17th IRF World Championships - Day 2

The group stages of the 17th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships continued Sunday in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, and there were a few upsets by the seedings, which are based on performances in last three World Championships.

Some notable performances on Sunday include a comeback by the Canadian doubles team of Vincent Gagnon and Mike Green, who were down 14-7 in game two of their match against Colombians Sebastian Franco and Alejandro Herrera, and looked to be going to a tie-breaker, as the Canadians had won game one.

But the veteran Canadian team kept at it, and came back to win game two 15-14 and take the match in two straight, 15-8, 15-14.

Mexican Polo Gutierrez has arrived in Burlington after having some visa problems, and he won his match on Sunday, defeating Daeyong Kwon of South Korea, 15-3, 14-15, 11-4.

And kudos to Kwon as he forced Gutierrez, the 2012 World Championships silver medalist, to a tie-breaker, and also went tie-breaker yesterday with Felipe Camacho of Costa Rica. Two good performances by Kwon.

Veronique Guillemette of Argentina has also turned in two good performances, as she's won her first two matches, including a win against Natalia Mendez of Bolivia on Sunday, 15-10, 15-14, and looks on track to take the 6th seed spot, despite coming into the tournament in the 31st spot.

There will be live streaming of the semi-finals and finals on Friday and Saturday via the IRF Network.

17th IRF World Championships
June 14-21, 2014
Burlington, Ontario, Canada

Men's Singles

Group A

Rocky Carson (USA) d. Fernando Kurzbard (Argentina), 15-11, 15-4
Norlen Jimenez (Cuba) d. Jose Daniel Ugalde (Ecuador), 15-10, 15-14

Group B

Tim Landeryou (Canada) d. Victor Montserrat (Catalunya), 15-1, 15-7
Ezequiel Paez (Venezuela) d. Anthony DeFusto (Ukraine), 15-13, 9-15, 11-0

Group C

Jose Rojas (USA) d. Pablo Kurzbard (Argentina), 15-6, 15-11
Fernando Rios (Ecuador) d. Peter Rakowski (Poland), 15-0, 15-1

Group D

Samuel Murray (Canada) d. Dani Pascual (Catalunya), 15-1, 15-6
Roberto Santander (Venezuela) d. Timothy Baghurst (England), forfeit

Group E

Alvaro Beltran (Mexico) d. Mingyu Kim (South Korea), 15-2, 15-7
Andres Aviles Solera (Costa Rica) d. Michael Barrett (Puerto Rico), 15-8, 15-1

Group F

Michimune Kono (Japan) d. Francisco Troncoso (Chile), 15-5, 15-11
Ramon De Leon (Dominican Republic) d. Rajiv Varadarajan (India), 15-7, 15-10

Group G

Polo Gutierrez (Mexico) d. Daeyong Kwon (South Korea), 15-3, 14-15, 11-4
Felipe Camacho (Costa Rica) d. Fernando Rivera (Puerto Rico), 15-9, 15-11

Group H

Takaaki Hirose (Japan) d. Rodrigo Salgado (Chile), 15-4, 15-3
Junior Rodriguez (Dominican Republic) d. Alok Mehta (India), 15-3, 15-6

Group I

Sebastian Franco (Colombia) d. Mark Murphy (Ireland), 15-5, 15-12
Conrado Moscoso (Bolivia) d. Edwin Galicia (Guatamala), 15-5, 15-14

Group J

Carlos Keller (Bolivia) d. Pedro Manolo Sandoval (Guatemala), forfeit
Alejandro Herrera (Colombia) d. Patrick Hanley (Ireland), 15-8, 15-4

Women's Singles

Group A

Melania Sauma Masis d. Mariana Paredes (Venezuela), 11-15, 15-14, 11-6
Rhonda Rajsich (USA) - BYE

Group B

Mariana Tobon (Venezuela) d. Sofia Soley Saborio (Costa Rica), 15-9, 15-13
Paola Longoria (Mexico) - BYE

Group C

Maria Paz Muñoz (Ecuador) d. Aisling Hickey (Ireland), 15-8, 15-5
Aubrey Kirch (USA) - BYE

