2015 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics - Review

The USA Racquetball Junior Olympics wrapped up on Sunday in Stockton, California. We have a summary of the results below, but we noting the number of participants. There were 193 players in Stockton, which is up from 154 in 2014 and 143 in 2013.

A large part of the increase is due to the number of Californians participating. Call it the host state bump. Sixty five Californians participated this year, up from 25 in 2014, and 21 in 2013. Last year when Colorado hosted the event there were 21 Colorado players in the event, compared to 9 this year. Two years ago, Iowa hosted the Junior Olympics, and there were 22 Iowans participating compared to six this year. The 2016 Junior Olympics will be in Minnesota, so based on the host state bump, we'd expected about 25 Minnesotans in the draw, as there were eight Minnesotans in Stockton.

More significantly, the number of girls participating has increased for the second consecutive year. There were 59 girls playing in Stockton compared to 44 in Colorado and 31 in Iowa. Girls made up 30.6% of the participants this year, up slightly from last year’s 28.6%, but significantly up from 21.7% in 2013.

Curiously, the number of girls in the lower age divisions is greater than the number in the older age divisions. Twenty six girls played in the U14, U16 and U18 divisions while 33 played in the age divisions below that. Whether all those younger players will continue to play into their teenage years remains to be seen.

Nonetheless, for several years now, we’ve been wondering where the female participation in USA racquetball events has been. It’s nice to see that the girls numbers are up at the Junior Olympics.

Traditionally in junior events, the Boy’s U16 is the largest, and this year was no exception, as 37 players were entered in that division in Stockton, compared to 33 in Boy’s U14 and 14 Boy’s U18.

You can see some of the matches from the 2015 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics at the In-Shape Sport West Lane in Stockton, California via the USA Racquetball Livestream channel.

2015 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics
Stockton, California

Boy's U14

1st - Akul Ramayani (Poughkeepsie, NY)
2nd - Antonio Rojas (Stockton, CA)
3rd - Sahil Thakur (Tracy, CA)
4th - Mitchell Turner (Salem, OR)

Boy's U16

1st - Jordan Barth (Cold Spring, MN)
2nd - Mauro Rojas (Stockton, CA)
3rd - Kevin Vazquez (Miami, FL)
4th - Wayne Antone IV (Eugene, OR)

Boy's U18

1st - Sam Bredenbeck (Marine On St Croix, MN)
2nd - Mauro Rojas (Stockton, CA)
3rd - Jake Birnel (Bellingham, WA)
4th Thomas Carter (Murrysville, PA)

Girl's U14

1st - Briana Jacquet (Phoenix, AZ)
2nd - Kaitlyn Boyle (Beaverton, OR)
3rd - Nikita Chauhan (San Ramon, CA)
4th - Elena Dent (Lumberton, NC)

Girl's U16

1st - Erika Manilla (Centennial, CO)
2nd - Jordan Cooperrider (Palm Harbor, FL)
3rd - Hollie Scott (Lynden, WA)
4th - Kristine Holman (Salem, OR)

Girl's U18

1st - Lexi York (Milwakie, Ore.)
2nd - Brittany Click (Huffman, TX)
3rd - Karina Quintanilla (Harlingen, TX)
4th - Kara Piepenbrink (Tampa, FL)
5th - Aadhilakshmi Balasubramanian (Belle Mead, NJ)

Boy's U18 Doubles

1st - Sam Bredenbeck (Marine On St Croix, Minn.) & Jake Birnel (Bellingham, WA)
2nd - Thomas Carter (Murrysville, PA) & Kyle Ulliman (Westerville, PA)
3rd - Hayden Farmer (Trophy Club, TX) & Carlos Reyes (Janesville, WI)
4th - Luis Avila (Wilmington, CA) & Justin Ide (Beaverton, OR)
5th - Lukas Le (Arlington, TX) & Nicholas Pavloski (Kingwood, TX)
6th - Eric McEnnis (Port St. Lucie, FL) & Trevor John (Reno, NV)

Boy's U16 Doubles

1st - Wayne Antone IV (Eugene, OR) & Kevin Vazquez (Miami, FL)
2nd - Jordan Barth (Cold Spring, MN) & Justus Benson (Sun Prairie, WI)
3rd - Ellis Syke (Coon Rapids, MN) & Noah Little (Ayden, NC)
4th - Justin Ide (Beaverton, OR) & Gavin Usher (Portland, OR)

Boy's U14 Doubles

1st - Julian Singh (Pleasanton, CA) & Mitchell Turner (Salem, OR)
2nd - Brian Barberis (McKinney, TX) & Nick Birnel (Bellingham, WA)
3rd - Ben Baron (Phoenix) & Tommy Andraos (Laguna Niguel, CA)
4th - Micah Farmer (Trophy Club, Texas) & Lucas Shoemaker (Bettendorf, IA)

Girl's U16/U18 Doubles

1st - Jordan Cooperrider (Palm Harbor, Fla.) & Erika Manilla (Centennial, Col.)
2nd - Hollie Scott (Lynden, WA) & Lexi York (Milwakie, Ore.)
3rd - Karina Quintanilla (Harlingen, Tex.) & Daniela Torres (San Antonio, Tex.)
5th - Kristine Holman (Salem, Ore.) & Madison Kerzel (Salem, Ore.)
6th - Alanna Shea (Cortland Manor, NY) & Reena Sheth (Amawalk, NY)

Girl's U14 Doubles

1st - Brian Jacquet (Phoenix) & Kaitlyn Boyle (Beaverton, OR)
2nd - Graciana Wargo (Clearwater, FL) & Elena Dent (Lumberton, NC)
3rd - Nikita Chauhan (San Ramon, CA) & Megan Carver (Spokane, WA)

Follow the bouncing ball….

Bredenbeck wins twice Sunday at USA Racquetball Junior Olympics

Sam Bredenbeck played twice and won twice Sunday at the 2015 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics hosted by the In-Shape Sport West Lane Club in Stockton, California, as he defeated Mauro Rojas, 15-11, 15-11, to win Boy's U18 Singles, and teamed up with Jake Birnel to beat Thomas Carter and Kyle Ulliman, 15-13, 6-15, 11-9, for the Boy's U18 Doubles title.

The good news for Rojas was that he was in two finals on Sunday. The bad news was that he lost both, as Jordan Barth defeated him in the Boy's U16 Singles final, 15-12, 15-11.

Unlike fellow Minnesotan Bredenbeck, Barth was unable to do the the double, as he and Justus Benson lost the Boy's U16 Doubles final to Wayne Antone IV and Kevin Vazquez in two straight games, 15-11, 15-7. It was a measure of revenge for Antone, who lost to Barth in the semi-finals of singles.

Akul Ramayani and Antonio Rojas played twice Sunday, as they met in both the Boy's U12 and U14 finals. Rojas won the Boy's U12 final, 15-10, 15-8, while Ramayani won Boy's U14, 15-12, 15-2.

Lexi York won Girl's U18 Singles by finishing undefeated in the round robin with a win over Karina Quintanilla, 10-15, 15-3, 11-1. Brittany Click was second and Quntanilla third.

Erika Manilla and Jordan Cooperrider won the Girl's U16/18 Doubles division by defeating York and Hollie Scott and York, 15-13, 15-11.

In a replay of last year's Girl's U14 Singles final, Briana Jacquet reversed the outcome from 2014 on Sunday, as she defeated Kaitlyn Boyle, 15-8, 15-8. Jacquet and Boyle teamed up in Girl's U14 Doubles and won the title by sweeping three team round robin.

You can see the matches from the 2015 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics at the In-Shape Sport West Lane in Stockton, California via the USA Racquetball Livestream channel.

The 2016 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics will be in Minnesota.

