with the other people in your draw.
For example, you might find yourself matched up against, say, Dave Negrete, to pick a name at random. You can plunk his name into the rankings page, click "Submit" and voila! You'll see that Negrete's current rank is 605 with a winning percentage of 92.31%. Impressive.
This great feature of the USA Racquetball site hasn't been widely publicized; we didn't see any mention of it in the most recent USA Racquetball magazines. But it's so cool to click from one player to another in a 'match history' to see how players have done in their other matches that we want to tell you about it.
We're not as obsessed with our ranking as we used to be, but like all tournament players we're not above caring about it. Heck, everyone who plays tournaments is at least somewhat competitive - otherwise, why bother entering tournaments? - so everyone has some interest in their ranking. The beauty of adding the match history is that it increases the transparency of the rankings by making players' tournament records more easily available.
Furthermore, USA Racquetball has plans to increasingly use the R2Sports system, which will allow for more timely ranking updates. Currently, rankings are usually updated monthly, but hopes are that a greater use of R2 will allow for weekly updates.
So, now we can know where we stand in the racquetball world, and how we got there.
Follow the bouncing ball....
This can be very difficult to determine, leaving us to wonder things like "what did she mean by that?", or "do these shorts make us look fat?", or "where exactly do we rank in the racquetball world?"
Thankfully, the USA Racquetball site allows us to answer at least the last of those questions, and even better it will show us how we got that rank.
Recently, the USA Racquetball association rankings have been integrated with tournaments entered on the R2Sports site, so a player's "Match history" is listed below their current rank. This helps you to remember all those glorious victories and agonizing defeats.
But that's not all.
The match history has hot links to your opponents, as well as to the relevant tournament draw page on the R2Sports site. Thus, you can check out who your opponents played after you bounced them to the consolation side or who they played in the final after they squeaked by you in the semis.
Moreover, you can also use it to scout upcoming matches to see who your future opponent has played. This can be very useful if you're playing a tournament out of town and aren't familiar with the other people in your draw.
For example, you might find yourself matched up against, say, Dave Negrete, to pick a name at random. You can plunk his name into the rankings page, click "Submit" and voila! You'll see that Negrete's current rank is 605 with a winning percentage of 92.31%. Impressive.
This great feature of the USA Racquetball site hasn't been widely publicized; we didn't see any mention of it in the most recent USA Racquetball magazines. But it's so cool to click from one player to another in a 'match history' to see how players have done in their other matches that we want to tell you about it.
We're not as obsessed with our ranking as we used to be, but like all tournament players we're not above caring about it. Heck, everyone who plays tournaments is at least somewhat competitive - otherwise, why bother entering tournaments? - so everyone has some interest in their ranking. The beauty of adding the match history is that it increases the transparency of the rankings by making players' tournament records more easily available.
Furthermore, USA Racquetball has plans to increasingly use the R2Sports system, which will allow for more timely ranking updates. Currently, rankings are usually updated monthly, but hopes are that a greater use of R2 will allow for weekly updates.
So, now we can know where we stand in the racquetball world, and how we got there.
Follow the bouncing ball....
Monday, August 18, 2008
WPRO website redesign
The Women's Professional Racquetball Organization website has been redesigned. There isn't a splash page anymore, so you'll go straight to the home page. The design is cleaner with the information on each page usually fitting into the browser window, so there's almost no need for scrolling down to see information.
Some of the links on the top navigation bar are empty ("Media," "Links" and "Coaches Corner"), so there's still some work to do on the site. That's not a big concern.
However, we are concerned that there's nothing in the way of history or past records on the site. There's not even a listing of last season's results. That's a big deal, because how can the casual fan or a media person answer questions like: How many tournaments did Rajsich win last season? Gudinas Holmes? Did anyone else win tournaments last season?
Where else are we to get this information if not from the WPRO web site?
But in general, the new WPRO site design looks good.
Some of the links on the top navigation bar are empty ("Media," "Links" and "Coaches Corner"), so there's still some work to do on the site. That's not a big concern.
However, we are concerned that there's nothing in the way of history or past records on the site. There's not even a listing of last season's results. That's a big deal, because how can the casual fan or a media person answer questions like: How many tournaments did Rajsich win last season? Gudinas Holmes? Did anyone else win tournaments last season?
Where else are we to get this information if not from the WPRO web site?
But in general, the new WPRO site design looks good.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
2008-09 IRT Season Preview
The beginning of a new International Racquetball Tour (IRT) season is only a month away. The Motorola Racquetball World Championships presented by Verizon Wireless will kick off the 2008-09 IRT season in Denver, Colorado from September 17th to 21st. Most of the matches will be played on the new Lucite court that will be set up in the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver.
Using the Lucite court is a major move for the IRT, and it brings racquetball to the public in a new way. Racquetball events - even Tier 1 or Grand Slam events on the IRT or Women's Professional Racquetball Organization tour - almost exclusively attract people who already know about racquetball, typically because they play the sport.
But if racquetball is going to grow, it needs to attract more people, including people who don't play. Consider that many people who watch sporting events don't play those sports (and maybe never did), but that doesn't stop them from being fans of those sports.
Racquetball can only benefit from having more fans. Bringing the game to potential fans by setting up a racquetball court to showcase the game in public places can only benefit the game.
On Court
But what to expect on court this season? Last season, Rocky Carson emerged as the player to beat. He won 7 of the 14 IRT main events, including two of the three Grand Slam events - the 2007 Motorola World Championship and the US Open - and for the first time in his career, finished the season ranked number 1.
Carson followed that up this summer by winning the World Outdoor Racquetball (WOR) Championships in California and the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championship in Kingscourt, Ireland. Carson is the first player to be WOR Champion, and IRF World Champion, as well as IRT #1.
Carson may be the player to beat this season, but Jack Huczek's not far behind. Huczek won 6 of the 14 IRT main events last season, including the season ending Pro Nationals. Huczek was the number 1 IRT player prior to Carson and surely wants that spot back.
The only other players to reach finals last season were Jason Mannino, who won the Kansas event and was a finalist in Toronto and Seattle, and Alvaro Beltran, who was in the finals of last year's Motorola World Championships.
The Wildcard
The wildcard in the mix is Kane Waselenchuk, who's two year ban from racquetball for a positive drug test ended in May. Prior to his ban, Waselenchuk was the number 1 IRT player, which included a dominant season in 2004-05 when he won 8 of the 12 tournaments he entered.
There's a great deal of speculation as to how Waselenchuk will play when he returns to the tour. He gave some indication of that in June, when he played in the Greenville Open in South Carolina (an IRT satellite event) and won the event defeating Carson in the final and Beltran in the semi-final.
Although he's missed two years, Waselenchuk is only 27, younger than Carson or Beltran who are both 29, or Mannino who's 33. With Carson having a break through season at an older age (he'd only won three IRT main events prior to his seven wins last season), there's no reason to think that age will hold Waselenchuk back.
Summary
With Carson and Huczek so close, Waselenchuk's return, as well as Mannino, Beltran and improvement from other players like Ben Croft, Shane Vanderson, and Mitch Williams, the 2008-09 IRT season should be one of the most interesting seasons in years.
Follow the bouncing ball....
Some statistics taken from Boss Consulting.
Using the Lucite court is a major move for the IRT, and it brings racquetball to the public in a new way. Racquetball events - even Tier 1 or Grand Slam events on the IRT or Women's Professional Racquetball Organization tour - almost exclusively attract people who already know about racquetball, typically because they play the sport.
But if racquetball is going to grow, it needs to attract more people, including people who don't play. Consider that many people who watch sporting events don't play those sports (and maybe never did), but that doesn't stop them from being fans of those sports.
Racquetball can only benefit from having more fans. Bringing the game to potential fans by setting up a racquetball court to showcase the game in public places can only benefit the game.
On Court
But what to expect on court this season? Last season, Rocky Carson emerged as the player to beat. He won 7 of the 14 IRT main events, including two of the three Grand Slam events - the 2007 Motorola World Championship and the US Open - and for the first time in his career, finished the season ranked number 1.
Carson followed that up this summer by winning the World Outdoor Racquetball (WOR) Championships in California and the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championship in Kingscourt, Ireland. Carson is the first player to be WOR Champion, and IRF World Champion, as well as IRT #1.
Carson may be the player to beat this season, but Jack Huczek's not far behind. Huczek won 6 of the 14 IRT main events last season, including the season ending Pro Nationals. Huczek was the number 1 IRT player prior to Carson and surely wants that spot back.
The only other players to reach finals last season were Jason Mannino, who won the Kansas event and was a finalist in Toronto and Seattle, and Alvaro Beltran, who was in the finals of last year's Motorola World Championships.
The Wildcard
The wildcard in the mix is Kane Waselenchuk, who's two year ban from racquetball for a positive drug test ended in May. Prior to his ban, Waselenchuk was the number 1 IRT player, which included a dominant season in 2004-05 when he won 8 of the 12 tournaments he entered.
There's a great deal of speculation as to how Waselenchuk will play when he returns to the tour. He gave some indication of that in June, when he played in the Greenville Open in South Carolina (an IRT satellite event) and won the event defeating Carson in the final and Beltran in the semi-final.
Although he's missed two years, Waselenchuk is only 27, younger than Carson or Beltran who are both 29, or Mannino who's 33. With Carson having a break through season at an older age (he'd only won three IRT main events prior to his seven wins last season), there's no reason to think that age will hold Waselenchuk back.
Summary
With Carson and Huczek so close, Waselenchuk's return, as well as Mannino, Beltran and improvement from other players like Ben Croft, Shane Vanderson, and Mitch Williams, the 2008-09 IRT season should be one of the most interesting seasons in years.
Follow the bouncing ball....
Some statistics taken from Boss Consulting.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Missing and inaccurate information on websites
The final results from IRF World Championships are finally on the IRF website, although it's four days after the conclusion of the competition. They confirm what The Racquetball Blog speculated: Bolivia finished second overall in the team competition, which is a fantastic result for them and international racquetball in general.
However, it is troubling that only the top four teams are listed in the results of the team competition, when 25 teams were competing. What was the order for the rest of the teams?
Thus, the IRF site is missing some of the information from Worlds, even four days after the end of the competition. However, the information isn't inaccurate. There is inaccurate information on the USA Racquetball site regarding Worlds.
The USA Racquetball site states "nearly 200 players representing 30 countries competed" at the World Championships. That's incorrect. One hundred and sixteen (116) from 25 countries competed in Ireland. Few people would describe 116 as "nearly 200."
Participation at the Worlds Championships can be found on the R2Sports site for Worlds, which is linked to the USA Racquetball home page. Note, the participant total is listed as 153, but each country's entry in the men's or women's team competition (of which there are 37) is counted in that 153.
The promotion of any event requires the timely distribution of accurate information regarding that event. If information is not distributed quickly, then it fails to be timely and people won't care. If the information distributed is inaccurate, then people will judge the event poorly and everyone associated with it.
To properly promote racquetball events, racquetball organizations need to convey information about those events accurately and in a timely fashion. This may be more important for a small sport like racquetball than big sports, because the big sports have independent media at their events that can get the word out, which racquetball generally doesn't have.