Group D

Samantha Salas (Mexico) d. Maria Cespedes (Dominican Republic), 15-6, 15-1
Jenny Daza (Bolivia) d. Disney Linares Barreras (Cuba), 15-4, 15-0

Group E

Christine Richardson (Canada) d. Donna Ryder (Ireland), 15-3, 15-4
Veronica Sotomayor (Ecuador) d. Anna Ventura (Catalunya), 15-1, 15-1

Group F

Veronique Guillemette (Argentina) d. Natalia Mendez (Bolivia), 15-10, 15-14
Harumi Kajino (Japan) d. Merynaanyelly Delgado Araujo (Dominican Republic), 15-4, 15-3

Group G

Maria Rene Rodriguez (Guatemala) d. Michèle Morissette (Canada), 15-9, 15-12
Bat Consegal (Catalunya) d. Maria Paz Riquelme (Chile), 15-7, 11-15, 11-5

Group H

Maria Jose Vargas (Argentina) d. Jung Eun Ane (Korea), 15-11, 15-2
Cristina Amaya (Colombia) d. Maiko Satoh (Japan), 15-9, 15-12

Group I

Jin Seok (South Korea) d. Ana Gabriela Martinez (Guatemala), 15-9, 15-8
Carla Muñoz (Chile) d. Claudia Andreade (Columbia), 15-3, 15-5

Men's Doubles

Group A

Ben Croft & Thomas Fuhrmann (USA) - BYE
Joaquin Solera & Pablo Sauma Masis (Costa Rica) d. Rodrigo Salgado & Francisco Troncoso (Chile), 15-3, 15-7

Group B

Alvaro Beltran & Edson Martinez (Mexico) d. Luis Perez & Junior Rodriguez (Dominican Republic), 15-6, 15-9
Edwin Galicia & Pedro Manolo Sandoval (Guatemala) - BYE

Group C

Cesar Castillo & Cesar Castro (Venezuela) d. Mingyu Kim & Daeyong Kwon (South Korea), 15-6, 15-11
Fernando Rios & Jose Daniel Alvarez (Ecoador) d. Victor Montserrat & Dani Pascual (Catalunya), 15-0, 15-2

Group D

Mike Green & Vincent Gagnon (Canada) d. Alejandro Herrera & Sebastian Franco (Colombia), 15-8, 15-14
Hiroshi Shimizu & Michimune Kono (Japan) d. Michael Barrett & Fernando Rivera (Puerto Rico), 15-6, 15-2

Group E

Daniel Maggi & Shai Manzuri (Argentina) d. Pat O'Donnell & Conor Skehan (Ireland), 15-5, 15-3
Conrado Moscos & Mario Mercado (Bolivia) d. Pratap Ballalasamudra & Sumeet Kamat (india), 15-3, 15-2

Women's Doubles

Group A

Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas Solis (Mexico) d. Mariana Paredes & Mariana Tobon (Venezuela), 15-8, 15-1
Jin Seok & Jung Eun Ane (South Korea) d. Anna Ventura & Bet Consegal (Catalunya), forfeit

Group B

Aimee Ruiz & Janel Tisinger (USA) d. Maria Renee Rodriguez & Gabriela Martinez (Guatemala), 15-6, 15-4
Véronique Guillemette & Maria Jose Vargas (Argentina) d. Maria Paz Muñoz & Veronica Sotomayor (Ecuador), 15-9, 15-10

Group C

Frédérique Lambert & Jennifer Saunders (Canada) d. Majella Haventry & Katie Kenny (Ireland), 15-11, 15-4
Natalia Mendez & Adriana Riveros (Bolivia) d. Maria Cespedes & Merynanyelly Delgado Araujo (Dominican Republic), 15-6, 15-5

Group D

Angela Grisar & Carla Muñoz (Chile) d. Melania Sauma Masis & Sofia Soley Saborio (Costa Rica), 15-5, 15-6
Cristina Amaya & Claudia Andrade (Colombia) d. Maiko Satoh & Naomi Wakimoto (Japan), 15-6, 4-15, 11-9

Follow the bouncing ball....