2015 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics
Stockton, California

Boy's U14

Final

Akul Ramayani (Poughkeepsie, NY) d. Antonio Rojas (Stockton, CA), 15-12, 15-2

3rd place

Sahil Thakur (Tracy, CA) d. Mitchell Turner (Salem, OR), 15-3, 15-3

Boy's U16

Final

Jordan Barth (Cold Spring, MN) d. Mauro Rojas (Stockton, CA), 15-12, 15-11

3rd place

Kevin Vazquez (Miami, FL) d. Wayne Antone IV (Eugene, OR)

Boy's U18

Final

Sam Bredenbeck (Marine On St Croix, MN) d. Mauro Rojas (Stockton, CA), 15-11, 15-11

3rd place

Jake Birnel (Bellingham, WA) d. Thomas Carter (Murrysville, PA), 12-15, 15-12, 11-9

Girl's U14

Final

Briana Jacquet (Phoenix, AZ) d. Kaitlyn Boyle (Beaverton, OR), 15-8, 15-8

3rd place

Nikita Chauhan (San Ramon, CA) d. Elena Dent (Lumberton, NC), 3-15, 15-12, 11-10

Girl's U16

Final

Erika Manilla (Centennial, CO) d. Jordan Cooperrider (Palm Harbor, FL), 15-12, 15-4

3rd place

Hollie Scott (Lynden, WA) d. Kristine Holman (Salem, OR), 15-2, 15-1

Girl's U18 - Round Robin

1st - Lexi York (Milwakie, Ore.) 4-0
2nd - Brittany Click (Huffman, TX) 3-1
3rd - Karina Quintanilla (Harlingen, TX) 2-2
4th - Kara Piepenbrink (Tampa, FL) 1-3
5th - Aadhilakshmi Balasubramanian (Belle Mead, NJ) 0-4

Boy's U18 Doubles - Round Robin - Sunday matches

1st - Sam Bredenbeck (Marine On St Croix, Minn.) & Jake Birnel (Bellingham, WA) d. Thomas Carter (Murrysville, PA) & Kyle Ulliman (Westerville, PA), 15-13, 6-15, 11-9

3rd - Hayden Farmer (Trophy Club, TX) & Carlos Reyes (Janesville, WI) d. Luis Avila (Wilmington, CA) & Justin Ide (Beaverton, OR), forfeit

5th - Lukas Le (Arlington, TX) & Nicholas Pavloski (Kingwood, TX) d. Eric McEnnis (Port St. Lucie, FL) & Trevor John (Reno, NV), 15-13, 15-6

Boy's U16 Doubles

Final

Wayne Antone IV (Eugene, OR) & Kevin Vazquez (Miami, FL) d. Jordan Barth (Cold Spring, MN) & Justus Benson (Sun Prairie, WI), 15-11, 15-7

3rd Place

Ellis Syke (Coon Rapids, MN) & Noah Little (Ayden, NC) d. Justin Ide (Beaverton, OR) & Gavin Usher (Portland, OR), 13-15, 15-8, 11-9

Boy's U14 Doubles

Final

Julian Singh (Pleasanton, CA) & Mitchell Turner (Salem, OR) d. Brian Barberis (McKinney, TX) & Nick Birnel (Bellingham, WA), 14-15, 15-10, 11-2

3rd place

Ben Baron (Phoenix) & Tommy Andraos (Laguna Niguel, CA) d. Micah Farmer (Trophy Club, Texas) & Lucas Shoemaker (Bettendorf, IA), 15-10, 15-5

Girl's U16/U18 Doubles - Round Robin - Sunday matches

1st - Jordan Cooperrider (Palm Harbor, Fla.) & Erika Manilla (Centennial, Col.) d. Hollie Scott (Lynden, WA) & Lexi York (Milwakie, Ore.), 15-13, 15-11

3rd - Karina Quintanilla (Harlingen, Tex.) & Daniela Torres (San Antonio, Tex.)

5th - Kristine Holman (Salem, Ore.) & Madison Kerzel (Salem, Ore.) d. Alanna Shea (Cortland Manor, NY) & Reena Sheth (Amawalk, NY), 15-3, 15-5

Girl's U14 Doubles - Round Robin

1st - Brian Jacquet (Phoenix) & Kaitlyn Boyle (Beaverton, OR) - 2-0
2nd - Graciana Wargo (Clearwater, FL) & Elena Dent (Lumberton, NC) - 1-1
3rd - Nikita Chauhan (San Ramon, CA) & Megan Carver (Spokane, WA) - 0-2

Follow the bouncing ball….

Manilla wins Girl's U16 at 2015 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics

Erika Manilla defeated Jordan Cooperrider, 15-12, 15-4, to win the Girl's U16 title Saturday at the 2015 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics hosted by the In-Shape Sport West Lane Club in Stockton, California. It was a repeat of last year's final, and in fact the third straight final Manilla and Cooperrider have played, as they also met in the U14 division final in 2013. But Cooperrider won both their previous final matches, so Manilla's win was a measure of revenge.

Cooperrider started well, and was up 9-5 in game one. But Manilla seemed to take it to another gear after that as she began drive serving well, and won 25 of the next 32 points to take the match. Cooperrider and Manilla teamed up in doubles and won the Girl's U16 title.

In the Girl's U18 division, Lexi York defeated Brittany Click, 15-10, 15-7. The win keeps York undefeated with one match to go, as the U18 is a round robin between five girls. Click has only one loss, as does Karina Quintanilla. York and Quintanilla play Sunday, and if York wins, she's the champion with Click second. If Quintanilla wins, then it will be a three way tie between them, and the tie-breaker rules will come into effect.

Kaitlyn Boyle could repeat in Girl's U14, as she defeated Elena Dent, 15-14, 15-0, in the semi-finals Saturday. The win sets up a repeat of last year's final, as Briana Jacquet, last year's runner up, won the other semi-final against Nikita Chauhan, 15-5, 15-0.

If you want to win a racquetball tournament in Stockton, generally you're going to have to beat a Rojas, and that's the case in the boy's divisions, as each of the Boy's U12, U14, U16 and U18 finals has a Rojas in them. Mauro Rojas is in both the U16 and U18 finals and Antonio Rojas is the Boy's U12 and U14 finals. Antonio will play the same opponent in both finals: Akul Ramayani.

In Boy's U14, Ramayani was runner-up last year, so Rojas will have his work cut out for him. In the semis, Ramayani defeated Sahil Thakur, and Rojas beat Mitchell Turner, 15-4, 15-1.

Mauro Rojas needed a tie-breaker to get to the Boy's U16 final, as Kevin Vazquez won the first games of their match. However, Rojas came back to win games two and three to get the final, winning 10-15, 15-5, 11-4. In the final, Rojas will face Jordan Barth, who defeated Wayne Antone IV, 15-12, 15-6, in the other semi-final.

Barth had a slow start, as Antone went up 6-0 in game one. But the current World Junior Boy's U14 Champion didn't panic, as Barth switched gears and began hitting lob nick serves to the left side that he described afterwards as his "go to serve." They were very effective against Antone, as Barth tied game one at 9-9, and then went on to win it, 15-12.

In game two, they were tied at 2-2 and then Barth again pushed ahead, going up 14-4. Then Antone scored a few points playing like he had nothing to lose. But when Antone hit a drive serve to the left side, Barth's return was called good, which Antone disagreed with, so much so that he got a technical for his protest, making the score 14-6. Antone skipped his return of Barth's next serve, ending the game at 15-6.

The Boy's U18 division finalists were determined on Friday, and Mauro Rojas plays Sam Bredenbeck for the title with Thomas Carter and Jake Birnel squaring off for third.

The 2015 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics concludes Sunday at the In-Shape Sport West Lane in Stockton, California.

2015 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics
Stockton, California

Boy's U14

Semi-finals

Akul Ramayani (Poughkeepsie, NY) d. Sahil Thakur (Tracy, CA)
Antonio Rojas (Stockton, CA) d. Mitchell Turner (Salem, OR), 15-4, 15-1

Final

Akul Ramayani (Poughkeepsie, NY) v. Antonio Rojas (Stockton, CA)

3rd place

Sahil Thakur (Tracy, CA) v. Mitchell Turner (Salem, OR)

Boy's U16

Semi-finals

Mauro Rojas (Stockton, CA) d. Kevin Vazquez (Miami, FL), 10-15, 15-5, 11-4
Jordan Barth (Cold Spring, MN) d. Wayne Antone IV (Eugene, OR), 15-12, 15-6

Final

Mauro Rojas (Stockton, CA) v. Jordan Barth (Cold Spring, MN)

3rd place

Wayne Antone IV (Eugene, OR) v. Kevin Vazquez (Miami, FL)

Boy's U18

Final

Mauro Rojas (Stockton, CA) v. Sam Bredenbeck (Marine On St Croix, Minn.)