Being an independent media source for racquetball was one of the reasons that The Racquetball Blog was started.
Follow the bouncing ball....
However, it is troubling that only the top four teams are listed in the results of the team competition, when 25 teams were competing. What was the order for the rest of the teams?
Thus, the IRF site is missing some of the information from Worlds, even four days after the end of the competition. However, the information isn't inaccurate. There is inaccurate information on the USA Racquetball site regarding Worlds.
The USA Racquetball site states "nearly 200 players representing 30 countries competed" at the World Championships. That's incorrect. One hundred and sixteen (116) from 25 countries competed in Ireland. Few people would describe 116 as "nearly 200."
Participation at the Worlds Championships can be found on the R2Sports site for Worlds, which is linked to the USA Racquetball home page. Note, the participant total is listed as 153, but each country's entry in the men's or women's team competition (of which there are 37) is counted in that 153.
The promotion of any event requires the timely distribution of accurate information regarding that event. If information is not distributed quickly, then it fails to be timely and people won't care. If the information distributed is inaccurate, then people will judge the event poorly and everyone associated with it.
To properly promote racquetball events, racquetball organizations need to convey information about those events accurately and in a timely fashion. This may be more important for a small sport like racquetball than big sports, because the big sports have independent media at their events that can get the word out, which racquetball generally doesn't have.
Being an independent media source for racquetball was one of the reasons that The Racquetball Blog was started.
Follow the bouncing ball....
World Games - Racquetball Qualifiers & Website
The 2008 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland served as the qualifying event for the 2009 World Games to be held next July in Kaohsiung, Chines Taipei. The top 16 finishers in men's and women's singles qualified to play in Taipei.
Those players - in order of finish - are :
Men:
1. Rocky Carson (USA)
2. Jack Huczek (USA)
3. Vincent Gagnon (Canada)
4. Alvaro Beltran (Mexico)
5. Polo Gutierrez Sortes (Mexico)
6. Fernando Rios (Ecuador)
7. Michimune Kono (Japan)
8. Mike Green (Canada)
9. Victor Montserrat (Catalonia, Spain)
10. Ricardo Monroy (Bolivia)
11. Felipe Camacho (Costa Rica)
12. Takaaki Hirose (Japan)
13. Jorge Zamprana (Bolivia)
14. Ivan Villegas (Costa Rica)
15. Leonel Simo (Dom. Republic)
16. Luis Perez (Dom. Republic)
17.* Dany Maggi (Argentina)
18.* Sebastian Roessler (Chile)
19.* Marcelo Laprea (Venezuela)
20.* Sang Soo Lee (Korea)
Women :
1. Rhonda Rajsich (USA)
2. Cheryl Gudinas Holmes (USA)
3. Paola Longoria (Mexico)
4. Jennifer Saunders (Canada)
5. Angela Grisar (Chile)
6. Josée Grand'Maître (Canada)
7. Toshiko Sakamoto (Japan)
8. Susana Acosta (Mexico)
9. Yazmine Sabja (Bolivia)
10. Harumi Kajino (Japan)
11. Maria Paz Munoz (Ecuador)
12. Fabiola Marquez (Chile)
13. Jenny Daza (Bolivia)
14. Cristina Cordova (Ecuador)
15. Jung Eun Ane (Korea)
16. Vivianna Reveron (Venezuela)
17.* Christina Amaya (Columbia)
18.* Mariana Paredes (Venezuela)
19.* Jeong Ae Lee (Korea)
20.* Ciara McManamon (Ireland)
If one of the 16 qualifiers is not able to compete in Taipei, then the next qualifying player would go. Thus, qualifications go to the player, not the country. For example, if Carson or Huczek can't make it to Taipei, then Dany Maggi would qualify - even though Maggi isn't from the same country as Carson or Huczek.
Thus, we're listing players in the 17-20 places, because it's possible some of them will still get a chance to participate in the World Games.
If you check out the World Games website, it's their symbol for racquetball above, you'll see it's a curious collection of events. Some of them are familiar to North Americans (squash, say), and some aren't (korfball anyone?). Some of them will seem like they could be Olympic sports some day, and others not so much (tug of war?).
Nonetheless, this is a step up the ladder in international recognition for racquetball, and we're happy to see it.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Racquetball in the Olympics?
Assuming that you aren't living under a rock, and if you're reading this on-line, then that's probably unlikely - though mobile technology has made great strides, so... - you're likely aware that this little thing called the Olympic Games is going on in Beijing, China.
Yes, Virginia, it's that time of the quadrennial. The time athletes spend the rest of the quadrennial preparing for.
Also assuming that you're a fan of racquetball, and people reading something called "The Racquetball Blog" probably are, then you may be thinking to yourself "why isn't racquetball in the Olympics?" or "how can we get racquetball into the Olympics?" Short answers to those questions are (i) because not enough people play racquetball, and (ii) get more people playing racquetball, specifically more people playing in more countries.
Understand that at an international level, sport is political. If you're trying to get your sport into a multi-sport event, such as the Olympics, people are going to ask "who plays the sport?" or "where is it played?" Anyone looking at racquetball would answer "North America" and "North Americans."
That's a problem, because if there's a global vote on whether your sport gets in an event and you can't count on much support outside of one continent, which doesn't have many countries on it, then you're going to have a difficult time winning that vote. Considering it from the viewpoint of the Olympic rings, racquetball only has one of those rings covered. That's not enough.
Moreover, consider that one country really dominates racquetball competitions. We'd be surprised if any Olympic sport has been dominated in, say, the last decade by one country in the way that racquetball has been dominated by the USA. Such domination makes it difficult to argue that racquetball is an international sport.
Furthermore, that the USA is the dominant racquetball country makes it worse, because no one outside the United States wants to see Americans get more Olympic medals. Really. They don't. It's nothing personal, just one of those "don't you people have enough already?" kind of things.
If racquetball was in the Olympics, that would mean probably at least four more American medals - assuming four events (men's and women's singles and doubles competitions) - and there could easily be more. Four might be enough to make a difference in medal totals between China and the USA at the end of this Olympics. If so, how do you think China would feel about racquetball being in the Games?
If you're an American, you may think this is out of line. But consider that after Beijing the Olympics is going to drop two sports for the 2012 Games in London. Those sports are baseball and softball, both American games - primarily.
The United States for all of its international influence really hasn't exported its games very well. Britain, which was a colonial power, took its games of football (that's soccer to you, Yankee), cricket, rugby and squash around the world, such that those games are generally more popular than any American game.
Cricket and rugby are both played on several continents, and their world cups are huge events involving multiple nations, unlike say baseball's World Series. It's a similar story with squash, and with the 2012 Olympics in London, don't be surprised if squash is included, which would give it an advantage over racquetball, even in North America. Squash is played in many more countries than racquetball and there is no dominant squash nation, as there is in racquetball.
Racquetball is a small sport, and the dream of all small sports is to be big sports. The main claim to being a big sport is being in the Olympics. It's such a big deal, that even sports that are big - like golf - want in.
The International Racquetball Federation has done a great job getting racquetball in the World Games for 2009, and racquetball will likely be back in the Pan American Games in 2011, when the event will be in Mexico. But consider that for the 2007 Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro racquetball was dropped, because the local committee didn't want to include it (Brazil is perhaps the only country in the Americas where racquetball is not played), and you can understand how hard it is to get a small sport into a multi-sport event.
Thus, while we'd love to see racquetball in the Olympics, and certainly think it's as deserving as many sports that are already included, we're pessimistic about the likelihood of seeing it happen any time soon.
Of course, we'd be happy to be wrong about this. The Bolivian break through at the World Championships was tremendous, because it was the first time a team from a South American nation finished in the top three overall. That's the kind of result racquetball needs if it's going to be a truly international sport.
Yes, Virginia, it's that time of the quadrennial. The time athletes spend the rest of the quadrennial preparing for.
Also assuming that you're a fan of racquetball, and people reading something called "The Racquetball Blog" probably are, then you may be thinking to yourself "why isn't racquetball in the Olympics?" or "how can we get racquetball into the Olympics?" Short answers to those questions are (i) because not enough people play racquetball, and (ii) get more people playing racquetball, specifically more people playing in more countries.
Understand that at an international level, sport is political. If you're trying to get your sport into a multi-sport event, such as the Olympics, people are going to ask "who plays the sport?" or "where is it played?" Anyone looking at racquetball would answer "North America" and "North Americans."
That's a problem, because if there's a global vote on whether your sport gets in an event and you can't count on much support outside of one continent, which doesn't have many countries on it, then you're going to have a difficult time winning that vote. Considering it from the viewpoint of the Olympic rings, racquetball only has one of those rings covered. That's not enough.
Moreover, consider that one country really dominates racquetball competitions. We'd be surprised if any Olympic sport has been dominated in, say, the last decade by one country in the way that racquetball has been dominated by the USA. Such domination makes it difficult to argue that racquetball is an international sport.
Furthermore, that the USA is the dominant racquetball country makes it worse, because no one outside the United States wants to see Americans get more Olympic medals. Really. They don't. It's nothing personal, just one of those "don't you people have enough already?" kind of things.
If racquetball was in the Olympics, that would mean probably at least four more American medals - assuming four events (men's and women's singles and doubles competitions) - and there could easily be more. Four might be enough to make a difference in medal totals between China and the USA at the end of this Olympics. If so, how do you think China would feel about racquetball being in the Games?
If you're an American, you may think this is out of line. But consider that after Beijing the Olympics is going to drop two sports for the 2012 Games in London. Those sports are baseball and softball, both American games - primarily.
The United States for all of its international influence really hasn't exported its games very well. Britain, which was a colonial power, took its games of football (that's soccer to you, Yankee), cricket, rugby and squash around the world, such that those games are generally more popular than any American game.
Cricket and rugby are both played on several continents, and their world cups are huge events involving multiple nations, unlike say baseball's World Series. It's a similar story with squash, and with the 2012 Olympics in London, don't be surprised if squash is included, which would give it an advantage over racquetball, even in North America. Squash is played in many more countries than racquetball and there is no dominant squash nation, as there is in racquetball.
Racquetball is a small sport, and the dream of all small sports is to be big sports. The main claim to being a big sport is being in the Olympics. It's such a big deal, that even sports that are big - like golf - want in.
The International Racquetball Federation has done a great job getting racquetball in the World Games for 2009, and racquetball will likely be back in the Pan American Games in 2011, when the event will be in Mexico. But consider that for the 2007 Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro racquetball was dropped, because the local committee didn't want to include it (Brazil is perhaps the only country in the Americas where racquetball is not played), and you can understand how hard it is to get a small sport into a multi-sport event.
Thus, while we'd love to see racquetball in the Olympics, and certainly think it's as deserving as many sports that are already included, we're pessimistic about the likelihood of seeing it happen any time soon.
Of course, we'd be happy to be wrong about this. The Bolivian break through at the World Championships was tremendous, because it was the first time a team from a South American nation finished in the top three overall. That's the kind of result racquetball needs if it's going to be a truly international sport.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
World Championships - Bolivia Breaks Through!
