IRF World Junior Championships - Doubles

They are also playing doubles at the 24th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Junior Racquetball Championships in Canoga Park, California, and the results so far are mostly as expected.

On the boy's side, they are playing a round robin in U18 as there were six teams entered. But there will be an effective final match as in the last round of the round robin the USA will play Bolivia and both teams are undefeated so far. Americans Jose Diaz and Marco Rojas will face off against Bolivians Danilo Torrico and Vladimir Sona on Friday.

Among the other four teams, three of them could finish with the same record: 2 wins and 3 losses, if Canadians Ashton Duda and Samuel Murray (now 1 & 3) defeat winless Guatemala (Pedro Manolo Sandoval and Edwin Haroldo Galicia) and Costa Ricans Daniel Homberger and Andres Fabian (1 & 3) beat Mexicans Salvador Ortiz and Missael Leija (2 & 2). A tie-breaker would be needed to determine the bronze medalists.

The final four countries in Boy's U16 and U14 almost the same, as USA, Mexico and Costa Rica are semi-finalists in both divisions. But in Boy's U16 Canada will play the USA and in U14 Bolivia plays the USA. Mexico and Costa Rica face each other in both divisions.

Girl's Divisions

Girl's U18 doubles is a five team round robin, and there could be a three team tie, if Mexico defeats Bolivia in the final round of matches on Friday. Currently, Mexico is 2-1, Bolivia 3-0 and the USA 3-1.

There are two rounds left in the Girl's U16 doubles round robin, which involves seven teams. Leading the group now is Guatemala, who are undefeated at 5-0, but they play another undefeated team in Mexico (4-0) on Friday, and that could determine the gold medalist.

"Could determine" because Mexico will have to play USA on Saturday, and the Americans are currently at 3-1, so if they win on Friday against Bolivia (2-2) and beat the Mexicans on Saturday, then the USA could be in a three way tie with Guatemala and Mexico, if Mexico defeats Guatemala on Friday.

The situation in Girl's U14 is also tricky, as there's a potential three way tie for first between Mexico, Costa Rica and the USA, who all have 3 and 1 records going into the last round of matches. In that last round, each of those teams plays one of the other three teams in the six team round robin. Mexico faces Canada (2-2); Costa Rica plays Nicaragua (1-3); and the USA will be up against Bolivia (0-4).

Play continues Friday and concludes Saturday. There is live streaming of matches from California via the IRF website.

24th IRF World Junior Racquetball Championships
Canoga Park, California

Boy's U18 Doubles

USA 4-0
Bolivia 4-0
Mexico 2-2
Canada 1-3
Costa Rica 1-3
Guatemala 0-4

Boy's U16 - Quarter finals

Mexico d. Ecuador, 15-5, 15-7
Costa Rica d. Dominican Republic, 14-15, 15-1, 11-2

USA d. Bolivia, 15-14, 15-5
Canada d. Guatemala, 15-8, 15-6

Boy's U16 - Semi-finals

Mexico v. Costa Rica
Canada v. USA

Boy's U14 Doubles - Quarter finals

Mexico d. Ecuador, 15-10, 15-5
Costa Rica d. Canada, 15-12, 15-3

USA d. Colombia, 15-6, 15-11
Bolivia d. Ireland, 15-1, 15-8

Boy's U14 Doubles - Semi-finals

Mexica v. Costa Rica
Bolivia v. USA

Girl's U18 Doubles

Bolivia 3-0
USA 3-1
Mexico 2-1
Canada 0-3
Ireland 0-3

Girl's U16 Doubles

Guatemala 5-0
Mexico 4-0
USA 3-1
Bolivia 2-2
Canada 1-4
Dominican Republic 0-4
Ecuador 0-4

Girl's U14 Doubles

Mexico 3-1
Costa Rica 3-1
USA 3-1
Canada 2-2
Nicaragua 1-3
Bolivia 0-4

Follow the bouncing ball....