3rd place

Thomas Carter (Murrysville, PA) v. Jake Birnel (Bellingham, WA)

Girl's U14

Semi-finals

Kaitlyn Boyle (Beaverton, OR) d. Elena Dent (Lumberton, NC), 15-14, 15-0
Briana Jacquet (Phoenix, AZ) d. Nikita Chauhan (San Ramon, CA), 15-5, 15-0

Final

Kaitlyn Boyle (Beaverton, OR) v. Briana Jacquet (Phoenix, AZ)

3rd place

Nikita Chauhan (San Ramon, CA) v. Elena Dent (Lumberton, NC)

Girl's U16

Final

Erika Manilla (Centennial, CO) d. Jordan Cooperrider (Palm Harbor, FL), 15-12, 15-4

3rd place

Hollie Scott (Lynden, WA) d. Kristine Holman (Salem, OR), 15-2, 15-1

Girl's U18 - Round Robin

Lexi York (Milwakie, Ore.) 3-0
Brittany Click (Huffman, TX) 3-1
Karina Quintanilla (Harlingen, TX) 2-1
Kara Piepenbrink (Tampa, FL) 0-3
Aadhilakshmi Balasubramanian (Belle Mead, NJ) 0-3

Boy's U18 Doubles - Round Robin - Sunday matches

1st - Thomas Carter (Murrysville, PA) & Kyle Ulliman (Westerville, PA) v. Sam Bredenbeck (Marine On St Croix, Minn.) & Jake Birnel (Bellingham, WA)

3rd - Luis Avila (Wilmington, CA) & Justin Ide (Beaverton, OR) v. Hayden Farmer (Trophy Club, TX) & Carlos Reyes (Janesville, WI)

5th - Lukas Le (Arlington, TX) & Nicholas Pavloski (Kingwood, TX) v. Eric McEnnis (Port St. Lucie, FL) & Trevor John (Reno, NV)

Boy's U16 Doubles

Semi-finals

Jordan Barth (Cold Spring, MN) & Justus Benson (Sun Prairie, WI) d. Ellis Syke (Coon Rapids, MN) & Noah Little (Ayden, NC), 15-6, 15-9
Wayne Antone IV (Eugene, OR) & Kevin Vazquez (Miami, FL) d. Justin Ide (Beaverton, OR) & Gavin Usher (Portland, OR), 15-11, 15-8

Final

Jordan Barth (Cold Spring, MN) & Justus Benson (Sun Prairie, WI) v. Wayne Antone IV (Eugene, OR) & Kevin Vazquez (Miami, FL)

3rd Place

Ellis Syke (Coon Rapids, MN) & Noah Little (Ayden, NC) v. Justin Ide (Beaverton, OR) & Gavin Usher (Portland, OR)

Boy's U14 Doubles

Final

Julian Singh (Pleasanton, CA) & Mitchell Turner (Salem, OR) d. Brian Barberis (McKinney, TX) & Nick Birnel (Bellingham, WA), 14-15, 15-10, 11-2

3rd place

Ben Baron (Phoenix) & Tommy Andraos (Laguna Niguel, CA) d. Micah Farmer (Trophy Club, Texas) & Lucas Shoemaker (Bettendorf, IA), 15-10, 15-5

Girl's U16/U18 Doubles - Round Robin - Sunday matches

1st - Jordan Cooperrider (Palm Harbor, Fla.) & Erika Manilla (Centennial, Col.) v. Hollie Scott (Lynden, WA) & Lexi York (Milwakie, Ore.)

3rd - Karina Quintanilla (Harlingen, Tex.) & Daniela Torres (San Antonio, Tex.)

5th - Kristine Holman (Salem, Ore.) & Madison Kerzel (Salem, Ore.) v. Alanna Shea (Cortland Manor, NY) & Reena Sheth (Amawalk, NY)

Girl's U14 Doubles - Round Robin

1st - Brian Jacquet (Phoenix) & Kaitlyn Boyle (Beaverton, OR) - 2-0
2nd - Graciana Wargo (Clearwater, FL) & Elena Dent (Lumberton, NC) - 1-1
3rd - Nikita Chauhan (San Ramon, CA) & Megan Carver (Spokane, WA) - 0-2

Follow the bouncing ball….

2015 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics - Friday summary

The 2015 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics are underway in Stockton, California. In the Boy's U18 division, Mauro Rojas will face Sam Bredenbeck in the final on Saturday after they won their respective semi-finals Friday. Rojas defeated Thomas Carter, 15-12, 15-9, and Bredenbeck squeaked out a win against Jake Birnel, 15-14, 12-15, 11-6.

Birnel was up 13-3 in game one, but Bredenbeck came back to win it, 15-14. Bredenbeck used that momentum to take the early lead in game two, but Birnel came back to win it, 15-12, and force a tie-breaker.

In the breaker, Bredenbeck again took the early lead at 4-0, with Birnel again coming back and tying the game at 4-4. From there Bredenbeck went up 7-4. Birnel cut it to 7-6, but this time he couldn't tie it, as Bredenbeck went on to win 11-6.

Rojas is also playing Boy's U16, and he's in the semi-finals of that division after beating Justus Benson in the quarterfinals, 15-13, 14-15, 11-0. Rojas will play Kevin Vazquez in the semis, as Vazquez defeated Ricardo Diaz, 15-10, 15-8.

On the other side of the draw, it'll be two 2014 US Junior Team members facing off with only one of them making the 2015 team, as Wayne Antone IV plays Jordan Barth.

In Boy's U14, last year's runner-up Akul Ramayani is in the semis against Sahil Thakur with Antonio Rojas and Mitchell Turner in the other semi.

On the girl's side, the U18 division is a round robin between five girls with Brittany Click and Lexi York undefeated so far. They will play on Saturday in what could effectively be the final, although York will have one more match Sunday, when she'll play Karina Quintanilla, who Click has already beaten, 15-2, 14-15, 11-3.

But if Click defeats York, she'll be undefeated, and claim the title. If York wins, when she'll have to Quintanilla to win the division. If Quintanilla wins (and York beats Click), then it will be a three way tie between them, and the tie-breaker rules will come into effect.

The Girl's U16 final will be a repeat of last year, as Jordan Cooperrider will face Erika Manilla in what will be their third meeting in a final in as many years. They also met in the U14 division final in 2013. Cooperrider has won both of their previous final matches.

There could be a repeat winner in Girl's U14 also, as 2014 champion Kaitlyn Boyle is in the semi-finals against Elena Dent. If Boyle wins, she could face the same opponent as last year, as Briana Jacquet, last year's runner up, is in the other semi-final against Nikita Chauhan.

The 2015 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics concludes Sunday at the In-Shape Sport West Lane in Stockton, California.

2015 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics
Stockton, California

Boy's U14

Quarterfinals

Akul Ramayani (Poughkeepsie, NY) d. Micah Farmer (Trophy Club, Texas), 15-4, 15-8
Sahil Thakur (Tracy, CA) d. Nick Birnel (Bellingham, WA), 15-5, 15-7

Mitchell Turner (Salem, OR) d. Julian Singh (Pleasanton, CA), 15-9, 13-15, 11-7
Antonio Rojas (Stockton, CA) d. Ben Baron (Phoenix, AZ), 15-12, 8-15, 11-8

Semi-finals

Akul Ramayani (Poughkeepsie, NY) v. Sahil Thakur (Tracy, CA)
Antonio Rojas (Stockton, CA) v. Mitchell Turner (Salem, OR)

Boy's U16

Quarterfinals

Mauro Rojas (Stockton, CA) d. Justus Benson (Sun Prairie, WI), 15-13, 14-15, 11-0
Kevin Vazquez (Miami, FL) d. Ricardo Diaz (Stockton, CA), 15-10, 15-8

Jordan Barth (Cold Spring, Minn.) d. Shaharyar Soomro (Piscataway, NJ), 15-3, 15-2
Wayne Antone IV (Eugene, OR) d. Justin Ide (Beaverton, OR), 15-5, 15-2

Semi-finals

Mauro Rojas (Stockton, CA) v. Kevin Vazquez (Miami, FL)
Wayne Antone IV (Eugene, OR) v. Jordan Barth (Cold Spring, Minn.)

Boy's U18

Semi-finals

Mauro Rojas (Stockton, CA) d. Thomas Carter (Murrysville, PA), 15-12, 15-9
Sam Bredenbeck (Marine On St Croix, Minn.) d. Jake Birnel (Bellingham, WA), 15-14, 12-15, 11-6

Final

Mauro Rojas (Stockton, CA) v. Sam Bredenbeck (Marine On St Croix, Minn.)