It seems Bolivia has made a major breakthough in the team event at the 14th IRF Racquetball World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland, although the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) hasn't released official final team standings yet.
However, here's what it looks like based on what can be gleamed from the results on R2Sports:
Women's Team Standings
1. USA
2. Bolivia
3. Canada
4. Chile
5. Mexico
6. Japan
7/8. Korea/Venezuela
9. Ecuador
10. Germany
11/12. Guatemala/Ireland
The improvement from two years ago on the women's side was Bolivia - who moved up from 6th two years ago to 2nd this year - and that was directly at the expense of Japan - who was down from 3rd to 6th, as Boliva defeated Japan in the quarter finals. (note: we didn't see results for a 7/8 playoff or 11/12 playoff, so those teams are listed together).
Men's Team Standings
1. USA
2. Mexico
3. Canada
4. Bolivia
5. Costa Rica
5. Japan
5. Venezuela
5. Ecuador
There are no results for a 5-8 playoff on the R2Sports site that we can see, which is why we've put a four way tie at number 5. Nevertheless, both Japan and Ecuador improved their standing from the 2006 Worlds by getting into the quarter finals.
But the big event was Bolivia breaking through to the semi-finals, which was at the expense of Venezuela, who they beat in the quarter-finals.
Overall Team Standings
Pending an IRF official release the overall standings are uncertain. USA was certainly number 1. But who's number two is unclear.
It could be either Bolivia, with a 2nd in women's and a 4th in men's (average of 3.0), or Canada, which finished 3rd in each (average of 3.0). Mexico probably wasn't 2nd overall, as they were 2nd in men's and 5th in women's for an average of 3.5.
Assuming Bolivia is 2nd or 3rd, it will mark the first time since 1986 that a country other than the USA, Canada or Mexico has finished in the top three. In 1986, the overall order was USA in first, Canada second, Japan third and Mexico fourth.
If Bolivia is 2nd overall, it'll be the first time a country outside the Big Three hasn't been second. In fact, it would be the first time Canada hasn't been 1st or 2nd overall since they began participating in Worlds in 1984. In 1981, Mexico was second to the USA.
This is a huge achievement for the Bolivian team, and a good thing for racquetball.
However, here's what it looks like based on what can be gleamed from the results on R2Sports:
Women's Team Standings
1. USA
2. Bolivia
3. Canada
4. Chile
5. Mexico
6. Japan
7/8. Korea/Venezuela
9. Ecuador
10. Germany
11/12. Guatemala/Ireland
The improvement from two years ago on the women's side was Bolivia - who moved up from 6th two years ago to 2nd this year - and that was directly at the expense of Japan - who was down from 3rd to 6th, as Boliva defeated Japan in the quarter finals. (note: we didn't see results for a 7/8 playoff or 11/12 playoff, so those teams are listed together).
Men's Team Standings
1. USA
2. Mexico
3. Canada
4. Bolivia
5. Costa Rica
5. Japan
5. Venezuela
5. Ecuador
There are no results for a 5-8 playoff on the R2Sports site that we can see, which is why we've put a four way tie at number 5. Nevertheless, both Japan and Ecuador improved their standing from the 2006 Worlds by getting into the quarter finals.
But the big event was Bolivia breaking through to the semi-finals, which was at the expense of Venezuela, who they beat in the quarter-finals.
Overall Team Standings
Pending an IRF official release the overall standings are uncertain. USA was certainly number 1. But who's number two is unclear.
It could be either Bolivia, with a 2nd in women's and a 4th in men's (average of 3.0), or Canada, which finished 3rd in each (average of 3.0). Mexico probably wasn't 2nd overall, as they were 2nd in men's and 5th in women's for an average of 3.5.
Assuming Bolivia is 2nd or 3rd, it will mark the first time since 1986 that a country other than the USA, Canada or Mexico has finished in the top three. In 1986, the overall order was USA in first, Canada second, Japan third and Mexico fourth.
If Bolivia is 2nd overall, it'll be the first time a country outside the Big Three hasn't been second. In fact, it would be the first time Canada hasn't been 1st or 2nd overall since they began participating in Worlds in 1984. In 1981, Mexico was second to the USA.
This is a huge achievement for the Bolivian team, and a good thing for racquetball.
World Championships - USA Wins Team Titles
DATELINE - AUGUST 9, 2008
Once again, Team USA has won the men's and women's team championships at the 14th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships. The American women won all three of their matches against Boliiva, but the men's team needed victories by both its singles players to stop Mexico from winning their first men's title.
The USA has won the women's team title every year since 1984, although this is the first year that their final opposition was not Canada.
Cheryl Gudinas Holmes got the US women off to a good start by defeating Yazmine Sabja, 15-4, 15-12. Then Rhonda Rajsich followed that up with a victory over Jenny Daza, 15-4, 15-2.
They also played the doubles match, although the outcome had been decided. Aimee Ruiz and Jacqueline Paraiso, the reigning World Champions, beat Jenny Daza and Carola Loma, 15-5, 15-3, to make it a sweep.
In the men's final, Jack Huczek started things off well for the USA by beating Polo Gutierrez Sortes, 15-3, 15-5. However, the Mexican doubles team of Gilberto Mejia and Javier Moreno leveled the final by defeating Jason Thorener and Mitch Williams, 15-11, 15-3.
The doubles win was a measure of revenge for the Mexicans, as Thoerner and Williams had beaten Mejia and Moreno for the Men's Doubles World Championship earlier in the week.
Thus, the final's outcome came down to Alvaro Beltran and Rocky Carson, who had beaten Beltran in the semi-finals en route to winning the World Championship in men's singles earlier in the week.
When two closely matched players or teams play each other in a short period, they often split the matches, as was the case with the American and Mexican doubles teams. However, Carson managed to defeat Beltran for the second time in a week, although he needed a tie-breaker to do it, winning 15-9, 5-15, 11-5.
It's the third consecutive men's title for the USA, and together with the women's victory, it's the fourth consecutive time the USA has taken the overall title at the IRF World Championships.
In the third place matches, Canada took third in both women's and men's competitions. On the women's side, Canadians Genevieve Broduer and Véronique Guillemette won the decisive match against Chile, by defeating Angela Grisar and Fabiola Marquez, 15-12, 15-6, after the singles matches had been split.
Josée Grand'Maître defeated Marquez, 15-10, 15-10, and Grisar beat Jennifer Saunders, 15-4, 15-12, to set up the deciding match.
On the men's side, Mike Green got things off to a good start for Canada by defeating Bolivian Jorge Zambrana, 15-14, 15-7, but Ricardo Monroy evened the score for Bolivia by beating Kris Odegard, 15-14, 15-10.
Thus, the doubles match was again the deciding factor. François Viens and Vincent Gagnon carried the day for Canada by disposing of Roland Keller and Ricardo Monroy, 15-8, 15-8.
In 2010
The IRF announced that South Korea will be site of the 15th IRF Racquetball World Championships in 2010. It will be second time for South Korea to host Worlds. The competition was there in 2002. This is a sign racquetball is growing in South Korea, which can only be good for the game.
Draws for the 14th IRF Racquetball World Championships are available at R2Sports.
Once again, Team USA has won the men's and women's team championships at the 14th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships. The American women won all three of their matches against Boliiva, but the men's team needed victories by both its singles players to stop Mexico from winning their first men's title.
The USA has won the women's team title every year since 1984, although this is the first year that their final opposition was not Canada.
Cheryl Gudinas Holmes got the US women off to a good start by defeating Yazmine Sabja, 15-4, 15-12. Then Rhonda Rajsich followed that up with a victory over Jenny Daza, 15-4, 15-2.
They also played the doubles match, although the outcome had been decided. Aimee Ruiz and Jacqueline Paraiso, the reigning World Champions, beat Jenny Daza and Carola Loma, 15-5, 15-3, to make it a sweep.
In the men's final, Jack Huczek started things off well for the USA by beating Polo Gutierrez Sortes, 15-3, 15-5. However, the Mexican doubles team of Gilberto Mejia and Javier Moreno leveled the final by defeating Jason Thorener and Mitch Williams, 15-11, 15-3.
The doubles win was a measure of revenge for the Mexicans, as Thoerner and Williams had beaten Mejia and Moreno for the Men's Doubles World Championship earlier in the week.
Thus, the final's outcome came down to Alvaro Beltran and Rocky Carson, who had beaten Beltran in the semi-finals en route to winning the World Championship in men's singles earlier in the week.
When two closely matched players or teams play each other in a short period, they often split the matches, as was the case with the American and Mexican doubles teams. However, Carson managed to defeat Beltran for the second time in a week, although he needed a tie-breaker to do it, winning 15-9, 5-15, 11-5.
It's the third consecutive men's title for the USA, and together with the women's victory, it's the fourth consecutive time the USA has taken the overall title at the IRF World Championships.
In the third place matches, Canada took third in both women's and men's competitions. On the women's side, Canadians Genevieve Broduer and Véronique Guillemette won the decisive match against Chile, by defeating Angela Grisar and Fabiola Marquez, 15-12, 15-6, after the singles matches had been split.
Josée Grand'Maître defeated Marquez, 15-10, 15-10, and Grisar beat Jennifer Saunders, 15-4, 15-12, to set up the deciding match.
On the men's side, Mike Green got things off to a good start for Canada by defeating Bolivian Jorge Zambrana, 15-14, 15-7, but Ricardo Monroy evened the score for Bolivia by beating Kris Odegard, 15-14, 15-10.
Thus, the doubles match was again the deciding factor. François Viens and Vincent Gagnon carried the day for Canada by disposing of Roland Keller and Ricardo Monroy, 15-8, 15-8.
In 2010
The IRF announced that South Korea will be site of the 15th IRF Racquetball World Championships in 2010. It will be second time for South Korea to host Worlds. The competition was there in 2002. This is a sign racquetball is growing in South Korea, which can only be good for the game.
Draws for the 14th IRF Racquetball World Championships are available at R2Sports.
World Championships - Team Semi Finals
DATELINE - AUGUST 8, 2008
For the first time ever, Canada is in neither men's or women's team final at the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships. The men's final will pit a strong USA team versus Mexico for the first time since 1998. The women's final will be the USA versus Bolivia in what will be the first women's final without Canada in racquetball history.
The Bolivian team, seeded sixth, defeated the second seeded Canadians in the semi-finals on Friday on the basis of a win in doubles by Jenny Daza and Carola Loma, who defeated Genevieve Broduer and Véronique Guillemette, 14-15, 15-12, 11-3, and Yazmine Sabja's victory over Josée Grand'Maître in singles.
The Bolivians will face the USA in the final. The Americans got there by defeating Chile in the semi-finals. Aimee Ruiz and Jackie Paraiso defeated Angela Grisar and Fabiola Marquez, 15-7, 15-3, and then Cheryl Gudinas Holmes defeated Marquez in singles, 15-14, 15-8. In the final match, Grisar defaulted to Rhonda Rajsich to make give the USA a 3-0 victory in matches played.
