PARC XXVII Pan Am Championships - Doubles Preview

The doubles draws are out for the elimination round of the XXVII Pan American Racquetball Championships in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and Mexico and the USA are the #1 and #2 seeds, respectively, on the both the men's and women's draws.

That the USA is 2nd seed on the men's side was a surprise, as they lost to the Dominican Republic in one of their preliminary matches. But in that group there was a tie between three teams - USA, Dominican Republic and Costa Rica - and by points the USA came first, Costa Rica second and the Dominican third.

The ultimate loser from that could be Canada, as they will face the Dominicans in the first round of the elimination draw. Also, as 2nd seed the USA is on the bottom of the draw, which looks weaker to our eyes, as Mexico, Bolivia, Canada and that solid Dominican team of veteran Luis Perez and young gun Junior Rodriguez, are all on the top half of the draw.

In the women's draw, the situation is reversed as the lower half of the draw looks stronger with the USA, Bolivia, Ecuador and Argentina all on the bottom and Mexico, Canada and Colombia on the top.

The elimination rounds will begin Wednesday after a rest day on Tuesday.

In last year's Pan Am Championships, Mexicans Polo Gutierrez and Javier Moreno won the men's title, and American Rhonda Rajsich and Sharon Jackson won the women's title. Neither Mexican is playing doubles this year, although Gutierrez is in singles, but Rajsich is in doubles. Janel Tisinger is her partner this year, but they also won women's doubles gold in 2007.

There will be live streaming of the elimination round semi-finals and finals on Friday and Saturday - April 18 and 19 - via the IRT Network.

XXVII Pan American Racquetball Championships
Santa Cruz, Bolivia - April 12-19, 2014

Women's Doubles

Susana Acosta & Samantha Salas Solis (Mexico) - BYE
Melania Sauma & Sofia Soley (Costa Rica) v. Maria Renee Rodriguez & Gabriella Martinez (Guatemala)

Cristina Amaya & Carolina Gomez (Colombia) v. Maria Cespedes & Merynanyelly Delgado (Dominican Republic)
Frédérique Lambert & Josée Grand'Maître (Canada) v. Irene Caballero & Giulia Barboni (Panama)

Jenny Daza & Carola Loma (Bolivia) v. Pamela Sierra & Paula Padilla (Honduras)
Maria Jose Vargas & Véronique Guillemette (Argentina) v. Mariana Tobon & Mariana Parades (Venezuela)

Veronica Sotomayor & Maria Paz Muñoz (Ecuador) v. Carla Muñoz & Maria Paz Riquelme (Chile)
Rhonda Rajsich & Janel Tisinger (USA) v. Raquel Perez & Johan Martin (Puerto Rico)

Men's Doubles

Daniel De La Rosa & Edson Martinez (Mexico) - BYE
Joaquin Solera & Pablo Sauma (Costa Rica) v. Francisco Troncoso & Mauricio Suarez (Chile)

Tim Landeryou & Pedro Castro (Canada) v. Luis Perez & Junior Rodriguez (Dominican Republic)
Ricardo Monroy & Roland Keller (Bolivia) v. Gustavo Farrel & Diego Vognione (Uruguay)

Daniel Maggi & Shai Mazuri (Argentina) v. Miguel Santiago & Jayson Jordan (Puerto Rico)
Sebastian Franco & Alejandro Herrera (Colombia) v. Fernando Rios & Jose Daniel Alvarez (Ecuador)

Cesar Castillo & Cesar Castro (Venezuela) v. Pedro Manolo Sandoval & Edwin Garcia (Guatemala)
Jose Rojas & David Horn (USA) v. Selvin Cruz & Sergio Baires (Honduras)

Follow the bouncing ball....