IRF World Junior Racquetball Championships - Day Two

The 24th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Junior Racquetball Championships in Canoga Park, California will finish their preliminary matches Tuesday with the elimination round beginning on Wednesday. Here's a review of what happened on Monday.

In Boy's U18, Americans Marco Rojas and Jose Diaz both won on Monday. Rojas defeated Padraic Ryder of Ireland, 15-4, 15-8, while Diaz beat Franco Capandegui of Argentina, 15-7, 15-3. Tuesday, Rojas will play Bolivian Esteban Reque of Bolivia and Diaz will play Canadian Ashton Duda, who's also undefeated so far.

In Girl's U18, Brittany Nelson of Canada was upset by Ana Cristina Velez of Ecuador, 14-15, 15-8, 11-4. Nelson was the #1 seed overall, as last year Canadian Frédérique Lambert won the Girl's U18 title.

Last year's silver medalist, Maria Jose Vargas of Bolivia again won comfortably Monday in defeating Dafne Macrino of Argentina, 15-5, 15-3.

Another interesting result in Girl's U18 came with Adriana Riveros of Bolivia defeating Mariana Tobon of Venezuela, 15-12, 15-12, as Tobon won on Sunday against Mexican Paloma Martinez. Martinez and Riveros will play Tuesday to close the preliminary round.

In Boy's U16, Canadian Coby Iwaasa defeated Luciano Garcia of Nicaragua, 15-12, 15-14, to finish the group undefeated. The final match in group A will be between Garcia and Mexican Francisco Javier Mar Garcia, who was seeded #1 overall going in but lost in a tie-breaker to Iwaasa on Sunday. As Iwaasa's win over Garcia on Monday was also close, Garcia and Mar Garcia should be one of the better matches on Tuesday.

In Girl's U16, the interest is in Group D, where Andrea Martinez of Guatemala defeated Maria Montero of the Dominican Republic in an 11-10 tie-breaker, winning 14-15, 15-12, 11-10. That's interesting because Montero defeated American Katilin Simmons in tie-breaker on Sunday. Martinez and Simmons will play Tuesday to end the preliminary round.

Play continues Tuesday and there is live streaming of some of the matches from California via the IRF website.

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