16th IRF World Championships - Team Competition Day 1

The early round results are in for the men's and women's team competition at the 16th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. No major surprises so far as the top three seeded countries - USA, Canada and Mexico - all won their matches.

On the men's side, there were some notable results such as the Argentinian men defeating Venezuela, 2-1, with the doubles match deciding matters, and that the Dominican Republic men defeated Costa Rica in two straight games.

Women's Semis are seeds 1, 2, 3 and … 13?

The American women advanced to the semi-finals with a 2-0 quarter final victory over Ecuador, but it wasn't that easy, as the American doubles team of Aimee Ruiz and Rhonda Rajsich defeated Maria Paz Muñoz and Cristina Cordova, 15-3, 15-13, and then Rajsich needed a tie-breaker against Muñoz, and only won that 11-10 (the match score line was 15-13, 7-15, 11-10).

The other women's top seeds had easier times of it, as the 2nd seeded Canadian team didn't drop a game in advancing to the semis, and 3rd seed Mexico had a walk-over win against Chile in the quarters.

Joining the top three seeds in the semis is 13th seeded Colombia, as Cristina Amaya seems to have hit her stride after some disappointing results earlier in the week. She was involved in all four Colombian match wins Thursday that saw Colombia defeat 4th seeds Bolivia, 2-1, winning the deciding doubles match in a tie-breaker with partner Carolina Gomez, and then 5th seeds Japan, 2-0.

Amaya will be further tested Friday when she and Gomez face the top seeded US team. Mexico and Canada will play off on the bottom of the draw. Of note, Canada has rearranged its team, as Frédérique Lambert is sitting out due to a chronic shoulder injury. Jennifer Saunders is playing both singles and doubles with Josée Grand'Maître, and Brandi Jacobson Prentice is also playing singles.

The women's semi-finals will be Friday and final on Saturday, and the men's quarter finals and semi-finals on Friday and final on Saturday.

Matches will be streamed via the IRF website.

16th IRF World Championships
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Men's Team Competition

First Round

Honduras d. Puerto Rico, 2-1
Colombia d. Panama, 2-0

Round of 16

USA d. Honduras, 2-0
Japan d. South Korea, 2-0

Argentina d. Venezuela, 2-1
Bolivia d. Guatamala, 2-0

Mexico d. India, 2-0
Dominican Republic d. Costa Rica, 2-0

Ecuador d. Ireland, 2-0
Canada d. Columbia, 2-0

Quarter finals

USA v. Japan
Bolivia v. Argentina

Mexico v. Dominican Republic
Canada v. Ecuador

Women's Team Competition

Round of 16

USA d. Panama, 2-0
Ecuador d. Venezuela, 2-0

Japan d. Costa Rica, 2-1
Colombia d. Bolivia, 2-1

Mexico d. Argentina, 2-0
Chile d. Dominican Republic, 2-1

Guatamala d. South Korea, 2-1
Canada d. Puerto Rico, 2-0

Quarter finals

USA d. Ecuador, 2-0
Colombia d. Japan, 2-0

Mexico d. Chile, 2-0
Canada d. Guatamala, 2-0

Semi-finals

USA v. Colombia
Canada v. Mexico

Follow the bouncing ball....