On the men's side, Canada came up short in their showdown with Mexico. In singles, Polo Gutierrez Sortes defeated Mike Green, 15-5, 15-6, while the Mexican doubles team of Gilberto Mejia and Javier Moreno defeated Vincent Gagnon and François Viens, 15-7, 15-12. In the final match, Alvaro Beltran defaulted to Kris Odegard, as the overall outcome was already decided.
Mexico will face the USA in the final, which should be a great match up. The American doubles team of Jason Thorener and Mitch Williams beat the Mexicans in the doubles championship earlier in the week, so the Mexicans will be wanting to avenge that loss.
If the Mexicans can win doubles, then it will fall to their singles players to finish the job. If Beltran - the 3rd seeded player on the men's professional International Racquetball Tour (IRT) rankings - can upset Rocky Carson - the number 1 IRT player, who won the World title earlier in the week, or Gutierrez Sortes can defeat Jack Huczek (the IRT's number 2 player), then Mexico will win their first team competition.
A betting man likely wouldn't bet on a Mexican victory, but it is not out of the realm of possibility. At least they will have a chance at the World Team Title, unlike the Canadians.
The Racquetball World Championships conclude Saturday in Kingscourt, Ireland.
The draws are available at R2Sports.
For the first time ever, Canada is in neither men's or women's team final at the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships. The men's final will pit a strong USA team versus Mexico for the first time since 1998. The women's final will be the USA versus Bolivia in what will be the first women's final without Canada in racquetball history.
The Bolivian team, seeded sixth, defeated the second seeded Canadians in the semi-finals on Friday on the basis of a win in doubles by Jenny Daza and Carola Loma, who defeated Genevieve Broduer and Véronique Guillemette, 14-15, 15-12, 11-3, and Yazmine Sabja's victory over Josée Grand'Maître in singles.
The Bolivians will face the USA in the final. The Americans got there by defeating Chile in the semi-finals. Aimee Ruiz and Jackie Paraiso defeated Angela Grisar and Fabiola Marquez, 15-7, 15-3, and then Cheryl Gudinas Holmes defeated Marquez in singles, 15-14, 15-8. In the final match, Grisar defaulted to Rhonda Rajsich to make give the USA a 3-0 victory in matches played.
On the men's side, Canada came up short in their showdown with Mexico. In singles, Polo Gutierrez Sortes defeated Mike Green, 15-5, 15-6, while the Mexican doubles team of Gilberto Mejia and Javier Moreno defeated Vincent Gagnon and François Viens, 15-7, 15-12. In the final match, Alvaro Beltran defaulted to Kris Odegard, as the overall outcome was already decided.
Mexico will face the USA in the final, which should be a great match up. The American doubles team of Jason Thorener and Mitch Williams beat the Mexicans in the doubles championship earlier in the week, so the Mexicans will be wanting to avenge that loss.
If the Mexicans can win doubles, then it will fall to their singles players to finish the job. If Beltran - the 3rd seeded player on the men's professional International Racquetball Tour (IRT) rankings - can upset Rocky Carson - the number 1 IRT player, who won the World title earlier in the week, or Gutierrez Sortes can defeat Jack Huczek (the IRT's number 2 player), then Mexico will win their first team competition.
A betting man likely wouldn't bet on a Mexican victory, but it is not out of the realm of possibility. At least they will have a chance at the World Team Title, unlike the Canadians.
The Racquetball World Championships conclude Saturday in Kingscourt, Ireland.
The draws are available at R2Sports.
World Championships - Team Day 2
DATELINE - AUGUST 8, 2008
There have been two notable upsets on the women's side of the team competition at the 14th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland, as the number 3 and 4 seeds are out.
Sixth seeded Bolivia defeated Japan, the third seed two matches to one. The Bolivians began by winning the doubles match with Jenny Daza and Carola Loma defeating Rie Masuyama and Maiko Sato, 15-10, 15-7. But Japan leveled the set when Toshiko Sakamoto beat Yazmine Sabja, 15-6, 8-15, 11-6.
The deciding match was close, but Daza put Bolivia over the top by winning the tie-breaking game against Harumi Kajino, taking the match 15-14, 13-15, 11-2.
Bolivia will next face Canada in the semi-finals, who defeated South Korea three matches to none.
Chile, seeded 5th, defeated 4th seeded Mexico on the basis of two wins in singles, although the match up began with a Mexican win in doubles. Paola Longoria and Rosy Torres defeated Angela Grisar and Fabiola Marquez, 15-4, 15-1.
However, Grisar and Marquez, who are doing double duty for Chile playing both doubles and singles, pulled out the team victory by winning their singles matches in tie-breakers. Grisar defeated Longoria, 15-12, 7-15, 11-7, and Marquez beat Susana Acosta, 15-11, 11-15, 11-4.
Chile will face the powerful USA team in the other semi-final. The USA beat Venezuela 3-0 in matches to advance to the semis.
On the men's side, the big three remain on track, as Canada, Mexico and the USA have all advanced to the quarter finals. In that round, Canada is up against Costa Rica, Mexico faces Ecuador and the US take on Japan. Bolivia and Venezula round out the quarter finalists.
With sadness, The Racquetball Blog reports that Team Catalonia lost in the Round of 16 to Venezuela. But they didn't go down without a fight, as their singles matches went to tie-breakers. Marcelo Laprea defeated Victor Montserrat, 15-8, 4-15, 11-8, and Cesar Castro beat Carlos Oviedo, 15-1, 14-15, 11-2. Having won those matches, Venezuela defaulted the doubles match so as to save energy for the next round.
The team competition runs through Saturday in Kingscourt, Ireland.
The draws are available at R2Sports.
World Games Qualifiers
DATELINE - AUGUST 7, 2008
Those players are, alphabetically :
Men:
Alvaro Beltran (Mexico)
Felipe Camacho (Costa Rica)
Rocky Carson (USA)
Vincent Gagnon (Canada)
Mike Green (Canada)
Polo Gutierrez (Mexico)
Takaaki Hirose (Japan)
Jack Huczek (USA)
Michimune Kono (Japan)
Ricardo Monroy (Bolivia)
Victor Montserrat (Catalonia, Spain)
Luis Perez (Dom. Republic)
Fernando Rios (Ecuador)
Leonel Simo (Dom. Republic)
Ivan Villegas (Costa Rica)
Jorge Zamprana (Bolivia)
Women :
Susana Acosta (Mexico)
Jung Eun Ane (Korea)
Cristina Cordova (Ecuador)
Jenny Daza (Bolivia)
Josée Grand'Maître (Canada)
Angela Grisar (Chile)
Cheryl Gudinas Holmes (USA)
Harumi Kajino (Japan)
Paola Longoria (Mexico)
Fabiola Marquez (Chile)
Maria Paz Munoz (Ecuador)
Rhonda Rajsich (USA)
Vivianna Reveron (Venezuela)
Yazmine Sabja (Bolivia)
Toshiko Sakamoto (Japan)
Jennifer Saunders (Canada)
By country, there are two men from Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Japan, and Bolivia, as well as the Big Three of Canada, Mexico and the USA. Then there are single players from Ecuador and Catalonia/Spain.
For the women, there are two from Chile, Ecuador, Japan, and Bolivia, as well as the Big Three. There will one woman from Korea and Venezuela.
So, Bolivia and Japan as well as Canada, Mexico and the USA will have four racquetball players at the World Games, with Ecuador having three.
World Championships - Team Day 1
DATELINE - AUGUST 7, 2008
It's on to the team championships at the 14th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland. After the USA swept up all the gold medals in the individual competition, it's hard to imagine they won't do the same in the team competition.
On the men's side, Americans Rocky Carson and Jack Huczek were the finalists in singles, and were number 1 and 2, respectively, on the men's professional International Racquetball Tour (IRT), but if another country is going to beat Team USA, they will have to beat either Carson or Huczek. Not an easy task.
Canada and Mexico are seeded 2 and 3, so they are lined up to meet in the semi-finals. The Canadians have made a change in their line up, with Kris Odegard is playing singles with Vincent Gagnon playing doubles with François Viens. Odegard and Viens had played doubles in the individual competition, losing in the quarter finals to Hiroshi Shimizu and Michimune Kono of Japan.
Gagnon and Viens won the 2008 Canadian National Championship in doubles, and have played together for the last several years. Gagnon had doubled qualified for the Canadian team and chose to play singles in the individual competition, so he could qualify to play at the World Games in Taiwan next year.
The seeding of the women's team competition looks likely to produce another USA-Canada final, as Mexico is on the USA side of the draw. Two years ago the American women beat the Canadians in the women's team final two matches to one.
The USA women are as formidable as the men, but their strongest link may be the doubles team of Aimee Ruiz and Jackie Paraiso, who have 9 World Championship doubles titles between them including this year's victory.
Then there's Rhonda Rajsich and Cheryl Gudinas Holmes, the number 1 and 2, respectively, ranked players on the Women's Professional Racquetball Organization (WPRO), so it'll be difficult to topple them.
First Round Upset
We here at The Racquetball Blog picked the Catalonian team as a team watch, so we're happy to report that they produced the only upset in the first round of the men's team competition. They were ranked 20th and defeated 13th ranked Guatemala. Next up for Catalonia is 4th ranked Venezuela.
The team competition runs through Saturday in Kingscourt, Ireland.
The draws are available at R2Sports.
It's on to the team championships at the 14th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland. After the USA swept up all the gold medals in the individual competition, it's hard to imagine they won't do the same in the team competition.
On the men's side, Americans Rocky Carson and Jack Huczek were the finalists in singles, and were number 1 and 2, respectively, on the men's professional International Racquetball Tour (IRT), but if another country is going to beat Team USA, they will have to beat either Carson or Huczek. Not an easy task.
Canada and Mexico are seeded 2 and 3, so they are lined up to meet in the semi-finals. The Canadians have made a change in their line up, with Kris Odegard is playing singles with Vincent Gagnon playing doubles with François Viens. Odegard and Viens had played doubles in the individual competition, losing in the quarter finals to Hiroshi Shimizu and Michimune Kono of Japan.
Gagnon and Viens won the 2008 Canadian National Championship in doubles, and have played together for the last several years. Gagnon had doubled qualified for the Canadian team and chose to play singles in the individual competition, so he could qualify to play at the World Games in Taiwan next year.
The seeding of the women's team competition looks likely to produce another USA-Canada final, as Mexico is on the USA side of the draw. Two years ago the American women beat the Canadians in the women's team final two matches to one.
The USA women are as formidable as the men, but their strongest link may be the doubles team of Aimee Ruiz and Jackie Paraiso, who have 9 World Championship doubles titles between them including this year's victory.
Then there's Rhonda Rajsich and Cheryl Gudinas Holmes, the number 1 and 2, respectively, ranked players on the Women's Professional Racquetball Organization (WPRO), so it'll be difficult to topple them.
First Round Upset
We here at The Racquetball Blog picked the Catalonian team as a team watch, so we're happy to report that they produced the only upset in the first round of the men's team competition. They were ranked 20th and defeated 13th ranked Guatemala. Next up for Catalonia is 4th ranked Venezuela.
The team competition runs through Saturday in Kingscourt, Ireland.
The draws are available at R2Sports.
