17th IRF World Championships - Singles Draws

There were several surprising results in the group stage of the singles competition at the 17th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, which has made for Men's and Women's Singles elimination draws that likely don't please any country.

For example, Fernando Rios of Ecuador won Monday's match of the day, when he upset American Jose Rojas. That put Rios in the 3rd seed, which sounds great, except that Mexican Polo Gutierrez is in the 35th spot as he was bottom of his group due to forfeiting a match in the group stage.

That means that Rios will likely play Gutierrez in the Round of 32, providing Gutierrez wins his match against Irishman Patrick Hanley in the Round of 64.

Not quite the benefit that Rios would have liked from his win over Rojas. And it's not good for Rojas either, as he's slotted into the 20th spot, which means he's on the top of the draw with countryman Rocky Carson, so no all-USA final. Moreover, Rojas is in the quarter of the draw with Mexican Alvaro Beltran, so they could meet in the quarter-finals.

On the women's side, the two USA players are also on the top of the draw, as Aubrey Kirch lost one of her group stage matches - to Ecuador's Maria Paz Muñoz - and they could meet in the Round of 16, which means only one medal is possible for the USA in women's singles.

This will be the first World Championships that the USA hasn't double medalled in Women's Singles since 2006, when only Cheryl Gudinas made the podium with a bronze medal.

The Argentine women of Maria Jose Vargas and Veronique Guillemette played well in the group stage, but Vargas lost to Colombian Cristina Amaya on Monday, which puts the two Argentine women in the same part of the elimination draw. They could meet in the 16s if they both win their Round of 32 matches.

Mexico may be relatively happy with the women's draw, as Paola Longoria is the 2nd seed and Samantha Salas is the 4th seed, as both went through the group stage undefeated. That means they could meet in the final, which would be the first time a World Championship has been between two players from the same country since 2008, when Americans Rajsich and Gudinas played off with Rajsich winning her first World title.

There's never been a Women's Singles World Championship final with two players from the same country other than the USA. Only once has a Men's Singles World Championship final been between two non-Americans. In 1994, Canadians Sherman Greenfeld and Mike Ceresia played in the final, with Greenfeld winning his first of two World titles.

The singles elimination round begins Tuesday.

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

Rocky Carson (USA) - BYE
Michael Barrett (Puerto Rico) v. Pedro Manolo Sandoval (Guatemala)

Victor Montserrat (Catalunya) - BYE
Daeyong Kwon (South Korea) - BYE

Sebastian Franco (Colombia) - BYE
Francisco Troncoso (Chile) - BYE

Pablo Kurzbard (Argentina) v. Timothy Baghurst (England)
Takaaki Hirose (Japan) - BYE

Alvaro Beltran (Mexico) - BYE
Fernando Rivera (Puerto Rico) v. Jose Daniel Ugalde (Ecuador)

Alejandro Herrera (Colombia) - BYE
Ezequiel Paez (Venezuela) - BYE

Ramon De Leon (Dominican Republic) - BYE
Jose Rojas (USA) - BYE

Edwin Galicia (Guatamala) v. Rodrigo Salgado (Chile)
Samuel Murray (Canada) - BYE

Fernando Rios (Ecuador) - BYE
Polo Gutierrez (Mexico) v. Patrick Hanley (Ireland)

Roberto Santander (Venezuela) - BYE
Andres Aviles Solera (Costa Rica) - BYE

Conrado Moscoso (Bolivia) - BYE
Fernando Kurzbard (Argentina) - BYE

Alok Mehta (India) v. Anthony DeFusto (Ukraine)
Michimune Kono (Japan) - BYE

Felipe Camacho (Costa Rica) - BYE
Mingyu Kim (South Korea) v. Mark Murphy (Ireland)

Dani Pascual (Catalunya) - BYE
Carlos Keller (Bolivia) - BYE

Junior Rodriguez (Dominican Republic) - BYE
Noslen Jimenez (Cuba) - BYE

Rajiv Varadarajan (India) v. Peter Rakowski (Poland)
Tim Landeryou (Canada) - BYE

Women's Singles

Rhonda Rajsich (USA) - BYE
Anna Ventura (Catalunya) v. Disney Linares Barreras (Cuba)

Mariana Tobon (Venezuela) - BYE
Aubrey Kirch (USA) - BYE

Carla Muñoz (Chile) - BYE
Harumi Kajino (Japan) - BYE

Bat Consegal (Catalunya) - BYE
Cristina Amaya (Colombia) - BYE

Veronica Sotomayor (Ecuador) - BYE
Claudia Andreade (Columbia) - BYE

Aisling Hickey (Ireland) - BYE
Michèle Morissette (Canada) - BYE

Natalia Mendez (Bolivia) - BYE
Sofia Soley Saborio (Costa Rica) - BYE

Samantha Salas (Mexico) - BYE
Maiko Sato (Japan) - BYE

Maria Paz Muñoz (Ecuador) - BYE
Maria Paz Riquelme (Chile) - BYE

Mariana Paredes (Venezuela) - BYE
Christine Richardson (Canada) - BYE

Maria Jose Vargas (Argentina) - BYE
Maria Cespedes (Dominican Republic) - BYE

Ana Gabriela Martinez (Guatemala) - BYE
Veronique Guillemette (Argentina) - BYE

Maria Rene Rodriguez (Guatemala) - BYE
Jung Eun Ane (Korea) - BYE

Donna Ryder (Ireland) - BYE
Jin Young Seok (South Korea) - BYE

Jenny Daza (Bolivia) - BYE
Melania Sauma Masis (Costa Rica) - BYE

Merynaanyelly Delgado Araujo (Dominican Republic) - BYE
Paola Longoria (Mexico) - BYE

Follow the bouncing ball....