Girl's U14

Semi-finals

Kaitlyn Boyle (Beaverton, OR) v. Elena Dent (Lumberton, NC)
Nikita Chauhan (San Ramon, CA) v. Briana Jacquet (Phoenix, AZ)

Girl's U16

Semi-finals

Jordan Cooperrider (Palm Harbor, FL) d. Kristine Holman (Salem, OR), 15-1, 15-2
Erika Manilla (Centennial, CO) d. Hollie Scott (Lynden, WA), 15-14, 15-4

Final

Jordan Cooperrider (Palm Harbor, FL) v. Erika Manilla (Centennial, CO)

Girl's U18 - Round Robin

Brittany Click (Huffman, TX) 3-0
Lexi York (Milwakie, Ore.) 2-0
Karina Quintanilla (Harlingen, TX) 1-1
Kara Piepenbrink (Tampa, FL) 0-2
Aadhilakshmi Balasubramanian (Belle Mead, NJ) 0-3

Boy's U18 Doubles - Round Robin

Thomas Carter (Murrysville, PA) & Kyle Ulliman (Westerville, PA) - 3-0
Sam Bredenbeck (Marine On St Croix, Minn.) & Jake Birnel (Bellingham, WA) - 3-0
Luis Avila (Wilmington, CA) & Justin Ide (Beaverton, OR) - 2-1
Hayden Farmer (Trophy Club, TX) & Carlos Reyes (Janesville, WI) - 1-2
Lukas Le (Arlington, TX) & Nicholas Pavloski (Kingwood, TX) - 0-3
Eric McEnnis (Port St. Lucie, FL) & Trevor John (Reno, NV) - 0-3

Boy's U16 Doubles

Quarterfinals

Jordan Barth (Cold Spring, Minn.) & Justus Benson (Sun Prairie, WI) d. Ricardo Diaz (Stockton, CA) & Dane Elkins (Los Angeles), 15-9, 15-10
Ellis Syke (Coon Rapids, MN) & Noah Little (Ayden, NC) d. Quade Howell (Mobile, AL) & Evan Wargo (Clearwater, FL), 15-13, 15-0

Wayne Antone IV (Eugene, OR) & Kevin Vazquez (Miami, FL) d. Fausto Santana Jr (Chula Vista, CA) & Nikhil Singh (Pleasanton, CA), 15-2, 15-8
Justin Ide (Beaverton, OR) & Gavin Usher (Portland, OR) d. Benjamin Jenkel (Petaluma, CA) & Shaharyar Soomro (Piscataway, NJ), 15-7, 15-2

Semi-finals

Jordan Barth (Cold Spring, Minn.) & Justus Benson (Sun Prairie, WI) v. Ellis Syke (Coon Rapids, MN) & Noah Little (Ayden, NC)
Justin Ide (Beaverton, OR) & Gavin Usher (Portland, OR) v. Wayne Antone IV (Eugene, OR) & Kevin Vazquez (Miami, FL)

Boy's U14 Doubles

Semi-finals

Julian Singh (Pleasanton, CA) & Mitchell Turner (Salem, OR) d. Ben Baron (Phoenix) & Tommy Andraos (Laguna Niguel, CA), 15-3, 15-14
Brian Barberis (McKinney, TX) & Nick Birnel (Bellingham, WA) d. Micah Farmer (Trophy Club, Texas) & Lucas Shoemaker (Bettendorf, IA), 15-9, 15-10

Final

Julian Singh (Pleasanton, CA) & Mitchell Turner (Salem, OR) v.
Brian Barberis (McKinney, TX) & Nick Birnel (Bellingham, WA)

Girl's U16/U18 Doubles - Round Robin

Jordan Cooperrider (Palm Harbor, Fla.) & Erika Manilla (Centennial, Col.) - 3-0
Hollie Scott (Lynden, WA) & Lexi York (Milwakie, Ore.) - 2-0
Karina Quintanilla (Harlingen, Tex.) & Daniela Torres (San Antonio, Tex.) - 2-1
Kristine Holman (Salem, Ore.) & Madison Kerzel (Salem, Ore.) - 0-3
Alanna Shea (Cortland Manor, NY) & Reena Sheth (Amawalk, NY) - 0-3

Girl's U14 Doubles - Round Robin

Brian Jacquet (Phoenix) & Kaitlyn Boyle (Beaverton, OR) - 1-0
Graciana Wargo (Clearwater, FL) & Elena Dent (Lumberton, NC) - 1-1
Nikita Chauhan (San Ramon, CA) & Megan Carver (Spokane, WA) - 0-1

Follow the bouncing ball….

Landa defeats Bredenbeck to win WRT Juarez Open

Alejandro Landa defeated Jake Bredenbeck, 15-5, 15-4, to win the World Racquetball Tour (WRT) Juarez Open. Landa drove serve to the left almost exclusively in the match. On the few occasions his serve was short he used a lob z serve to the right side.

The combination was effective.

It’s not often Bredenbeck has fewer aces than his opponent, but he did today, as Landa had four aces and a service winner to Bredenbeck’s one. However, Bredenbeck did not drive serve very much. We suspect that’s because arm soreness, although that’s speculation.

Landa and Bredenbeck are similar players, as both are power players. Today Landa was that little bit better, that little bit more accurate, and with Bredenbeck not using his drive serve, which is a big weapon for him, it was always going to be a difficult task to beat Landa.

The next WRT event will be the San Luis Open August 13-16 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

2015 WRT Juarez Open
Juarez, Mexico

Men’s Singles - Final

5) Alejandro Landa d. 2) Jake Bredenbeck, 15-5, 15-4

Men’s Doubles - Final

8) Carlos Keller & Roland Keller d. 15) Erick Garcia & Rodrigo Montoya, 15-6, 15-4

Follow the bouncing ball….

WRT 2015 Juarez Open - Bredenbeck & Landa win semi-finals

Jake Bredenbeck defeated Alvaro Beltran, 7-15, 15-12, 11-7, in semi-finals of the World Racquetball Tour (WRT) Juarez Open. He’ll face Alejandro Landa in the final Sunday after Landa beat Sebastian Franco, 15-12, 15-6, in the other semi-final.

We believe it was the first meeting between Bredenbeck and Beltran, who’s the #3 player on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT). The match was contrast in styles, as Bredenbeck is a big power player, and Beltran is a control player.

Early on it seemed that control was going to win, as Beltran won game one comfortably, and was up 12-6 in game two. But Bredebeck’s drive serve started to work for him, and he proceeded to win nine unanswered points to force a tie-breaker.

The tie-breaker took almost 30 min before Bredenbeck won. They were close early, with Beltran leading 5-2 only for Bredenbeck to tie it at 5-5. They tied again at 7-7.

They played a long rally when Beltran was serving at 7-6 that Bredenbeck won with a flot forehand pinch shot. But that rally might have drained Beltran’s energy, as Bredenbeck won the next five rallies to end the game and match.

The final will be 1 PM MDT on Sunday. The doubles semi-finals are 7 PM MDT and final 2 PM MDT on Sunday. Live streaming of the semis and final is available through the WRT website.

2015 WRT Juarez Open Cup
Juarez, Mexico

Men’s Singles - Semi-finals

5) Alejandro Landa d. 8) Sebastian Franco, 15-12, 15-6
2) Jack Bredenbeck d. 38) Alvaro Beltran, 7-15, 15-12, 11-7

Men’s Singles - Final

2) Jack Bredenbeck v. 5) Alejandro Landa

Men’s Doubles - Semi-finals

8) Carlos Keller & Roland Keller d. 4) Gerardo Franco & Jose Daniel Ugalde, 15-9, 15-2
15) Erick Garcia & Rodrigo Montoya d. 14) Felipe Camacho & Teobaldo Fumero, 14-15, 15-5, 11-4

Men’s Doubles - Final

8) Carlos Keller & Roland Keller v. 15) Erick Garcia & Rodrigo Montoya

Follow the bouncing ball….

WRT 2015 Juarez Open - Quarterfinals

Sebastian Franco knocked off the top seed Polo Gutierrez, 5-15, 15-6, 11-9, in the quarterfinals of the World Racquetball Tour (WRT) Juarez Open, and will play Alejandro Landa in the semi-finals tonight, as Landa beat David Horn, 15-5, 13-15, 11-6, in their quarterfinal match.

Jake Bredenbeck and Alvaro Beltran will face off in the other semi-final after they won their respective quarterfinal matches. Bredenbeck, the 2nd seed, defeated 7th seed Andree Parrilla, 15-10, 15-9, and Beltran beat 3rd seed Alejandro Cardona, 15-10, 15-12, which was a much longer match than the scores suggest.

Bredenbeck and Beltran haven’t played before, but it could be a preview of a Pan American Games match, as they will be playing for their respective countries next month in Toronto: Bredenbeck for the USA and Beltran for Mexico.