World Championships - Finals - Doubles
DATELINE AUGUST 6, 2008
American teams swept the doubles titles Tuesday to complete an American gold medal sweep of the individual event competitions at the 14th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland.
The American history of excellence in women's doubles was continued by the American team of Aimee Ruiz and Jacqueline Paraiso, who defeated Geneviève Brodeur and Veronique Guillemette of Canada, 15-8, 15-6. Thirteen of the fourteen women's doubles titles at the World Championships have been won by Americans.
Paraiso has been one of the doubles partners on seven of those 13 winning teams. Ruiz is the fifth partner that Paraiso has won a world title with. It's Ruiz's second consecutive doubles title. Laura Fenton was her partner two years ago.
In men's doubles, Americans Jason Thoerner and Mitch Williams won their first World Championship by defeating the Mexican team of Gilberto Meija and Javiar Moreno, 15-13, 10-15, 11-7. Moreno was part of the defending doubles World Championship team, with Alvaro Beltan, but failed to defend the title.
It's the first US win since 2004 in South Korea, when Shane Vanderson and Mike Dennison took the title by defeating Moreno and Polo Gutierrez in the final.
The players now have a day off on Wednesday before beginning the team competition on Thursday. In that, the countries will play off in best of three matches pitting their singles players against each other as well as their doubles team. There both a men's and women's team competition, and it will run through Saturday in Kingscourt, Ireland.
The draws are available at R2Sports.
World Championships - Finals - Singles
DATELINE - AUGUST 5, 2008
There are new champions in singles at the 14th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland. The men's and women's singles competitions mirrored each other, as the finals featured the top two ranked professional players, both Americans, facing off with one of the players trying to win a fourth World Championship.
But in both cases, there is a new champion.
Rocky Carson (USA) is the new men's World Champion, but he won by the narrowest of margins. In Tuesday's final, Carson defeated fellow American Jack Huczek, 12-15, 15-14, 11-10, stopping Huczek's bid for four consecutive World titles.
This season Carson and Huczek finished number 1 and 2, respectively, on the men's professional International Racquetball Tour (IRT). They faced each other 10 times over the 2007-08 IRT season with Carson winning six times and Huczek four.
Rhonda Rajsich (USA), the number 1 ranked Women's Professional Racquetball Organization (WPRO), defeated Cheryl Gudinas Holmes (USA), the number 2 WPRO player, 15-13, 15-8, to win her first World Championship title.
Rajsich's championship is especially remarkable, as she was in hospital one evening in early June after being attacked and beaten while walking near her home. She needed reconstructive surgery and spent several days in hospital.
Canada and Mexico split the men's and women's bronze medal matches. In the women's bronze medal match, Mexican Paola Longoria defeated Jennifer Saunders of Canada, 15-9, 15-8. In the men's bronze medal match, Alvaro Beltran of Mexico was upset by Vincent Gagnon of Canada, 15-9, 14-15, 11-9.
The players now have a day off on Wednesday before beginning the team competition on Thursday. In that, the countries will play off in best of three matches pitting their singles players against each other as well as their doubles team. There both a men's and women's team competition, and they will run through Saturday in Kingscourt, Ireland.
The draws are available at R2Sports.
There are new champions in singles at the 14th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland. The men's and women's singles competitions mirrored each other, as the finals featured the top two ranked professional players, both Americans, facing off with one of the players trying to win a fourth World Championship.
But in both cases, there is a new champion.
Rocky Carson (USA) is the new men's World Champion, but he won by the narrowest of margins. In Tuesday's final, Carson defeated fellow American Jack Huczek, 12-15, 15-14, 11-10, stopping Huczek's bid for four consecutive World titles.
This season Carson and Huczek finished number 1 and 2, respectively, on the men's professional International Racquetball Tour (IRT). They faced each other 10 times over the 2007-08 IRT season with Carson winning six times and Huczek four.
Rhonda Rajsich (USA), the number 1 ranked Women's Professional Racquetball Organization (WPRO), defeated Cheryl Gudinas Holmes (USA), the number 2 WPRO player, 15-13, 15-8, to win her first World Championship title.
Rajsich's championship is especially remarkable, as she was in hospital one evening in early June after being attacked and beaten while walking near her home. She needed reconstructive surgery and spent several days in hospital.
Canada and Mexico split the men's and women's bronze medal matches. In the women's bronze medal match, Mexican Paola Longoria defeated Jennifer Saunders of Canada, 15-9, 15-8. In the men's bronze medal match, Alvaro Beltran of Mexico was upset by Vincent Gagnon of Canada, 15-9, 14-15, 11-9.
The players now have a day off on Wednesday before beginning the team competition on Thursday. In that, the countries will play off in best of three matches pitting their singles players against each other as well as their doubles team. There both a men's and women's team competition, and they will run through Saturday in Kingscourt, Ireland.
The draws are available at R2Sports.
World Championships - Semi Finals Update
DATELINE - AUGUST 4, 2008
Monday was moving day at the 14th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland, as there were quarter finals or semi-finals or both in men's and women's singles and doubles. The Americans did the most moving up, and are positioned for a sweep.
The men's final on Tuesday will be an All-American affair with Rocky Carson facing Jack Huczek. They are the number 1 and 2 players, respectively, on the men's professional International Racquetball Tour (IRT). It's the first time the top two IRT players will meet in the World Championship final.
Carson defeated Mexican Alvaro Beltran, who's 3rd in the IRT rankings, 15-9, 15-8, in one semi-final Monday, while Huczek beat Canadian Vincent Gagnon, 15-11, 15-8 in the other.
In men's doubles, a Mexican team has reached the final for the sixth consecutive time. Gilberto Meija and Javiar Moreno defeated the Venezuelan team of Cesar Castro and Jorge Hirsekorn, 15-7, 15-1, in the semi-finals.
Moreno won the doubles title two years ago with Beltran, and also won in 2000 with Luis Bustillos. Meija won the title in 2002 with Polo Gutierrez. Overall, Mexicans have won four of the last five world titles.
The Mexicans will face Americans Jason Thoerner and Mitch Williams, who beat Hiroshi Shimizu and Michimune Kono of Japan in the other semi-final, 15-4, 15-2.
Like the men's final, the women's final will be both an All American match up and a playoff of the top two players on the professional tour, as the number 1 ranked Women's Professional Racquetball Organization (WPRO) Rhonda Rajsich will play off against Cheryl Gudinas Holmes, the number 2 WPRO player.
In the semi-finals, Rajsich defeated Mexican Paola Longoria, 15-10, 15-9 to reach her first World Championship final. This achievement is especially remarkable, as Rajsich was in hospital in early June after being attacked and beaten while walking home one night.
In the other semi-final, Gudinas Holmes needed a tie-breaker to defeat Canadian Jennifer Saunders by scores of 15-8, 11-15, 11-8. Gudinas Holmes will be trying for her fourth World Championship on Tuesday. She last won worlds in 2004.
The women's doubles final will be a USA-Canada match up for the tenth time overall, but first since 2002. The top seeded American team of Aimee Ruiz and Jacqueline Paraiso defeated Angela Grisar and Fabiola Marquez and Chile, 15-4, 15-5 in one semi-final.
Ruiz is half of the reigning women's doubles championship team, as she won with Laura Fenton two years ago in Santo Domingo, Domnican Republic. Paraiso has been part of six world championship doubles teams.
In the other semi-final, Geneviève Brodeur and Veronique Guillemette of Canada beat the Mexican team of Paola Longoria and Rosy Torres, 3-15, 15-6, 11-9.
American women have won all the doubles world titles except one. In 1986, Canadians Carol McFetridge and Marion Sicotte defeated Connie Peterson and Michelle Gilman.
Earlier on Monday in men's doubles quarter final action, the Japanese team of Hiroshi Shimizu and Michimune Kono upset the 3rd seeded Canadian team of François Viens and Kris Odegard, 2-15, 15-7, 11-6.
In the other quarter finals, Americans Jason Thoerner and Mitch Williams (USA) beat Bolivians Ricardo Monroy and Roland Keller, 15-3, 15-7, Cesar Castro and Jorge Hirsekorn of Venezuela defeated Fabian Apa and Dany Maggi of Argentina, 7-15, 15-8, 11-4, and Mexicans Mejia and Moreno defeated Pablo Fajre and Sebastian Roessler of Chile in a walk over.
Play in the individual competition continues through Tuesday. The team competition begins on Thursday and runs to next Saturday, August 9 in Kingscourt, Ireland. The draws are available at R2Sports.
Monday was moving day at the 14th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland, as there were quarter finals or semi-finals or both in men's and women's singles and doubles. The Americans did the most moving up, and are positioned for a sweep.
The men's final on Tuesday will be an All-American affair with Rocky Carson facing Jack Huczek. They are the number 1 and 2 players, respectively, on the men's professional International Racquetball Tour (IRT). It's the first time the top two IRT players will meet in the World Championship final.
Carson defeated Mexican Alvaro Beltran, who's 3rd in the IRT rankings, 15-9, 15-8, in one semi-final Monday, while Huczek beat Canadian Vincent Gagnon, 15-11, 15-8 in the other.
In men's doubles, a Mexican team has reached the final for the sixth consecutive time. Gilberto Meija and Javiar Moreno defeated the Venezuelan team of Cesar Castro and Jorge Hirsekorn, 15-7, 15-1, in the semi-finals.
Moreno won the doubles title two years ago with Beltran, and also won in 2000 with Luis Bustillos. Meija won the title in 2002 with Polo Gutierrez. Overall, Mexicans have won four of the last five world titles.
The Mexicans will face Americans Jason Thoerner and Mitch Williams, who beat Hiroshi Shimizu and Michimune Kono of Japan in the other semi-final, 15-4, 15-2.
Like the men's final, the women's final will be both an All American match up and a playoff of the top two players on the professional tour, as the number 1 ranked Women's Professional Racquetball Organization (WPRO) Rhonda Rajsich will play off against Cheryl Gudinas Holmes, the number 2 WPRO player.
In the semi-finals, Rajsich defeated Mexican Paola Longoria, 15-10, 15-9 to reach her first World Championship final. This achievement is especially remarkable, as Rajsich was in hospital in early June after being attacked and beaten while walking home one night.
In the other semi-final, Gudinas Holmes needed a tie-breaker to defeat Canadian Jennifer Saunders by scores of 15-8, 11-15, 11-8. Gudinas Holmes will be trying for her fourth World Championship on Tuesday. She last won worlds in 2004.
The women's doubles final will be a USA-Canada match up for the tenth time overall, but first since 2002. The top seeded American team of Aimee Ruiz and Jacqueline Paraiso defeated Angela Grisar and Fabiola Marquez and Chile, 15-4, 15-5 in one semi-final.
Ruiz is half of the reigning women's doubles championship team, as she won with Laura Fenton two years ago in Santo Domingo, Domnican Republic. Paraiso has been part of six world championship doubles teams.
In the other semi-final, Geneviève Brodeur and Veronique Guillemette of Canada beat the Mexican team of Paola Longoria and Rosy Torres, 3-15, 15-6, 11-9.
