2015 Pan Am Games - Group Stage Preview

The 2015 Pan American Games racquetball competition begins Sunday in Toronto, Canada, and we've got the group stage divisions for you for. In international soccer competitions there is always a "group of death" which has all strong teams, some of which will be eliminated following the group stage.

In this competition, the group of death would definitely be Group D in Women's Singles, as it features Maria Jose Vargas of Argentina and Frédérique Lambert of Canada - both top 4 players on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) this past season, as well as former top women's pro Angela Grisar of Chile and Maria Paz Muñoz of Ecuador, who's no slouch either. We're sure those four players are happy to know that the group stage in this competition is used to just seed players for the elimination draw, so none of these four players will be eliminated prior to the elimination stage.

Muñoz is actually the highest seeded player in that group, as the seedings go by country, not individual, and Ecuador (Veronica Sotomayor) was second in Women's Singles at the Pan American Championships earlier this year.

But if Muñoz doesn't win the group, then whoever does win it, will take the 4th seed in the elimination draw, which could mean a semi-final match up top seed Paola Longoria of Mexico.

If there was a group of death in Men's Singles, it would likely be Group D also, as that features Bolivian Conrado Moscoso, runner up at the International Racquetball Federation World Championships last year, Mexican Daniel De La Rosa, the 4th ranked player on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT), Canadian Champion Coby Iwaasa, who went tie-breaker with De La Rosa twice in this last IRT season, as well as Christian Wer of Guatemala.

Men's Singles Group E isn't an easy one either, as it's got Alvaro Beltran of Mexico, Colombian Alejandro Herrera, Canadian Mike Green and Ramon De Leon of the Dominican Republic.

Note, as at this year's Pan American Championships, the top two seeds in each group are playing each other on Day 1, a.k.a. tomorrow. That will make for some very interesting matches right off the hop, including Moscoso versus De La Rosa, and Beltran versus Herrera, as well as Longoria versus Cristina Amaya of Colombia and Samantha Salas of Mexico versus American Michelle Key.

The racquetball competition begins Sunday, and has two parts. An individual competition, which will run Sunday to Thursday (July 19-24) and a team competition, which will run Thursday July 19 Sunday July 26.

For updates during the event - between postings on the website - follow us on Twitter: @racquetballblog.

2015 Pan American Games - Toronto, Canada

Group Stage

Women Singles

Group A

1) Paola Longoria (Mex)
10) Cristina Amaya (Col)
11) Mariana Paredes (Ven)
20) Maria Rene Rodriguez (Gua)

Group B

2) Veronica Sotomayor (Ecu)
9) Mariana Tobon (Ven)
12) Carolina Gomez (Col)
19) Jennifer Saunders (Can)

Group C

3) Samantha Salas (Mex)
8) Michelle Key (USA)
13) Adriana Riveros (Bol)
18) Ana Gabriela Martinez (Gua)

Group D

4) Maria Paz Muñoz (Ecu)
7) Maria Jose Vargas (Arg)
14) Angela Grisar (Chi)
17) Frédérique Lambert (Can)

Group E

5) Veronique Guillemette (Arg)
6) Rhonda Rajsich (USA)
15) Carola Loma (Bol)
16) Carla Munoz (Chi)

Men Singles

Group A

1) Rocky Carson (USA)
10) Felipe Camacho (Crc)
11) Jose Alvarez (Ecu)
20) Cesar Castro (Ven)

Group B

2) Carlos Keller (Bol)
9) Fernando Rios (Ecu)
12) Andres Acuña (Crc)
19) Edwin Galicia (Gua)

Group C

3) Jake Bredenbeck (USA)
8) Set Cubillos (Col)
13) Luis Perez (Dom)
18) Cesar Castillo (Ven)

Group D

4) Conrado Moscoso (Bol)
7) Daniel De La Rosa (Mex)
14) Coby Iwaasa (Can)
17) Christian Wer (Gua)

Group E

5) Alvaro Beltran (Mex)
6) Alejandro Herrera (Col)
15) Ramon De Leon (Dom)
16) Mike Green (Can)

Women's Doubles

Group A

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas (Mex)
6) Angela Grisar & Carla Muñoz (Chi)
7) Maria Paz Muñoz & Veronica Sotomayor (Ecu)

Group B

2) Veronique Guillemette & Maria Jose Vargas (Arg)
5) Rhonda Rajsich & Kim Russell-Waselenchuk (USA)
8) Ana Gabriela Martinez & Maria Rene Rodriguez (Gua)

Group C

3) Carola Loma & Natalia Mendez (Bol)
4) Cristina Amaya & Carolina Gomez (Col)
9) Michèle Morissette & Christine Richardson (Can)
10) Mariana Paredes & Mariana Tobon (Ven)

Men's Doubles

Group A

1) Alvaro Beltran & Javier Moreno (Mex)
6) Daniel Maggi & Shai Manzuri (Arg)
7) Sebastian Franco & Alejandro Herrera (Col)

Group B

2) Felipe Camacho & Teobaldo Fumero (Crc)
5) Jansen Allen & Jose Rojas (USA)
8) Vincent Gagnon & Tim Landeryou (Can)
11) Jose Alvarez & Fernando Rios (Ecu)

Group C

3) Cesar Castillo & Cesar Castro (Ven)
4) Ramon De Leon & Luis Perez (Dom)
9) Roland Keller & Conrado Moscoso (Bol)
10) Edwin Galicia & Christian Wer (Gua)

Follow the bouncing ball....