The other two quarterfinal matches - 1st seed Polo Gutierrez versus 8th seed Sebastian Franco and 4th seed David Horn versus 5th seed Alejandro Landa - are still to be played.

The doubles draw looks crazy, as the top three seeds went out early, and Beltran and Javier Moreno, the 2015 Pan American Championship gold medalists, defaulted to Jordy Alonso and Andree Parrilla in the first round.

In one semi-final, it will be the Keller brothers, Carlos and Roland from Bolivia, versus 4th seeds Gerardo Franco and Jose Daniel Ugalde, and in the other Costa Ricans Felipe Camacho and Teobaldo Fumero, the silver medalists at the 2015 Pan American Championships, will play Erick Garcia and Rodrigo Montoya.

Notably, Camacho and Fumero beat Colombians Sebastian Franco and Alejandro Herrera, who are the current World Champions, 15-3, 15-9, in the quarterfinals.

The semi-finals will be at 5 and 6 PM MDT and the final at 1 PM MDT on Sunday. The doubles semi-finals are 7 PM MDT and final 2 PM MDT on Sunday. Live streaming of the semis and final is available through the WRT website.

2014 WRT Juarez Open Cup
Juarez, Mexico

Men’s Singles - Quarterfinals

8) Sebastian Franco d. 1) Polo Gutierrez, 5-15, 15-6, 11-9
5) Alejandro Landa d. 4) David Horn, 15-5, 13-15, 11-6

38) Alvaro Beltran d. 3) Alejandro Cardona, 15-10, 15-12
2) Jack Bredenbeck d. 7) Andree Parrilla, 15-10, 15-9

Men’s Singles - Semi-finals

5) Alejandro Landa v. 8) Sebastian Franco - 6 PM MDT
2) Jack Bredenbeck v. 38) Alvaro Beltran - 5 PM MDT

Men’s Doubles - Quarterfinals

8) Carlos Keller & Roland Keller d. 17) Ruben Estrada & David Ortega, injury forfeit
4) Gerardo Franco & Jose Daniel Ugalde d. 5) Jordy Alonso & Andree Parrilla, 15-9, 7-15, 11-10

14) Felipe Camacho & Teobaldo Fumero d. 11) Sebastian Franco & Alejandro Herrera, 15-3, 15-9
15) Erick Garcia & Rodrigo Montoya d. 7) Javier Mar & Alan Natera, 15-14, 15-7

Men’s Doubles - Semi-finals

4) Gerardo Franco & Jose Daniel Ugalde v. 8) Carlos Keller & Roland Keller - 7 PM MDT
14) Felipe Camacho & Teobaldo Fumero v. 15) Erick Garcia & Rodrigo Montoya - 7 PM MDT

Follow the bouncing ball….

WRT 2015 Juarez Open - Round of 16

Seven of the top eight seeds at the World Racquetball Tour (WRT) Juarez Open are through to the quarterfinals. The exception is the player who could be the #1 seed if he weren’t playing in his first WRT event: Alvaro Beltran. Thus, it’s fair to say there have been no big surprises so far in Juarez.

However, there were two tie-breakers in the Round of 16 Friday, as 8th seed Sebastian Franco needed three games to defeat 9th seed Cristian Longoria, the current World Junior U16 Champion, 9-15, 15-12, 11-4.

Fifth seed Alejandro Landa also needed three games to escape veteran left-hander Javier Moreno, 9-15, 15-11, 11-2. Landa will play 4th seed David Horn in the quarterfinals Saturday.

Beltran did have a close match with Jose Daniel Ugalde, but won in two games, 15-11, 15-13. He’ll play 3rd seed Alejandro Cardona in the quarters, as Cardona beat Roland Keller, 15-5, 15-10, in the 16s.

Somewhat unexpectedly, 2nd seed Jack Bredenbeck had an easy time of it versus Felipe Camacho, winning 15-6, 15-4. In the quarters, he’ll play 7th seed Andree Parrilla, who beat Francisco Troncoso, 15-5, 15-2, in the 16s.

The quarterfinals begin at 10 AM CDT Saturday with the semi-finals at 5 and 6 PM and the final at 1 PM on Sunday. The doubles quarterfinals are on Friday, semi-finals Saturday and final on Sunday.

2014 WRT Juarez Open Cup
Juarez, Mexico

Men’s Singles - Round of 16

1) Polo Gutierrez d. 17) Javier Mar, 15-13, 15-14
8) Sebastian Franco d. 9) Cristian Longoria, 9-15, 15-12, 11-4

5) Alejandro Landa d. 12) Javier Moreno, 9-15, 15-11, 11-2
4) David Horn d. 13) Gerardo Guevara, 15-9, 15-7

3) Alejandro Cardona d. 19) Roland Keller, 15-5, 15-10
38) Alvaro Beltran d. 11) Jose Daniel Ugalde, 15-11, 15-13

7) Andree Parrilla d. 10) Francisco Troncoso, 15-5, 15-2
2) Jack Bredenbeck d. 18) Felipe Camacho, 15-6, 15-4

Men’s Singles - Quarterfinals

1) Polo Gutierrez v. 8) Sebastian Franco - 1 PM CDT
4) David Horn v. 5) Alejandro Landa - Noon CDT

3) Alejandro Cardona v. 38) Alvaro Beltran - 11 AM CDT
2) Jack Bredenbeck v. 7) Andree Parrilla - 10 AM CDT

Men’s Doubles - Quarterfinals

8) Carlos Keller & Roland Keller v. 17) Ruben Estrada & David Ortega
4) Gerardo Franco & Jose Daniel Ugalde v. 5) Jordy Alonso & Andree Parrilla or 12) Alvaro Beltran & Javier Moreno

11) Sebastian Franco & Alejandro Herrera v. 14) Felipe Camacho & Teobaldo Fumero
7) Javier Mar & Alan Natera v. 15) Erick Garcia & Rodrigo Montoya

Follow the bouncing ball….

WRT 2015 Juarez Open - Round of 32

The World Racquetball Tour (WRT) Juarez Open continues today with the Rounds of 32 and 16. One result of note in the 32s is Andree Parrilla defeating Alejandro Herrera, 15-9, 15-11, as Parrilla is still a junior and Herrera a veteran player, who’ll be representing Colombia in Toronto at the Pan Am Games next month.

Parrilla will play Francisco Troncoso in the 16 later on Friday, as Troncoso squeaked out a win over Cesar Castillo, 15-13, 10-15, 11-7.

Other Round of 16 matches to look for are Alvaro Beltran versus Jose Daniel Ugalde, and Jack Bredenbeck versus Felipe Camacho.

The Rounds of 32 and 16 in singles will be played Friday with the quarterfinals and semi-finals on Saturday and the final on Sunday. The doubles quarterfinals are on Friday, semi-finals Saturday and final on Sunday.

2014 WRT Juarez Open Cup
Juarez, Mexico

Men’s Singles - Round of 32

1) Polo Gutierrez d. 33) Ernesto Ochoa, 15-12, 15-1
17) Javier Mar d. 16) Erick Sandoval, 15-7, 15-7

9) Cristian Longoria d. 41) Teobaldo Fumero, 15-6, 15-1
8) Sebastian Franco d. 40) Marco Hidalgo, 15-9, 15-5

5) Alejandro Landa d. 28) Carlos Keller, 4-15, 15-5, 11-8
12) Javier Moreno d. 21) Alan Natera, 15-9, 15-11

13) Gerardo Guevara d. 20) Luis Felipe Muñoz, 15-13, 8-15, 11-8
4) David Horn d. 36) Rodrigo Montoya, 15-14, 15-8

3) Alejandro Cardona d. 35) David Ortega, 15-4, 15-9
19) Roland Keller d. 14) Alex Almada, 7-15, 15-11, 11-5

11) Jose Daniel Ugalde d. 22) Jordy Alonso, 15-13, 13-15 11-7
38) Alvaro Beltran d. 6) Anthony Herrera, 15-7, 15-4

7) Andree Parrilla d. 39) Alejandro Herrera, 15-9, 15-11
10) Francisco Troncoso d. 23) Cesar Castillo, 15-13, 10-15, 11-7

18) Felipe Camacho d. 15) Gerardo Franco, 15-11, 15-14
2) Jack Bredenbeck d. 34) Daniel Rodriguez, 15-11, 15-14

Men’s Singles - Round of 16

1) Polo Gutierrez v. 17) Javier Mar
9) Cristian Longoria v. 8) Sebastian Franco

5) Alejandro Landa v. 12) Javier Moreno
4) David Horn v. 13) Gerardo Guevara

3) Alejandro Cardona v. 19) Roland Keller
11) Jose Daniel Ugalde v. 38) Alvaro Beltran

7) Andree Parrilla v. 10) Francisco Troncoso
2) Jack Bredenbeck v. 18) Felipe Camacho

Men’s Doubles - Quarterfinals

8) Carlos Keller & Roland Keller v. 17) Ruben Estrada & David Ortega
4) Gerardo Franco & Jose Daniel Ugalde v. 5) Jordy Alonso & Andree Parrilla or 12) Alvaro Beltran & Javier Moreno

11) Sebastian Franco & Alejandro Herrera v. 14) Felipe Camacho & Teobaldo Fumero
7) Javier Mar & Alan Natera v. 15) Erick Garcia & Rodrigo Montoya

Follow the bouncing ball….