American women have won all the doubles world titles except one. In 1986, Canadians Carol McFetridge and Marion Sicotte defeated Connie Peterson and Michelle Gilman.
Earlier on Monday in men's doubles quarter final action, the Japanese team of Hiroshi Shimizu and Michimune Kono upset the 3rd seeded Canadian team of François Viens and Kris Odegard, 2-15, 15-7, 11-6.
In the other quarter finals, Americans Jason Thoerner and Mitch Williams (USA) beat Bolivians Ricardo Monroy and Roland Keller, 15-3, 15-7, Cesar Castro and Jorge Hirsekorn of Venezuela defeated Fabian Apa and Dany Maggi of Argentina, 7-15, 15-8, 11-4, and Mexicans Mejia and Moreno defeated Pablo Fajre and Sebastian Roessler of Chile in a walk over.
Play in the individual competition continues through Tuesday. The team competition begins on Thursday and runs to next Saturday, August 9 in Kingscourt, Ireland. The draws are available at R2Sports.
World Championships - Semi Finals
DATELINE - AUGUST 4, 2008
Monday was moving day at the 14th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland, as there were quarter finals or semi-finals or both in men's and women's singles and doubles.
The men's final on Tuesday will be an All-American affair with Rocky Carson facing Jack Huczek. They are the number 1 and 2 players, respectively, on the men's professional International Racquetball Tour (IRT). It's the first time the top two IRT players will meet in the World Championship final.
Carson defeated Mexican Alvaro Beltran, who's 3rd in the IRT rankings, 15-9, 15-8, in one semi-final Monday, while Huczek beat Canadian Vincent Gagnon, 15-11, 15-8 in the other.
In men's doubles, a Mexican team has reached the final for the sixth consecutive time. Gilberto Meija and Javiar Moreno defeated the Venezuelan team of Cesar Castro and Jorge Hirsekorn, 15-7, 15-1, in the semi-finals.
Moreno won the doubles title two years ago with Beltran, and also won in 2000 with Luis Bustillos. Meija won the title in 2002 with Polo Gutierrez. Overall, Mexicans have won three of the last four world titles.
The Mexicans will face Americans Jason Thoerner and Mitch Williams, who beat Hiroshi Shimizu and Michimune Kono of Japan in the other semi-final, 15-4, 15-2.
The women's doubles final will be a USA-Canada match up for the tenth time, but first since 2002. The top seeded American team of Aimee Ruiz and Jacqueline Paraiso defeated Angela Grisar and Fabiola Marquez and Chile, 15-4, 15-5 in one semi-final.
Ruiz is half of the reigning women's doubles championship team, as she won with Laura Fenton two years ago in Santo Domingo, Domnican Republic. Paraiso has been part of six world championship doubles teams.
In the other semi-final, Geneviève Brodeur and Veronique Guillemette of Canada beat the Mexican team of Paola Longoria and Rosy Torres, 3-15, 15-6, 11-9.
American women have won all the doubles world titles except one. In 1986, Canadians Carol McFetridge and Marion Sicotte defeated Connie Peterson and Michelle Gilman.
The women's singles semi-finals were set to go later on Monday with number 1 seed Rhonda Rajsich (USA) facing Mexican Paola Longoria, and American Cheryl Gudinas Holmes against Canadian Jennifer Saunders.
Earlier on Monday in men's doubles quarter final action, the Japanese team of Hiroshi Shimizu and Michimune Kono upset the 3rd seeded Canadian team of François Viens and Kris Odegard, 2-15, 15-7, 11-6.
In the other quarter finals, Americans Jason Thoerner and Mitch Williams (USA) beat Bolivians Ricardo Monroy and Roland Keller, 15-3, 15-7, Cesar Castro and Jorge Hirsekorn of Venezuela defeated Fabian Apa and Dany Maggi of Argentina, 7-15, 15-8, 11-4, and Mexicans Mejia and Moreno defeated Pablo Fajre and Sebastian Roessler of Chile in a walk over.
Play in the individual competition continues through Tuesday. The team competition begins on Thursday and runs to next Saturday, August 9 in Kingscourt, Ireland. The draws are available at R2Sports.
Monday was moving day at the 14th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland, as there were quarter finals or semi-finals or both in men's and women's singles and doubles.
The men's final on Tuesday will be an All-American affair with Rocky Carson facing Jack Huczek. They are the number 1 and 2 players, respectively, on the men's professional International Racquetball Tour (IRT). It's the first time the top two IRT players will meet in the World Championship final.
Carson defeated Mexican Alvaro Beltran, who's 3rd in the IRT rankings, 15-9, 15-8, in one semi-final Monday, while Huczek beat Canadian Vincent Gagnon, 15-11, 15-8 in the other.
In men's doubles, a Mexican team has reached the final for the sixth consecutive time. Gilberto Meija and Javiar Moreno defeated the Venezuelan team of Cesar Castro and Jorge Hirsekorn, 15-7, 15-1, in the semi-finals.
Moreno won the doubles title two years ago with Beltran, and also won in 2000 with Luis Bustillos. Meija won the title in 2002 with Polo Gutierrez. Overall, Mexicans have won three of the last four world titles.
The Mexicans will face Americans Jason Thoerner and Mitch Williams, who beat Hiroshi Shimizu and Michimune Kono of Japan in the other semi-final, 15-4, 15-2.
The women's doubles final will be a USA-Canada match up for the tenth time, but first since 2002. The top seeded American team of Aimee Ruiz and Jacqueline Paraiso defeated Angela Grisar and Fabiola Marquez and Chile, 15-4, 15-5 in one semi-final.
Ruiz is half of the reigning women's doubles championship team, as she won with Laura Fenton two years ago in Santo Domingo, Domnican Republic. Paraiso has been part of six world championship doubles teams.
In the other semi-final, Geneviève Brodeur and Veronique Guillemette of Canada beat the Mexican team of Paola Longoria and Rosy Torres, 3-15, 15-6, 11-9.
American women have won all the doubles world titles except one. In 1986, Canadians Carol McFetridge and Marion Sicotte defeated Connie Peterson and Michelle Gilman.
The women's singles semi-finals were set to go later on Monday with number 1 seed Rhonda Rajsich (USA) facing Mexican Paola Longoria, and American Cheryl Gudinas Holmes against Canadian Jennifer Saunders.
Earlier on Monday in men's doubles quarter final action, the Japanese team of Hiroshi Shimizu and Michimune Kono upset the 3rd seeded Canadian team of François Viens and Kris Odegard, 2-15, 15-7, 11-6.
In the other quarter finals, Americans Jason Thoerner and Mitch Williams (USA) beat Bolivians Ricardo Monroy and Roland Keller, 15-3, 15-7, Cesar Castro and Jorge Hirsekorn of Venezuela defeated Fabian Apa and Dany Maggi of Argentina, 7-15, 15-8, 11-4, and Mexicans Mejia and Moreno defeated Pablo Fajre and Sebastian Roessler of Chile in a walk over.
Play in the individual competition continues through Tuesday. The team competition begins on Thursday and runs to next Saturday, August 9 in Kingscourt, Ireland. The draws are available at R2Sports.
World Championships - Quarter Finals
DATELINE - AUGUST 3, 2008
The quarter finals have been played and the first significant upset has happened at the 14th International Racquetball Federation World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland. The semi-finals will go later on Monday.
Both Rocky Carson and Jack Huczek won their matches. Carson defeated Fernando Rios (Ecuador), 15-3, 15-4, while Huczek beat Michimune Kono of Japan, 15-3, 15-4.
But the Canadian-Mexican match ups were split. Alvaro Beltran defeated Mike Green, 15-14, 15-10, and Vincent Gagnon defeated Polo Gutierrez Sotres, 15-5, 11-15, 11-8, to produce the first significant upset at Worlds. Gagnon was seeded 7th and Gutierrez Sotres 2nd.
Gagnon will now face Huczek in one semi-final with Carson and Beltran facing off in the other.
The top four women's seeds have all made it through to the semis, winning their quarter final matches in two straight games.
Top seed Rhonda Rajsich (USA) defeated 8th seed Toshiko Sakamoto of Japan, 15-9, 15-3. Rajsich will now face Mexican Paola Longoria who took out Canadian Josée Grand'Maître, 15-10, 15-8.
On the other side of draw, Canadian Jennifer Saunders defeated Susana Acosta of Mexico, 15-13, 15-9, and American Cheryl Gudinas Holmes beat Angela Grisar of Chile, 15-7, 15-6.
That sets up a rematch of the 2002 World Championship final, when Gudinas Holmes beat Saunders, 15-13, 15-13, to win her second World Championship.
Overall, the USA remains well positioned to sweep the individual competition at Worlds with two of the four semi-finalists in both men's and women's singles.
The doubles competitions play later on Monday.
The quarter finals have been played and the first significant upset has happened at the 14th International Racquetball Federation World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland. The semi-finals will go later on Monday.
Both Rocky Carson and Jack Huczek won their matches. Carson defeated Fernando Rios (Ecuador), 15-3, 15-4, while Huczek beat Michimune Kono of Japan, 15-3, 15-4.
But the Canadian-Mexican match ups were split. Alvaro Beltran defeated Mike Green, 15-14, 15-10, and Vincent Gagnon defeated Polo Gutierrez Sotres, 15-5, 11-15, 11-8, to produce the first significant upset at Worlds. Gagnon was seeded 7th and Gutierrez Sotres 2nd.
Gagnon will now face Huczek in one semi-final with Carson and Beltran facing off in the other.
The top four women's seeds have all made it through to the semis, winning their quarter final matches in two straight games.
Top seed Rhonda Rajsich (USA) defeated 8th seed Toshiko Sakamoto of Japan, 15-9, 15-3. Rajsich will now face Mexican Paola Longoria who took out Canadian Josée Grand'Maître, 15-10, 15-8.
On the other side of draw, Canadian Jennifer Saunders defeated Susana Acosta of Mexico, 15-13, 15-9, and American Cheryl Gudinas Holmes beat Angela Grisar of Chile, 15-7, 15-6.
That sets up a rematch of the 2002 World Championship final, when Gudinas Holmes beat Saunders, 15-13, 15-13, to win her second World Championship.
Overall, the USA remains well positioned to sweep the individual competition at Worlds with two of the four semi-finalists in both men's and women's singles.
The doubles competitions play later on Monday.
World Championships - Day 2
DATELINE - AUGUST 3, 2008
Sunday was the second day of competition at the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland. The favorites have made it through so far, although there have been some close matches.
In men's play, both of the American, Mexican and Canadian players made it to the quarter finals. Rounding out the final 8 are Fernando Rios of Ecuador, who defeated Takaaki Hirose of Japan, 15-7, 15-4, and Michimune Kono of Japan who defeated Catalonia's Victor Montserrat, 15-4, 15-4 in the Round of 16.
Both Rios and Kono will be in tough on Monday as they'll play the two Americans. Rios faces top seed Rocky Carson, and Kono plays Jack Huczek.
The other quarter finals will be Mexican-Canadian match ups with Alvaro Beltran against Mike Green - the winner to face either Carson or Rios, and Polo Gutierrez Sortes against Kris Odegard - with the winner to play Huczek or Kono.
