2015 Pan American Games - Preview

The 2015 Pan American Games will began Friday in Toronto. This is the second largest sporting event in the world, only the Summer Olympics is larger. The event runs from July 10 to July 26.

Racquetball is in the second week of the competition. The racquetball action begins July 19 and runs until July 26. There are six separate racquetball events: Men's and Women's Singles and Doubles, as well as Men's and Women's Team events.

All of the gold medalists from 2011 are back to defend their titles. American Rocky Carson won gold in Men's Singles, while Mexicans took gold in all the divisions. Alvaro Beltran and Javier Moreno won gold in Men's Doubles, while Paola Longoria won gold in both Women's Singles and Women's Doubles, with her partner Samantha Salas.

Mexico also won both team competitions in 2011. Beltran, Moreno and Gilberto Meija won the Men's Team gold with Longoria and Salas taking the Women's Team gold. The Team event is a best of three matches: two singles matches and a doubles match. The country that wins at least two of the three matches wins.

The defending champions are likely the favourites to win again, although they will face some stiff competition. In Men's Singles, Bolivians Carlos Keller and Conrado Moscoso are medal threats, as are Mexicans Beltran and Daniel De La Rosa.

In Women's Singles, Longoria has been the dominant player since 2011, losing only twice in that period. But both players who beat her are in Toronto: American Rhonda Rajsich and Canadian Frédérique Lambert. Other medal threats include Maria Vargas Parada of Argentina, Veronica Sotomayor of Ecuador, and Cristina Amaya of Colombia.

In doubles the Mexican teams should be favoured to repeat, but on the men's side American Jose Rojas and Jansen Allen are podium threats, as are the current World Champions Sebastian Franco and Alejandro Herrera of Colombia, and the Keller brothers - Carlos and Roland - from Bolivia.

In Women's Doubles the Americans have a veteran duo of Rajsich and Kim Russell-Waselenchuk that should threaten for a medal. Also, the Argentine pair of Vargas Parada and Veronique Guillemette played close with the Mexicans in the final of the Pan Am Championships in April, so they are a team to watch in Toronto.

The Pan Am Games should be a great racquetball competition.

Longoria carries the flag

Of note, Paola Longoria was the flag bearer for Mexico during the opening ceremonies, which is an indication of how popular and prominent she is at home. We think that's a first time a racquetball player has been selected to carry the flag for their country at a multi-sport games.

2015 Pan American Games
Toronto, Canada

Tentative Rosters (Women - Men)

Argentina

Veronique GUILLEMETTE
Maria VARGAS PARADA

Daniel MAGGI
Shai MANZURI

Bolivia

Cintia LOMA
Natalia MENDEZ
Adriana RIVEROS

Carlos KELLER
Roland KELLER
Conrado MOSCOSO

Canada

Frédérique LAMBERT
Michèle MORISSETTE
Christine RICHARDSON
Jennifer SAUNDERS

Vincent GAGNON
Mike GREEN
Coby IWAASA
Tim LANDERYOU

Chile

Angela GRISAR
Carla MUÑOZ

Colombia

Cristina AMAYA
Maria GOMEZ

Set CUBILLOS
Sebastian FRANCO
Alejandro HERRERA

Costa Rica

Andres ACUÑA
Felipe CAMACHO
Teobaldo FUMERO

Dominican Republic

Ramon DE LEON
Luis PEREZ

Ecuador

Maria Paz MUÑOZ
Veronica SOTOMAYOR

Jose ALVAREZ
Fernando RIOS

Guatemala

Ana MARTINEZ GONZALEZ
Maria RODRIGUEZ

Edwin GALICIA
Christian WER

Mexico

Susana ACOSTA
Paola LONGORIA
Samantha SALAS

Alvaro BELTRAN
Daniel DE LA ROSA
Javier MORENO

United States

Michelle KEY
Rhonda RAJSICH
Kim RUSSELL-WASELENCHUK

Jansen ALLEN
Jake BREDENBECK
Rocky CARSON
Jose ROJAS

Venezuela

Cesar CASTILLO
Cesar CASTRO

Islhey PAREDES
Mariana TOBON

Follow the bouncing ball….