WRT 2015 Juarez Open - Early Round Results

The World Racquetball Tour’s (WRT’s) Juarez Open began Thursday, and there were upsets on the doubles side as the top three seeds were all defeated in the Round of 16. Seventeenth seeds Ruben Estrada and David Ortega beat top seeds Anthony Herrera and David Horn, 15-4, 4-15, 11-9. They’ll play the Keller brothers, Carlos and Roland, who were winners over Alan Alonso and Set Cubillos, 15-2, 15-4.

Erick Garcia and Rodrigo Montoya defeated 2nd seeds Alejandro Landa and Cristian Longoria, 15-7, 10-15, 11-9, in the 16s, and will play 7th seeds Javier Mar and Alan Natera in the quarterfinals, as Mar and Natera beat 10th seeds Alan Marquez and Ernesto Ochoa, 15-4, 15-11.

Finally, Felipe Camacho and Teobaldo Fumero defeated 3rd seeds Alejandro Cardona and Erick Sandoval, 11-15, 15-8, 11-10. They’ll face World Champions Sebastian Franco and Alejandro Herrera in the quarters. Franco and Herrera defeated Cesar Castillo and Luis Felipe Muñoz, 15-4, 15-13.

Some interesting matches in the Round of 32, as Alvaro Beltran will play Anthony Herrera, Alejandro Herrera faces Andree Parrilla, and Carlos Keller has a showdown with 5th seed Alejandro Landa.

The Rounds of 32 and 16 in singles will be played Friday with the quarterfinals and semi-finals on Saturday and the final on Sunday. The doubles quarterfinals are on Friday, semi-finals Saturday and final on Sunday.

2014 WRT Juarez Open Cup
Juarez, Mexico

Men’s Singles - Round of 64

1) Polo Gutierrez - BYE
33) Ernesto Ochoa d. 32) Alejandro Guevara, 15-3, 15-2

17) Javier Mar - BYE
16) Erick Sandoval - BYE

9) Cristian Longoria - BYE
41) Teobaldo Fumero d. 24) Daniel Neri, 15-4, 15-12

40) Marco Hidalgo d. 25) Miguel Mendez, 15-14, 15-2
8) Sebastian Franco - BYE

5) Alejandro Landa - BYE
28) Carlos Keller d. 37) Nicolai Miramontes, 15-4, 15-3

21) Alan Natera d. 44) Jose Martinez, 15-4, 15-9
12) Javier Moreno - BYE

13) Gerardo Guevara - BYE
20) Luis Felipe Muñoz d. 45) Jose Ubilla, 15-9, 15-12

36) Rodrigo Montoya d. 29) Set Cubillos, 15-2, 15-10
4) David Horn - BYE

3) Alejandro Cardona - BYE
35) David Ortega d. 30) Alan Marquez, 15-9, 15-7

19) Roland Keller - BYE
14) Alex Almada - BYE

11) Jose Daniel Ugalde - BYE
22) Jordy Alonso d. 43) Mario Zamora, 15-13, 15-10

38) Alvaro Beltran d. 27) Juan Loreto, 15-10, 15-9
6) Anthony Herrera - BYE

7) Andree Parrilla - BYE
39) Alejandro Herrera d. 26) Alan Alonso, 15-10, 15-1

23) Cesar Castillo d. 42) Erick Garcia, 15-2, 15-6
10) Francisco Troncoso - BYE

15) Gerardo Franco - BYE
18) Felipe Camacho - BYE

34) Daniel Rodriguez d. 31) Julio Delgado, 15-12, 15-2
2) Jack Bredenbeck - BYE

Men’s Singles - Round of 32

1) Polo Gutierrez v. 33) Ernesto Ochoa
16) Erick Sandoval v. 17) Javier Mar

9) Cristian Longoria v. 41) Teobaldo Fumero
8) Sebastian Franco v. 40) Marco Hidalgo

5) Alejandro Landa v. 28) Carlos Keller
12) Javier Moreno v. 21) Alan Natera

13) Gerardo Guevara v. 20) Luis Felipe Muñoz
4) David Horn v. 36) Rodrigo Montoya

3) Alejandro Cardona v. 35) David Ortega
14) Alex Almada v. 19) Roland Keller

11) Jose Daniel Ugalde v. 22) Jordy Alonso
6) Anthony Herrera v. 38) Alvaro Beltran

7) Andree Parrilla v. 39) Alejandro Herrera
10) Francisco Troncoso v. 23) Cesar Castillo

15) Gerardo Franco v. 18) Felipe Camacho
2) Jack Bredenbeck v. 34) Daniel Rodriguez

Men’s Doubles - Round of 32

1) Anthony Herrera & David Horn - BYE
17) Ruben Estrada & David Ortega d. 16) Juan Loreto & Daniel Rodriguez, 15-7, 15-9

9) Alan Alonso & Set Cubillos - BYE
8) Carlos Keller & Roland Keller - BYE

5) Jordy Alonso & Andree Parrilla - BYE
12) Alvaro Beltran & Javier Moreno - BYE

13) Gerardo Guevara & Nicolai Miramontes - BYE
4) Gerardo Franco & Jose Daniel Ugalde - BYE

3) Alejandro Cardona & Erick Sandoval - BYE
14) Felipe Camacho & Teobaldo Fumero - BYE

6) Cesar Castillo & Luis Felipe Muñoz - BYE
11) Sebastian Franco & Alejandro Herrera - BYE

7) Javier Mar & Alan Natera - BYE
10) Alan Marquez & Ernesto Ochoa - BYE

15) Erick Garcia & Rodrigo Montoya - BYE
2) Alejandro Landa & Cristian Longoria - BYE

Men’s Doubles - Round of 16

17) Ruben Estrada & David Ortega d. 1) Anthony Herrera & David Horn, 15-4, 4-15, 11-9
8) Carlos Keller & Roland Keller d. 9) Alan Alonso & Set Cubillos, 15-2, 15-4

5) Jordy Alonso & Andree Parrilla v. 12) Alvaro Beltran & Javier Moreno
4) Gerardo Franco & Jose Daniel Ugalde d. 13) Gerardo Guevara & Nicolai Miramontes, 15-9, 15-11

14) Felipe Camacho & Teobaldo Fumero d. 3) Alejandro Cardona & Erick Sandoval, 11-15, 15-8, 11-10
11) Sebastian Franco & Alejandro Herrera d. 6) Cesar Castillo & Luis Felipe Muñoz, 15-4, 15-13

7) Javier Mar & Alan Natera d. 10) Alan Marquez & Ernesto Ochoa, 15-4, 15-11
15) Erick Garcia & Rodrigo Montoya d. 2) Alejandro Landa & Cristian Longoria, 15-7, 10-15, 11-9

Men’s Doubles - Quarterfinals

8) Carlos Keller & Roland Keller v. 17) Ruben Estrada & David Ortega
4) Gerardo Franco & Jose Daniel Ugalde v. 5) Jordy Alonso & Andree Parrilla or 12) Alvaro Beltran & Javier Moreno

11) Sebastian Franco & Alejandro Herrera v. 14) Felipe Camacho & Teobaldo Fumero
7) Javier Mar & Alan Natera v. 15) Erick Garcia & Rodrigo Montoya

Follow the bouncing ball….

WRT 2015 Juarez Open - Preview

The World Racquetball Tour (WRT) is back in action this weekend with the Juarez Open in Juarez, Mexico, where 45 players are in the draw. That’s a great turnout, although they had 54 players last year for this event.