The semi-finals of men's singles will also be played on Monday, so all the quarter final winners will have to play twice Monday. The finals are set for Tuesday.
The story is similar on the women's side, as six of the eight quarter finalists hail from North America: USA, Mexico or Canada.
Toshiko Sakamoto of Japan and Angela Grisar of Chile are the non-North American quarter finalists.
Sakamoto plays top seed Rhonda Rajsich of the USA, while Grisar will match up against American Cheryl Gudinas Holmes in what promises to be one of the best matches of the day.
In another quarter finals will be Canadian Jennifer Saunders versus Susana Acosta, both of whom won in tie-breakers in the Round of 16. Saunders defeated Maria Paz Munoz of Ecuador, 14-15, 15-13, 11-2, and Acosta beat Bolivian Jenny Daza, 10-15, 15-13, 11-6.
Rounding out the quarter finals will be a battle of age versus youth, when youngster Paola Longoria of Mexico plays Josée Grand'Maître, the grand dame of Canadian racquetball. Longoria, who is reportedly playing with an injured ankle, had a close match against Yazmine Sabja of Bolivia, winning 15-14, 15-11. Grand'Maître defeated Cristina Cordova of Ecuador, 15-12, 15-6.
The women will also play two rounds on Monday to set up Tuesday's final. As Longoria is in both singles and doubles, she may have to play three times Monday. If her ankle is injured, then she could have problems before the day is over.
Longoria and Rosy Torres will play Genevieve Brodeur and Véronique Guillemette of Canada in one women's doubles semi-final, while in the other top seeds Jackie Paraiso and Aimee Ruiz (USA) face the Chilean team of Fabiola Marquez and Grisar.
On the men's doubles side, the quarter finals feature the top eight seeded teams, and few of them have been strongly challenged yet. That will change on Monday when both the quarters and semis will occur.
Play in the individual competition continues through Tuesday. The team competition begins on Thursday and runs to next Saturday, August 9 in Kingscourt, Ireland. The draws are available at R2Sports.
Sunday was the second day of competition at the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland. The favorites have made it through so far, although there have been some close matches.
In men's play, both of the American, Mexican and Canadian players made it to the quarter finals. Rounding out the final 8 are Fernando Rios of Ecuador, who defeated Takaaki Hirose of Japan, 15-7, 15-4, and Michimune Kono of Japan who defeated Catalonia's Victor Montserrat, 15-4, 15-4 in the Round of 16.
Both Rios and Kono will be in tough on Monday as they'll play the two Americans. Rios faces top seed Rocky Carson, and Kono plays Jack Huczek.
The other quarter finals will be Mexican-Canadian match ups with Alvaro Beltran against Mike Green - the winner to face either Carson or Rios, and Polo Gutierrez Sortes against Kris Odegard - with the winner to play Huczek or Kono.
The semi-finals of men's singles will also be played on Monday, so all the quarter final winners will have to play twice Monday. The finals are set for Tuesday.
The story is similar on the women's side, as six of the eight quarter finalists hail from North America: USA, Mexico or Canada.
Toshiko Sakamoto of Japan and Angela Grisar of Chile are the non-North American quarter finalists.
Sakamoto plays top seed Rhonda Rajsich of the USA, while Grisar will match up against American Cheryl Gudinas Holmes in what promises to be one of the best matches of the day.
In another quarter finals will be Canadian Jennifer Saunders versus Susana Acosta, both of whom won in tie-breakers in the Round of 16. Saunders defeated Maria Paz Munoz of Ecuador, 14-15, 15-13, 11-2, and Acosta beat Bolivian Jenny Daza, 10-15, 15-13, 11-6.
Rounding out the quarter finals will be a battle of age versus youth, when youngster Paola Longoria of Mexico plays Josée Grand'Maître, the grand dame of Canadian racquetball. Longoria, who is reportedly playing with an injured ankle, had a close match against Yazmine Sabja of Bolivia, winning 15-14, 15-11. Grand'Maître defeated Cristina Cordova of Ecuador, 15-12, 15-6.
The women will also play two rounds on Monday to set up Tuesday's final. As Longoria is in both singles and doubles, she may have to play three times Monday. If her ankle is injured, then she could have problems before the day is over.
Longoria and Rosy Torres will play Genevieve Brodeur and Véronique Guillemette of Canada in one women's doubles semi-final, while in the other top seeds Jackie Paraiso and Aimee Ruiz (USA) face the Chilean team of Fabiola Marquez and Grisar.
On the men's doubles side, the quarter finals feature the top eight seeded teams, and few of them have been strongly challenged yet. That will change on Monday when both the quarters and semis will occur.
Play in the individual competition continues through Tuesday. The team competition begins on Thursday and runs to next Saturday, August 9 in Kingscourt, Ireland. The draws are available at R2Sports.
World Championships - Day 1
DATELINE : AUGUST 2, 2008
The International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships began play today in Kingscourt, Ireland. There have been no major upsets so far - the Americans, Mexicans and Canadians have all won easily, but some of the results stand out.
Victor Montserrat, the 2007 European men's singles champion from Catalonia, won both of his matches Saturday. He was seeded 38th, and beat 27th seed Jose Daniel Ugalde of Ecuador, 10-15, 15-11, 11-7, in the Round of 64. Then Montserrat defeated 6th seed Fabian Balmori of Venezuela, 15-9, 15-9, in the Round of 32.
Montserrat will next face Michimune Kono of Japan in the Round of 16.
The other notable result was 25th seeded Fernando Rios of Ecuador, who also reached the Round of 16, by defeating Carlos Oviedo (Catalonia), 15-6, 15-2, and Marcelo Laprea (Venezuela), the 8th seed, 15-2, 15-5.
Rios will face Takaaki Hirose of Japan on Sunday.
Play in the individual competition continues through Tuesday. The team competition begins on Thursday and runs to next Saturday, August 9 in Kingscourt, Ireland. The draws are available at R2Sports.
The International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships began play today in Kingscourt, Ireland. There have been no major upsets so far - the Americans, Mexicans and Canadians have all won easily, but some of the results stand out.
Victor Montserrat, the 2007 European men's singles champion from Catalonia, won both of his matches Saturday. He was seeded 38th, and beat 27th seed Jose Daniel Ugalde of Ecuador, 10-15, 15-11, 11-7, in the Round of 64. Then Montserrat defeated 6th seed Fabian Balmori of Venezuela, 15-9, 15-9, in the Round of 32.
Montserrat will next face Michimune Kono of Japan in the Round of 16.
The other notable result was 25th seeded Fernando Rios of Ecuador, who also reached the Round of 16, by defeating Carlos Oviedo (Catalonia), 15-6, 15-2, and Marcelo Laprea (Venezuela), the 8th seed, 15-2, 15-5.
Rios will face Takaaki Hirose of Japan on Sunday.
Play in the individual competition continues through Tuesday. The team competition begins on Thursday and runs to next Saturday, August 9 in Kingscourt, Ireland. The draws are available at R2Sports.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Rumour : Canadian Nationals 2009 in Edmonton
The rumour is that the 2009 Canadian National Racquetball Championships (often referred to simply as Nationals) will be in Edmonton. Edmonton last hosted Nationals in 2006, when there was the largest participation in a decade.
At this year's Nationals in Burlington, Ontario, there was a rumour that Kelowna, British Columbia, would be the site for 2009. However, we heard that getting hotel rooms and other arrangements would be difficult in Kelowna, which may have led to the decision to use another site.
The precursor of the Canadian Nationals began in Edmonton in the early 1970s. Since then Nationals has been held across Canada from Quebec City to Victoria. Unlike the US National Racquetball Championships, which are held in Houston every year, the Canadian Nationals alternates venues.
The Canadian National Championships are held in the third week of May, beginning on Victoria Day. In the last few years, doubles play has occupied the first two days of competition, with singles play beginning on Wednesday and continuing through Saturday.
Finally, there's a rumour that Regina will be the site for the 2009 Canadian Junior National Racquetball Championships.
The Racquetball Canada has not made any final decisions about the sites for the Nationals or Junior Nationals, but should do so in the coming months.
At this year's Nationals in Burlington, Ontario, there was a rumour that Kelowna, British Columbia, would be the site for 2009. However, we heard that getting hotel rooms and other arrangements would be difficult in Kelowna, which may have led to the decision to use another site.
The precursor of the Canadian Nationals began in Edmonton in the early 1970s. Since then Nationals has been held across Canada from Quebec City to Victoria. Unlike the US National Racquetball Championships, which are held in Houston every year, the Canadian Nationals alternates venues.
The Canadian National Championships are held in the third week of May, beginning on Victoria Day. In the last few years, doubles play has occupied the first two days of competition, with singles play beginning on Wednesday and continuing through Saturday.
Finally, there's a rumour that Regina will be the site for the 2009 Canadian Junior National Racquetball Championships.
The Racquetball Canada has not made any final decisions about the sites for the Nationals or Junior Nationals, but should do so in the coming months.
World Championships - They're excited!
Dateline - July 31, 2008
The International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships begin this Friday, August 1 in Kingscourt, Ireland, and the players are excited.
"Everyone gears up for Worlds," said Kris Odegard, who's playing doubles for Canada in Ireland. "It's more challenging and generally more intense than even other international competitions, like the Pan American Championships."
"There's also extra prestige, because we were chosen for Worlds," said Odegard.
Unlike most racquetball tournaments - even professional or National championships, there's a limit to how many players can represent each country at the World Championships (2 slots for singles and 2 for doubles for both men and women; some countries have the same players play singles and doubles), so several countries have a qualification process to select their team for Worlds.
Odegard also said "Worlds is about national pride, not individual pride, so it's different from playing on the pro tour."
One aspect that emphasizes that difference for Odegard is the opening ceremonies including the Athlete's Oath, which is a pledge for fair play and sportsmanship read during the opening ceremonies by a player representing all the athletes.
Playing for one's country can also lead to a greater achievement than if one is just playing for oneself. Odegard's seen both the positive and negative side of that.
In his first competition for Canada, Odegard won gold at the 2006 Pan American Championships. But a few months later at the 2006 World Championships, he was upset in the Round of 16 by Simon Perdomo of the Dominican Republic, who was playing in his home country.
In fact, Perdomo came within two points of the semi-finals when he lost 11-9 in a tie-breaker to Abraham Pena of Mexico.
American Jack Huczek's comments in an interview at Worlds two years ago in Santo Domingo echo Odegard's feelings.
"I'm at Worlds, because it's a tremendous honor to play for the USA. The IRT is great, but it's not the same," said Huczek. "I love the opportunity to play for the US, and it's opened doors internationally. I've met people that I wouldn't have otherwise. I can't imagine not playing in these events."
(note: picture is Aimee Ruiz at the 2006 World Championships, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
World Championships - What to expect
Dateline - July 30
There are only a few days until the International Racquetball Federation World Championships begin in Kingscourt, Ireland. It's the first time Worlds has been in Europe since 1988, when Hamburg hosted the event. How did Worlds come to be situated in Ireland?
