IRF World Junior Championships begins Sunday

The 24th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Junior Racquetball Championships will begin Sunday in Canoga Park, California. It's the second time in three years this event has been in Canoga Park, which annually hosts the California Open - an International Racquetball Tour (IRT) event in early January.

Last year, when World Juniors were in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Mexico players were the biggest winners. Four Mexicans won two gold medals: Rodrigo Montoya in Boys U14, Rodrigo Garay in Boys U16, Diana Aguilar in Girls U14 and Alexandra Herrera in Girls U16.

Americans earned ten medals last year and Bolivians eight, but the Bolivian medals were more often gold and silver and the USA bronze. Specifically, Bolivia had two gold, five silver and one bronze while the USA one gold, two silver and seven bronze. The complete summary of last year's medalists is below.

The top divisions - Boys and Girls U18 - should be relatively open compared to last year, as most of the medalists from 2011 won't be in California this year, while several of the 2010 medalists did compete last year.

Thus, it should be a wide open and exciting week of racquetball coming up. The IRF will be streaming some of the matches via their website.

2011 IRF World Junior Racquetball Championships
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Boy's 14 and Under
Singles
1st Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico)
2nd Marcelo Vargas (Bolivia)
3rd Coby Iwaasa (Canada) and Hansel Martinez (Guatemala)

Doubles
1st Rodrigo Montoya & Erik Garcia (Mexico)
2nd Marcelo Vargas & Cristhian Mina (Bolivia)
3rd Coby Iwaasa & Matthew Swaine (Canada) and Jake Birnel & Jacob Matthews (USA)

Boy's 16 and Under
Singles
1st Rodrigo Garay (Mexico)
2nd Andres Acuna (Costa Rica)
3rd Adam Manilla (USA) and Ramon Yanez (Mexico)

Doubles
1st Rodrigo Garay & Eduardo Garay (Mexico)
2nd Junior Rodriguez & Francisco De Leon (Dominican Republic)
3rd Stevie Quinn & Cono Skehan (Ireland) and Adam Manilla & Nick Riffel (USA)

Boy's 18 and Under
Singles
1st Carlos Keller (Bolivia)
2nd Daniel De La Rosa (Mexico)
3rd Jaime Martell (Mexico) and Nick Montalbano (USA)

Doubles
1st Josh Hungerford & Nick Montalbano (USA)
2nd Carlos Keller Vargas & Jorge Luis Michel (Bolivia)
3rd Kurtis Cullen & Samuel Murray (Canada) and Daniel De La Rosa & Missael Leija (Mexico)

Girl's 14 and Under
Singles
1st Diana Aguilar (Mexico)
2nd Natalia Mendez (Bolivia)
3rd Nathaly Mina (Bolivia) & Michelle Morissette (Canada)

Doubles
1st Monserrat Perez & Diana Aguilar (Mexico)
2nd Danielle Drury & Michelle Morissette (Canada)
3rd Krystle Boyle & Lexi York (USA) and Melania Sauma & Sofia Soley (Costa Rica)

Girl's 16 and Under
Singles
1st Alexandra Herrera (Mexico)
2nd Kelani Bailey (USA)
3rd Maria Renee Rodriguez (Guatemala) and Mariana Tobon (Venezuela)

Doubles (round robin)
1st Alexandra Herrera & Ximena Gonzalez (Mexico)
2nd Kelani Bailey & Mercedes Arias (USA)
3rd Ana Gabriela Martinez & Maria Renee Rodriguez (Guatemala)

Girl's 18 and Under
Singles
1st Frédérique Lambert (Canada)
2nd Maria Jose Vargas (Bolivia)
3rd Devon Pimentelli (USA) and Sofia Rascon (Mexico)

Doubles
1st Maria Jose Vargas & Adriana Riveros (Bolivia)
2nd Sofia Rascon & Elena Robles (Mexico)
3rd Frédérique Lambert & Valerie Fallu (Canada) and Amanda Lindsey & Jessica Munoz (USA)

Medal Summary by Country
Mexico 8 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze
Bolivia 2, 5, 1
USA 1, 2, 7
Canada 1, 1, 5
Guatemala 0, 0, 3
Costa Rica 0, 1, 1
Dominican Republic 0, 1, 0
Ireland 0, 0, 1
Venezuela 0, 0, 1

Follow the bouncing ball....