The Juarez Open is benefiting from the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto next month, as several players who will be in Toronto are in this weekend as a tune up for Pan Ams. That includes Mexican team members Alvaro Beltran and Javier Moreno, who have ridiculous seedings based their WRT rankings, which is not high for Moreno, who has played some WRT events, and zero for Beltran, who hasn’t played a WRT event previously.

Beltran and Moreno are playing singles and doubles. Beltran’s seeded 38th in singles with Moreno 12th and together they are seeded 12th in doubles, although we’d put them as the favourites to win the doubles event.

Also in Juarez, are US Pan Am Games Team member Jake Bredenbeck, who’s just playing singles and is the 2nd seed, as well as Costa Ricans Felipe Camacho and Teobaldo Fumero and Colombians Sebastian Franco and Alejandro Herrera, who are the reigning World Champions in doubles.

The singles Round of 64 will be on Thursday with the Rounds of 32 and 16 will be played Friday with the quarterfinals and semi-finals on Saturday and the final on Sunday. The doubles Round of 16 will be Thursday (there is one play in match that will also be on Thursday) with the quarterfinals on Friday, semi-finals Saturday and final on Sunday.

2014 WRT Juarez Open Cup
Juarez, Mexico

Men’s Singles - Round of 64

1) Polo Gutierrez - BYE
32) Alejandro Guevara v. 33) Ernesto Ochoa

17) Javier Mar - BYE
16) Erick Sandoval - BYE

9) Cristian Longoria - BYE
24) Daniel Neri v. 41) Teobaldo Fumero

25) Miguel Mendez v. 40) Marco Hidalgo
8) Sebastian Franco - BYE

5) Alejandro Landa - BYE
28) Carlos Keller v. 37) Nicolai Miramontes

21) Alan Natera v. 44) Jose Martinez
12) Javier Moreno - BYE

13) Gerardo Guevara - BYE
20) Luis Felipe Muñoz v. 45) Jose Ubilla

29) Set Cubillos v. 36) Rodrigo Montoya
4) David Horn - BYE

3) Alejandro Cardona - BYE
30) Alan Marquez v. 35) David Ortega

19) Roland Keller - BYE
14) Alex Almada - BYE

11) Jose Daniel Ugalde - BYE
22) Jordy Alonso v. 43) Mario Zamora

27) Juan Loreto v. 38) Alvaro Beltran
6) Anthony Herrera - BYE

7) Andree Parrilla - BYE
26) Alan Alonso v. 39) Alejandro Herrera

23) Cesar Castillo v. 42) Erick Garcia
10) Francisco Troncoso - BYE

15) Gerardo Franco - BYE
18) Felipe Camacho - BYE

31) Julio Delgado v. 34) Daniel Rodriguez
2) Jack Bredenbeck - BYE

Men’s Doubles - Round of 32

1) Anthony Herrera & David Horn - BYE
16) Juan Loreto & Daniel Rodriguez v. 17) Ruben Estrada & David Ortega

9) Alan Alonso & Set Cubillos - BYE
8) Carlos Keller & Roland Keller - BYE

5) Jordy Alonso & Andree Parrilla - BYE
12) Alvaro Beltran & Javier Moreno - BYE

13) Gerardo Guevara & Nicolai Miramontes - BYE
4) Gerardo Franco & Jose Daniel Ugalde - BYE

3) Alejandro Cardona & Erick Sandoval - BYE
14) Felipe Camacho & Teobaldo Fumero - BYE

6) Cesar Castillo & Luis Felipe Muñoz - BYE
11) Sebastian Franco & Alejandro Herrera - BYE

7) Javier Mar & Alan Natera - BYE
10) Alan Marquez & Ernesto Ochoa - BYE

15) Erick Garcia & Rodrigo Montoya - BYE
2) Alejandro Landa & Cristian Longoria - BYE

Follow the bouncing ball….

Teams named for 2015 Pan Am Games

Racquetball Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee announced Team Canada for the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto next month. The team will be a mix of young and old players. The men are mostly veterans with Vincent Gagnon, Mike Green and Tim Landeryou. Joining them will be Coby Iwaasa, who is the current Canadian Champion in singles and doubles, which he won with Green.

The women are led by veteran Jennifer Saunders along with Canadian Champion and Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) #4 Frédérique Lambert. Michelle Morissette and Christine Richardson round out the women’s team.

We understand that Lambert and Saunders will play Women’s Singles with Morissette and Richardson playing Women’s Doubles, but who of the men will play singles and who doubles is still to be determined.

Gagnon and Landeryou were bronze medalists at the 2011 Pan Am Games in Guadalajara. Gagnon in Men’s Singles and Landeryou in Men’s Doubles with Kris Odegard.

Supporting the team will be Sue Swaine as Head Coach and Michel Gagnon as Assistant Coach.

Team Mexico

We have heard from the Mexican Federation via Twitter that their team will be Alvaro Beltran, Daniel De La Rosa and Javier Moreno on the men’s side with Paola Longoria and Samantha Salas and Susana Acosta as an alternate on the women’s side.

We expect that Beltran and De La Rosa will play Men’s Singles with Beltran and Moreno playing Men’s Doubles, as that’s what they did at the Pan American Championships in April. Longoria and Salas will likely play Women’s Singles and Women’s Doubles with Acosta being on hand if either of them suffer an injury or perhaps to be used in the team portion of the competition.

Mexicans are the defending champions in Women’s Singles (Longoria), Women’s Doubles (Longoria & Salas), Men’s Doubles (Beltran & Moreno) as well as the Men’s and Women’s Team events. With the 2011 gold medalists back on the team in 2015, we expect them to be the favourites to win again, especially as they all won those events earlier this year at the Pan Am Championships.

Team Ecuador

Also, Ecuador has enlisted Sudsy Monchik as their coach for the Pan Am Games, and their players - Fernando Rios, Jose Daniel Alvarez, Veronica Sotomayor and Maria Paz Muñoz have been training with him in New York.

We understand that Monchik will be in Toronto to coach the Ecuador team courtside. As far as we know this is Monchik’s first coaching role in an event like this.

Sotomayor was the silver medalist in Women’s Singles at the Pan Am Championships in April.

The 2015 Pan American Games will be held next month in Toronto, Canada. The racquetball competition of the games will begin July 19 and end July 26. There will be singles and doubles competitions initially from July 19 to July 24, and then a team competition from July 24 to July 26. The doubles competition is a best of three matches on both the Women’s and Men’s sides, where countries go head to head with two singles matches and a doubles match. The order of play in the team competition varies in each round, so doubles, for example, could be the first match or the second or the third.

Team Canada for 2015 Pan American Games

Men’s Players - Vincent Gagnon, Mike Green, Coby Iwaasa and Tim Landeryou

Women’s Players - Frédérique Lambert. Michelle Morissette, Christine Richardson and Jennifer Saunders

Team Mexico for 2015 Pan American Games

Men’s Players - Alvaro Beltran, Daniel De La Rosa and Javier Moreno

Women’s Players - Paola Longoria, Samantha Salas and Susana Acosta

Team Ecuador for 2015 Pan American Games

Men’s Players - Fernando Rios and Jose Daniel Alvarez

Women’s Players - Veronica Sotomayor and Maria Paz Muñoz

Follow the bouncing ball….

USA Racquetball's strange choice for Male Athlete of the Year

Recently, USA Racquetball announced its Male and Female Athletes of the year, which were Jake Bredenbeck and Rhonda Rajsich, respectively. Both are fine players, who had some good results this past season. However, Bredenbeck is a strange choice.

According to the USA Racquetball website, Bredenbeck was selected for his "breakout year competing in national and international championships. He won the 2014 U.S. National Singles Championships and also finished second at the recent Pan American Racquetball Championships held in the Dominican Republic. Additionally, Bredenbeck medaled in both singles and doubles competition at last year’s PASO Pan American Sports Festival in Mexico."

Bredenbeck had some nice results, and as a young player, he's got a bright future in racquetball. He's a solid player.

But he's not a World Champion.

In 2014, International Racquetball Federation (IRF) held the World Championships in Burlington, Ontario, and American Rocky Carson won Men's Singles for the fourth consecutive time. That's the most singles world championships by any man or woman racquetball player.

How does USA Racquetball overlook the four time World Champion as their Male Athlete of the Year?

Moreover, Carson was the #1 player on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) for most of the season, and within one tournament of finishing the season as the #1 player.

How does USA Racquetball overlook the top ranked American on the IRT as their Male Athlete of the Year? Rajsich is the top ranked American on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT), and they didn't overlook her.

Understand, Bredenbeck is a good, young player, who may have a world championship in his future. But he's not got one now, and Carson has four.