Many people had wanted to have Worlds back in Europe for some time. Originally, the plan was to have the 2008 Worlds in Paris, but the details could not be worked out. This led to an Irish delegation stepping up and taking on the event.
Ireland may have the most racquetball courts in Europe, because handball, which uses the same size court, is in the Gaelic Games - along with sports like Gaelic football and hurling, which is one of the most brutal sports ever (and no, it's not the result of drinking too much Guinness). Thus, handball courts are protected, so that the traditional game can continue.
There are two sizes of handball courts - 60' x 30' and 40' x 20'. The former are more traditional, and the latter is the 'international' game - read: the size everyone else uses. It's those 'international' courts that racquetball is also played on.
So it is that the little town of Kingcourt, which at 800 inhabitants might be difficult to find on the map (it's about 95 kilometers or 57 miles northwest of Dublin), has a community facility with 5 racquetball/handball courts.
There are only a few days until the International Racquetball Federation World Championships begin in Kingscourt, Ireland. It's the first time Worlds has been in Europe since 1988, when Hamburg hosted the event. How did Worlds come to be situated in Ireland?
Many people had wanted to have Worlds back in Europe for some time. Originally, the plan was to have the 2008 Worlds in Paris, but the details could not be worked out. This led to an Irish delegation stepping up and taking on the event.
Ireland may have the most racquetball courts in Europe, because handball, which uses the same size court, is in the Gaelic Games - along with sports like Gaelic football and hurling, which is one of the most brutal sports ever (and no, it's not the result of drinking too much Guinness). Thus, handball courts are protected, so that the traditional game can continue.
There are two sizes of handball courts - 60' x 30' and 40' x 20'. The former are more traditional, and the latter is the 'international' game - read: the size everyone else uses. It's those 'international' courts that racquetball is also played on.
So it is that the little town of Kingcourt, which at 800 inhabitants might be difficult to find on the map (it's about 95 kilometers or 57 miles northwest of Dublin), has a community facility with 5 racquetball/handball courts.
World Championships - Who else to watch?
Dateline - July 31, 2008
The Racquetball Blog (TRB) has picked the USA to sweep the competitions at the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships that begin later this week in Kingscourt, Ireland. TRB also highlighted who else is likely to vie for the titles. However, there are other things we'll be looking for at Worlds.
Two years ago Team Catalonia made their first appearance at the IRF World Championships. Although it was their first appearance, they had a full team in Santo Domingo: four men and four women.
For those who are wondering, Catalonia is one of the 17 autonomous regions of Spain with Barcelona as its principal city. Racquetball is a regional sport in Spain, as there are courts in Catalonia and not so much in the rest of Spain. The Catalonia racquetball site is www.raquetbol.cat.
In fact, a new 5 court racquetball facilities is being constructed in Barcelona, so we suspect that Barcelona will host Worlds in the near future. Perhaps not in two years, but maybe in four years time.
Two years ago in the Dominican Republic, a Team Catalonia member indicated that they had received some financial support from the regional government rather than the national government, so they chose to play under the Catalonia banner rather a Spanish one.
On the court, Team Catalonia finished near the bottom in the Dominican Republic. However, since then their players have had success in Europe. Carlos Ovieda won three European tournaments this past season in Ireland, Paris and Istanbul, while Victor Montserrat was the 2007 European men's singles champion.
Both Ovieda and Montserrat will be in Ireland for Catalonia, so we expect that Team Catalonia will finish further up the standings than they did two years ago. That's one of the things we'll be looking for.
Four years ago, the World Championships were in South Korea. The South Korean team were in the middle of the pack, finishing 14th in men's, 7th in women's and 9th overall. However, two years ago in the Dominican Republic, South Korea fared significantly better, finishing 6th in men's, 7th in women's and tied for 6th overall.
That suggests South Korea has had a long term benefit from hosting Worlds. Can South Korea improve on their finish from two years ago? That's another of the questions we're interested in.
Similarly, will we see an improvement in the performance of the Dominican Republic team? They hosted the last Worlds Championships, finishing 13th in men's, 14th in women's and tied for 12th overall, so can they improve on those finishes in Ireland?
Furthermore, we hope that by hosting Worlds Ireland will get a boost in racquetball interest that will carry forward.
Thus, while we're interested in who's going to win the World Championships, who's going to be the kings of the court in Kingscourt - as it were, we're also interested in the ordering of the other court members.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
World Championships - Preview
Dateline : July 26, 2008
The 14th World Championships begin August 1st in Kingscourt, Ireland and run to August 10th. The biggest question in Ireland may be this: will the Americans sweep the competition?
Two years ago, the USA swept the team competitions, winning men's and women's titles, and won two of the four individual competitions. Jack Huczek won men's singles while Aimee Ruiz and Laura Fenton won women's doubles. Huczek and Ruiz are again playing for the USA, but the 2006 Women's Champion, Canadian Christie Van Hees won't be in Ireland to defend her singles title.
Men's Events
Huczek's victory in 2006 was his third consecutive world title, which is more than any other male racquetball player. Only Michelle Gould (USA) and Cheryl Gudinas Holmes (USA) have won as many World Championships as Huczek. If he wins number four, Huczek will be in a class by himself.
His greatest competition will come from fellow American Rocky Carson, who finished number 1 on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) ahead of Huczek, who came second. Carson and Huczek met 10 times in the 2007-08 IRT season with Carson winning six times and Huczek four,* so if they meet in the final, it will be difficult to pick between them.
Alvaro Beltran of Mexico, as well as fellow Mexican Javiar Moreno and Canadians Mike Green and Vincent Gagnon, are also strong contenders for the men's singles title, but a betting person would have to think a Huczek-Carson final is most likely.
A Mexican team has won three of the last four World Championships in men's doubles, and one of those winning teams will trying to get their second title and make it four of five for Mexico, as Gilberto Mejia and Polo Gutierrez Sotres are back representing Mexico. They won the World Championship in 2002 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Mexicans main competition will come from Americans Jason Thoerner and Mitch Williams and Canadians Kris Odegard and François Viens.
Women's Events
There will be a new women's World Champion in Ireland, as the reigning champion Canadian Christie Van Hees failed to qualify for the Canadian team. There are several strong candidates for the women's crown.
Cheryl Gudinas Holmes, as the number 2 ranked Women's Professional Racquetball Organization player, would be the favorite, but she should have strong competiton from Angela Grisar (Chile), Paola Longoria (Mexico) and Jennifer Saunders (Canada). However, a Gudinas Holmes victory would be her fourth World title, more than any other women racquetball player, and she'd be the only four time winner unless Huczek also wins.
There's some uncertainty as to who the second American women in singles will be. Rhonda Rajsich was named to the team, but suffered severe injuries when she was attacked near her home in California. Rajsich will play if she's able, although one would have to think she hasn't had much time to train for Worlds. If Rajsich isn't available, then Kristen Bellows will be in Ireland.
In women's doubles, American women have won every World Championship since 1981 but one, and this year Aimee Ruiz will try to get her second consecutive World title. In 2006, she and Laura Fenton took the title defeating Chileans Angela Grisar and Fabiola Marquez, but this year Ruiz's partner is Jackie Paraiso.
If Paraiso and Ruiz win in Ireland, it will be Paraiso's seventh World title in doubles. She's won twice with her sister Joy MacKenzie (1996 & 1998) and Kim Russell (2002 & 2004), and once each with Fenton (1994) and Malia Bailey (1990).
The strongest possibilities to upset the Americans will be Canadian Champions Geneviève Brodeur and Véronique Guillemette, Angela Grisar and Fabiola Marquez of Chile, who were the silver medalists two years ago, and the Mexican team of Rosy Torres and Paola Longoria, who's playing both singles and doubles.
Team Competitions
In Santo Domingo, the USA swept the team competitions, and they would have to be the favorites to do so again in Ireland. However, it can be difficult to win both individual titles and team titles. Two years ago in the women's team final between the USA and Canada, Christie Van Hees, who'd won the individual title, lost to Rhonda Rajsich, and the US doubles team of Ruiz and Fenton, who'd won the doubles crown, lost to Lori-Jane Powell and Josée Grand'Maître. It was Cheryl Gudinas Holmes's victory over Jennifer Saunders in the deciding match that carried the day for the US.
Nonetheless, with Carson and Huczek playing singles for the US, it will be difficult for any other country defeat the American men's team. Similarly, the American women have won every women's team title at Worlds, so they would have to be the favorites to win again.
Separate men's and women's team competitions are played after the individual competitions. The countries playoff by having their two singles players and doubles team face off in a best of three matches. The overall title is determined by combining the men's and women's team results.
Players from 27 countries are entered in the 2008 Racquetball World Championships to be held from August 1st to 10th in Kingscourt, Ireland.
2006 World Championship Results - Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Men's singles
1. Jack Huczek (USA)
2. Shane Vanderson (USA)
3. Abraham Pena (Mexico) and Gilberto Mejia (Mexico)
Men's doubles
1. Alvaro Beltran & Javiar Moreno (Mexico)
2. Jack Huczek & Rocky Carson (USA)
3. Mike Green & Brian Istace (Canada) and Cesar Castro & Jorge Hirsekorn (Venezuela)
Women's Singles
1. Christie Van Hees (Canada)
2. Angela Grisar (Chile)
3. Cheryl Gudinas (USA) and Jennifer Saunders (Canada)
Women's Doubles
1. Laura Fenton & Aimee Ruiz (USA)
2. Angela Grisar & Fabiola Marquez (Chile)
3. Josée Grand'Maître & Lori-Jane Powell (Canada) and Naomi Wakimoto & Toshiko Sakamoto (Japan)
Team Competitions
Men's
1. USA
2. Canada
3. Mexico
4. Venezuela
Women's
1. USA
2. Canada
3. Japan
4. Mexico
Overall
1. USA
2. Canada
3. Mexico
4. Bolivia
(* sources: www.bossconsulting.com/irt, International Racquetball Tour , R2 Sports , International Racquetball Federation)
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Born on the 7th of July
Welcome to The Racquetball Blog!
The Racquetball Blog's aim is to provide independent writing and reporting on all aspects of racquetball: professional and amateur, in North America and abroad.
Currently, the majority of racquetball information and opinion comes from one of the racquetball organizations (USAR, IRF, Racquetball Canada, etc) or from informal sources, such as the meetandplay.com site forums. These sources are fine as far as they go, but I think there's room for another source. A source that isn't an organization with a particular constituency or some anonymous person in cyberspace.
Hence, The Racquetball Blog.
What are my qualifications for doing this? I wrote about racquetball for four years in my role as the editor of Canadian Racquetball, Racquetball Canada's magazine. I've also played racquetball in six countries - including all the racquetball clubs in France, which is to say both of them. I was the 5th ranked player in Europe in 2003, and a member of the University of Illinois racquetball team back in the day.
I've also coached racquetball and been to both the IRF Junior World Championships and World Championships, as well as the last five US Opens.
Thus, I've had many and varied racquetball experiences. From those experiences, I think there are many good stories that need to be told. My aim is to bring you those stories here.
Follow the bouncing ball.
Evan Pritchard
The Racquetball Blog
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
