This & That

New IRT Site Design

The International Racquetball Tour (IRT) has a new design to its website. It looks pretty sharp, so definitely check it out. There are several pictures from the 2008 Motorola World Championships in Denver, where the portable Lucite court was debuted.

Pan American Championships

We followed the Pan American Championships in Cali, Colombia last week, but still we haven't seen official word on the team champions. Unofficially, we've heard that the USA won the overall team event, with Mexico coming second, followed by Bolivia and Canada in third and fourth, respectively.

But how teams were ordered in the men's and women's divisions and where teams out of the top four fell is unknown.

4th IRF World Senior Doubles Championships

The International Racquetball Federation's (IRF's) 4th World Senior Doubles Championship is going to be held June 10-13 in Burnaby, British Columbia, part of the Vancouver metro area. The event is open to all players aged 35 and older, with the divisions in five year increments (i.e., 35+, 40+, 45+, etc.).

It's great to see an IRF event in Canada again, as there hasn't been one in the 'Great White North' since the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg. However, the timing of the event might be problematic for Canadian players, as this event will be less than three weeks after the end of the Canadian National Championships.

Rev's Health Club is the host facility, and it's located right by a stop on the Sky Train, so it will be very easy for participants to visit downtown Vancouver when they're not playing.

Pervious World Seniors Doubles events have been in Paris, France, Hamburg, Germany, and San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

Entry forms for the 2009 World Seniors Doubles can be obtained via the IRF web site.

European News

The European Championships are going to be in Paris this summer rather than Barcelona, as originally scheduled. A new facility is being built in Barcelona, but it won't be ready in time, so the European Racquetball Federation (ERF) shifted the event to Paris.

Dates for the European Championships are August 3-8. Victor Montserrat from Catalonia (Barcelona region of Spain) and Marie-Josée Collet of France won the individual championships in 2007 in Italy, and Ireland won the team titles: men's, women's and overall.

Sevens were wild at the German Open earlier this month, as Martin Kippel won his 7th men's open title, and Yvonne Kortes won her 7th women's open title.

In Ireland, Noel O'Callaghan and Patrick Hanley have faced off in the finals of the last two tournaments, winning one each. O'Callaghan took the Irish National title, while Hanley won the Castlebar Open.

Over in Italy, Alberto Serfaty from Catalonia won the Italian Open in Brembate by defeating American Timothy Hardison in the final. Consuelo Del Prato of Italy won the women's title.

Follow the bouncing ball....