Thus, the best American male racquetball player over the last year is clear: it's Rocky Carson.

Follow the bouncing ball….

Team USA named for 2015 Pan Am Games

The USA has announced its team for the 2015 Pan American Games. They will be led by veterans Rocky Carson and Rhonda Rajsich, who will both play Men’s and Women’s Singles, respectively. The other American singles players will be Jake Bredenbeck and Michelle Key.

The USA doubles teams will be Jansen Allen and Jose Rojas in Men’s Doubles and Rajsich and Kim Russell-Waselenchuk in Women’s Doubles.

Carson is the defending Pan American champion in Men’s Singles, and Rajsich was silver medalist in both Women’s Singles and Women’s Doubles four years ago in Guadalajara, Mexico. Russell-Waselenchuk was silver medalist in Women’s Doubles twelve years ago in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, playing with Jackie Paraiso.

Thus, the veterans on the team have all been on the podium previously. The majority of the team are playing in their first Pan Am Games, and Key is playing in her first event for the USA.

Supporting the team will be Dave Ellis as Head Coach, RO Carson as Assistant Coach, Brent Huff as Team Trainer and Cheryl Kirk as Team Leader.

The 2015 Pan American Games will be held next month in Toronto, Canada. The racquetball competition of the games will begin July 19 and end July 26. There will be singles and doubles competitions initially from July 19 to July 24, and then a team competition from July 24 to July 26. The doubles competition is a best of three matches on both the Women’s and Men’s sides, where countries go head to head with two singles matches and a doubles match. The order of play in the team competition varies in each round, so doubles, for example, could be the first match or the second or the third.

US Team for 2015 Pan American Games

Men’s Players - Rocky Carson (MS), Jake Bredenbeck (MS), Jansen Allen (MD) & Jose Rojas (MD)

Women’s Players - Rhonda Rajsich (WS & WD), Michelle Key (WS) & Kim Russell-Waselenchuk (WD)

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Waselenchuk IRT #1 for 6th straight season, 10th time overall

Kane Waselenchuk did it again. Indeed, did it for the 6th straight time, as he has finished #1 on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) for a sixth consecutive season, and tenth overall, as he overtook Rocky Carson, who was #1 for much of the second half of the season, with a win on the weekend in Fresno, California.

Waselenchuk won ten IRT tournaments this season, but he missed three due to a recurrence of his inner ear condition that also caused him to default out of another event in the quarterfinals. Thus, there was some doubt as to whether he could finish #1, as Carson's been an Iron Man on tour, and excellent in all his appearances.

But the doubt has been removed.

This season's top ten is very similar to last season's, when Carson was also #2. Alvaro Beltran is again #3. But Jose Rojas and Daniel De La Rosa have flip flopped with De La Rosa 4th and Rojas 5th this season.

Ben Croft finished 6th, up one from last season, although he was higher during the season, but a shoulder injury has caused him to miss the last few tournaments.

Jansen Allen is 7th, Marco Rojas 8th, both are up from last season, when Allen was 8th and Rojas 10th. After a two season absence, Charlie Pratt is back in the top 10 at #9, which matches a career high. Tony Carson rounds out the top 10, which is his fourth consecutive season in the top 10.

For their careers, Rocky Carson now has the second most top 10 finishes with 16 behind only Cliff Swain with 20. Carson's finish this season broke a tie he had with Jason Mannino at 15. Also, Beltran is fourth on the list with 13 top 10s and Waselenchuk now has 12, tied with Mike Ray for fifth most all time.

IRT Final Rankings for 2014-15 IRT season
June 1, 2015

Rank - Player - Country - Points

1 Kane WASELENCHUK (Canada) 3990
2 Rocky CARSON (USA) 3968
3 Alvaro BELTRAN (Mexico) 3002
4 Daniel DE LA ROSA (Mexico) 2444
5 Jose ROJAS (USA) 2126

6 Ben CROFT (USA) 2082
7 Jansen ALLEN (USA) 1746
8 Marco ROJAS (USA) 1689
9 Charlie PRATT (USA) 1554
10 Tony CARSON (USA) 1104

11 Alejandro LANDA (Mexico) 910
12 Chris CROWTHER (USA) 820
13 Robert COLLINS (USA) 762
14 Jose DIAZ (USA) 757
15 Matthew MAJXNER (USA) 739

16 Tim LANDERYOU (Canada) 660
17 Danny LAVELY (USA) 626
18 Coby IWAASA (Canada) 592
19 Felipe CAMACHO (Costa Rica) 497
20 Alejandro HERRERA (Colombia) 409

Other Ways to Count

Prior to the season ending rankings, there was a great deal of discussion along the line of "How can Waselenchuk be #2 when he's won more tournaments than Carson?" And that discussion could have continued had Carson (or anyone really) defeated Waselenchuk even once during the season, as only 22 points separated them in the end.

But the IRT rankings reward players for an overall record of performance, rather than individual performances. To take an extreme case, if someone played only one tournament (say, the US Open), but won it, should that be enough to be the #1 player for the season? Most people would probably think that would not be enough.

The IRT want the players to play in as many tournaments as possible, so it wasn't to reward those players who do so. The ranking system is set up to do that. Moreover, each individual tournament director wants all the top players to participate in THEIR tournament, so having a ranking system that rewards participation means players are more likely to play in each tournament rather than just playing a selection of the tournaments.

The Racquetball Blog staff tracks all the IRT players during the season, recording how many tournaments they play and how they finish in each event. We can create an alternate ranking by awarding points to players based on what round they reached. Finishing first would be one, second two, semi-final loss is four, quarterfinals is eight, etc.

Alternate IRT Rankings

Rank - Player - Country - Mean (Tournaments played)

1 Kane WASELENCHUK (Canada) 1.80 (10)
2 Rocky CARSON (USA) 2.21 (14)
3 Alvaro BELTRAN (Mexico) 4.92 (13)
4 Alejandro LANDA (Mexico) 6.00 (4)
5 Daniel DE LA ROSA (Mexico) 6.08 (13)

6 Ben CROFT (USA) 7.09 (11)
7 Jose ROJAS (USA) 7.71 (14)
8 Tony CARSON (USA) 8.57 (7)
9 Chris CROWTHER (USA) 9.60 (5)
10 Marco ROJAS (USA) 10.15 (13)

11 Jansen ALLEN (USA) 10.57 (14)
12 Charlie PRATT (USA) 12.85 (14)
13 Jose DIAZ (USA) 17.00 (8)
14 Felipe CAMACHO (Costa Rica) 18.67 (6)
15 Matthew MAJXNER (USA) 19.20 (10)

16 Coby IWAASA (Canada) 19.43 (7)
17 Alejandro HERRERA (Colombia) 20.00 (4)
18 Danny LAVELY (USA) 20.57 (7)
19 Robert COLLINS (USA) 24.00 (12)
20 Tim LANDERYOU (Canada) 24.00 (12)

This is the same 20 players, but the order is different. Note, this includes only players that were in at least four tournaments. If we lower that to three, then Andree Parrilla comes in with 21.33. Lowering it to two appearances gets in Cliff Swain (12) and Jacob Matthews (16), who reached the Round of 16 in two tournaments, and those tournaments - Davison, Michigan and Garden City, Kansas - weren't close to each other. Several players got to the 16s in only one appearance on tour.

The major difference, of course, is that Landa is in the top 4 here, as he was in two quarterfinals and two semi-finals, including a US Open semi, in four appearances on tour this season. Also, veterans Tony Carson and Chris Crowther are in the top 10 despite playing reduced schedules.

Is this fairer? No, not necessarily. It's just a different way of looking at the players' performance over the length of the season.

But perhaps the main point is that outside of Waselenchuk, Rocky Carson and Beltran, who in that order, are clearly the top three players, where everyone else falls is up for grabs.

Ideally, we'd see everyone play all the events, and see what happens. And there are other players we'd like to see play all the IRT events, such as the Bolivians - Conrado Moscoso and Carlos Keller - who beat Beltran and De La Rosa at the Pan American Championships in April, as well as guys who are playing the World Racquetball Tour (WRT).

It's interesting to consider the IRT rankings compared to the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) rankings in terms of where the players are from. Someone looking at the IRT rankings could think the USA still dominates, but while no one looking at the LPRT rankings would think that. USA has several high quality men's players, but as a whole, they aren't that far ahead of the rest of the countries, as they have been in the past.

Rankings can be debated almost endlessly, but one thing is undebatable: Kane Waselenchuk is the #1 IRT player.

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