IRF World Juniors - Doubles results: Guatemala & Costa Rica with 1st gold ever

A couple of firsts in the doubles competition at the 24th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Junior Racquetball Championships in Canoga Park, California, as Guatemala and Costa Rica win gold for the first time in international racquetball. Guatemala won gold in Girl's U16 and Costa Rica in Girl's U14.

Girl's Divisions

Adriana Riveros and Maria Jose Vargas are the winners of Girl's U18 doubles, as they defeated Mexicans Alexandra Herrera and Natalia Villagomez on Friday, 13-15, 15-12, 11-0, to finish the five team round robin undefeated. The Mexicans finished 3rd with a 2-2 record, and the USA (Kelani Bailey & Samantha Simmons) was 2nd at 3-1. Rounding out the standings were Ireland (Aisling Hickey & Katie Kenny) at 1-3 and Canada (Zoe Hanson & Brittany Nelson) at 0-4.

There's one round left in the Girl's U16 doubles round robin, but the gold medalists have already been decided as Guatemalans Gabriela Martinez and Maria Renee Rodriguez were undefeated in their six matches, including a win over Mexico, 15-14, 15-8. It's the first gold medal for Guatemala at any level of international racquetball competition.

The Mexicans - Ximena Gonzalez and Lucia Gonzalez - will play USA (Kaitlin Simmons & Lexi York) for silver on Saturday.

There was a 3-way tie Girl's U14 with Mexico, Costa Rica and the USA all finishing with 4-1 win-loss records after the round robin was complete. But it seems Costa Ricans Melania Sauma and Sofia Soley came out on top with Mexicans Diana Aguilar and Mariel Morales second and Americans Jordan Cooperrider and Erika Manilla third.

Rounding out the Girl's U14 doubles standings were Canada at 2-3, Nicaragua (1-4) and Bolivia (0-5).

Boy's divisions

Americans Jose Diaz and Marco Rojas won Boy's U18 doubles going undefeated through the round robin competition, including a win on Friday over Bolivians Danilo Torrico and Vladimir Sona, 15-3, 15-7. That was the Bolivian's only loss, so they are the silver medalists. The bronze goes to Mexicans Salvador Ortiz and Missael Leija, who 3-2 after defeat Costa Rica (Daniel Homberger & Andres Fabian) on Friday, 15-6, 15-3.

The other teams - Canada (Ashton Duda & Samuel Murray), Guatemala (Pedro Manolo Sandoval & Edwin Haroldo Galicia) and Costa Rica - all finished at 1-4.

In Boy's U16, it'll be Mexico versus Canada in the final, as the top seeded Mexicans (Rodrigo Montoya & Francisco Javier Mar Garcia) defeated 4th seeds Costa Rica (Andres Acuña & Pablo Sauma) in a tie-breaker, 15-3, 14-15, 11-3. Canadians Coby Iwaasa and Sami Harb had an injury default win over the American team of Adam Manilla and Sawyer Lloyd, as Manilla was injured during his singles match against Iwaasa and could not play doubles.

Upsets in both semi-finals of Boy's U14 doubles, as 5th seed Costa Rica (Jose Ubila & Alexander Pirie) defeated #1 seed Mexico (Victor Camacho & Jordy Alonso), 15-14, 10-15, 11-9, and 3rd seed USA (Jordan Barth & Justus Benson) beat #2 seed Bolivia (Rodrigo Mendoza & Gonzalo Paco), 15-4, 7-15, 11-6.

Play concludes Saturday and 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

1. USA 5-0
2. Bolivia 4-1
3. Mexico 3-2
4. Canada 1-4
5. Costa Rica 1-4
6. Guatemala 1-4

Boy's U16 - Semi-finals

Mexico d. Costa Rica, 15-3, 14-15, 11-3
Canada d. USA, injury forfeit

Boy's U16 - Final

Mexico v. Canada

Boy's U14 Doubles - Semi-finals

Costa Rica d. Mexica, 15-14, 10-15, 11-9
USA d. Bolivia, 15-4, 7-15, 11-6

Boy's U14 - Final

USA v. Costa Rica

Girl's U18 Doubles

1.Bolivia 4-0
2. USA 3-1
3. Mexico 2-2
4. Ireland 1-3
5. Canada 0-3

Girl's U16 Doubles

1. Guatemala 6-0
2. Mexico 4-1
2. USA 4-1
3. Bolivia 2-3
4. Canada 1-4
4. Dominican Republic 1-4
6. Ecuador 0-5

Girl's U14 Doubles

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

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