Better or worse than Memphis?
The Racquetball Blog staff asked several people whether they felt the move to Minneapolis from Memphis was better or worse. The general feeling was that this has been a move for the better. The event is now right downtown, and the main club - Lifetime Fitness at the Target Center - has more courts than The Racquet Club in Memphis, so it can accommodate more of the matches.
Moreover, the other locations - also Lifetime Fitness clubs - are also very nice and pleasant places to play.
We did miss The Fox and Hound, as that was the primary place to socialize in Memphis, as it was located right between The Racquet Club and the Doubletree Inn hotel. In Minneapolis, there are a lot more choices, which could dilute the social atmosphere, but the tournament did designate places to be each night and that was helpful.
WPRO Awards
Saturday night the Women's Professional Racquetball Organization (WPRO) gave out its awards for the past season. Two of the awards when to Mexicans, as Paola Longoria was the Player of the Year and Samantha Salas was named Most Improved Player. Also, Keely Franks won the Janet Myers Sportsmanship Award.
Open Division Winners
In the Men's Open division, Canadian Vincent Gagnon won the title for a 2nd consecutive year, beating fellow Canuck Tim Landeryou in the final, 15-6, 15-13. The last 8 Men's Open titles have gone to non-Americans, as Mexican players won this division the six years prior to Gagnon's victory last year.
In the semi-finals, Gagnon defeated Canadian Kris Odegard, 4-15, 15-9, 11-7, and Landeryou defeated American Taylor Knoth, 15-5, 15-4.
On the women's side, Nancy Enriquez of Mexico defeated American Aubrey O'brien, 9-15, 15-8, 11-8. In the semis, Enriquez beat Canadian Frédérique Lambert, 15-12, 15-13, and O'brien defeated Chilen Angela Grisar, 15-12, 9-15, 11-7.
Men's Open Doubles went to Jansen Allen and Tony Carson after they defeated Alejandro Herrera and Alejandro Landa, 15-13, 15-13. The women's Open Doubles title was taken by Brandi Jacobson Prentice and Keely Franks.
Beat 'im with a frying pan! - UPDATED
KARE, a Minneapolis television station, did a piece on Kane Waselenchuk before the tournament, and had their reporter rally with the Champ. After a few rallies, Waselenchuk suggests he try to level the playing field and switches from a racquet to a frying pan... with the same result.
Other video coverage of the US Open can be viewed at the US Open YouTube channel.
2011 US Open
Doug Ganim, US Open Tournament Director, announced that next year's US Open would be held one week later, as many of the top players from the Americas will be playing for their country at the 2011 Pan American Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico next October.
Thus, the 2011 US Open will be October 26 to 30.
Follow the bouncing ball....
Monday, October 25, 2010
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6 comments:
Awesome read as always guys. Thanks for putting in some great authorship on the sport.
I'm curious if the US Open Facebook team asked if they could post your ENTIRE ARTICLE with no link back to your site...at best, that seems pretty lame.
Awesome read as always guys. Thanks for putting in some great authorship on the sport.
I'm curious if the IRT Facebook team asked if they could post your ENTIRE ARTICLE with no link back to your site...at best, that seems pretty lame.
link: http://tinyurl.com/2b9ovvp
Regarding the story about Kane playing with a frying pan... So to all of us who worry about which racquet brand and model to use to improve our game the morale of the story is it doesn't matter... to no surprise anyways...
hmmmm...I think I've missed something here. Is the author of this blog officially tied to the IRT?
The Racquetball Blog is not associated with the IRT or WPRO or any other racquetball organization, although we may help them on occasion. Hence, our tagline "Independent writing and reporting on racquetball."
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