2015 IRF World Juniors - Summary

Ten countries won medals last week at the 2015 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Junior Racquetball Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. That's two more than last year. But the top two countries were the same, as Mexico finished as the top team in both Boy's and Girl's competitions earning 16 medals overall followed by Bolivia with 8 medals overall.

The USA medal count was up one from last year going from 7 to 8, but the Costa Rica team only had three medals in Santo Domingo compared to seven last year, although one of them was gold in Girl's U18 Doubles.

Guatemala also had a gold medal, as they did last year, and Gabriela Martinez won it for them, though this year she won Girl's U16 Singles while she won Girl's U14 Singles.

Ecuador had one more medal this year, and Canada one fewer. Ecuador's additional medal was a silver in Boy's U14 Doubles.

"What a shot!"

The shot of the week was by South Korean Yoon Jun Ha in their Boy's U16 Doubles match against Costa Rica during the preliminary round. It came in game one. South Korea was up 13-6, and a long rally ends when the ball comes through the middle. Jun Ha, a right handed player playing the right side, hits the ball behind his back, and it goes off the left wall to the front wall, and when it gets to the right wall, it cracks out. Unreturnable.

Jun Ha followed that up with flat roll out for the game point on the next rally. A shot so flat the Costa Ricans thought it skipped.

Honorable mention for shot of the week came from the racquet of American Elena Dent, another right handed player playing the right side in Girl's U14 Doubles. In their last match versus Canada, Dent reached up for a ball that was going through the middle. But it was behind her, so she was facing the back wall, and had to hit the ball over her shoulder.

The ball went right to the front right corner, and rolled out. A sure winner every time.

Future events

Plans are to have the 2016 World Junior Championships in Guatemala, although that is pending construction of new courts, so there's some uncertainty to that location.

The next major international events are the 2016 Pan American Championships in Temuco, Chile March 19-26. The Asian Championships will take place in Seoul, South Korea in March also. Then the 2016 IRF World Championships will be held in Cali, Colombia July 16-23.

27th IRF World Junior Racquetball Championships
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
MEDAL SUMMARY

Girl's U18 Singles

GOLD - Natalia Mendez (Bolivia)
SILVER - Maria Cespedes (Dominican Republic)
BRONZE - Monserrat Perez (Mexico) & Lexi York (USA)

Boy's U18 Singles

GOLD - Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico)
SILVER - Andree Parrilla (Mexico)
BRONZE - Nicolas Bousquet (Canada) & Daniel Rojas (USA)

Girl's U16 Singles

GOLD - Ana Gabriela Martinez (Guatemala)
SILVER - Jordan Cooperrider (USA)
BRONZE - Wanda Carvajal (Bolivia) & Monserrat Mejia (Mexico)

Boy's U16 Singles

GOLD - Cristian Longoria (Mexico)
SILVER - Juan Loreto (Mexico)
BRONZE - Trevor Webb (Canada) & Set Cubillos (Colombia)

Girl's U14 Singles

GOLD - Romina Rivero (Bolivia)
SILVER - Angelica Barrios (Bolivia)
BRONZE - Ana Laura Flores (Mexico) & Delia Aguiar (Mexico)

Boy's U14 Singles

GOLD - Diego Garcia (Bolivia)
SILVER - Gerson Miranda (Bolivia)
BRONZE - Jose Ramos (Mexico) & Mario Ruiz (Mexico)

Girl's U18 Doubles

GOLD - Melania Sauma & Sofia Soley (Costa Rica)
SILVER - Gabriela Martinez & Andrea Martinez (Guatemala)
BRONZE - Natalia Mendez & Wanda Carvajal (Bolivia) & Mariel Morales & Montserrat Perez (Mexico)

Boy's U18 Doubles

GOLD - Erik Garcia & Andree Parrilla (Mexico)
SILVER - Sam Bredenbeck & Jake Birnel (USA)
BRONZE - Nicolas Bousquet & Tanner Prentice (Canada) & Alexander Pirie & Jose Ubilla (Costa Rica)

Girl's U16 Doubles

GOLD - Jordan Cooperrider & Erika Manilla (USA)
SILVER - Monserrat Mejia & Andrea Ramirez (Mexico)
BRONZE - Angelica Barrios & Flavia Meneses (Bolivia) & Maria Jose Munoz & Ivana Sempertegui (Ecuador)

Boy's U16 Doubles

GOLD - Gerardo Franco & Cristian Longoria (Mexico)
SILVER - Wayne Antone & Kevin Vazquez (USA)
BRONZE - Sergio Acuña & Andres Montero (Costa Rica) & Juan Cueva & Jorge Ochoa (Ecuador)

Girl's U14 Doubles

GOLD - Ana Laura Flores & Ana Cristina Rivera (Mexico)
SILVER - Alejandra Jimenez Castillo & Rodaliza Perdomo (Dominican Rep.)
BRONZE - Ana Lucia Sarmiento & Nathalia Pinero (Ecuador) & Mary Ellen Phelan & Leanne Ryan (Ireland)

Boy's U14 Doubles

GOLD - Sebastian Fernandez & Mario Ruiz (Mexico)
SILVER - Juan Flores & Esteban Jano (Ecuador)
BRONZE - Diego Garcia & Gerson Miranda (Bolivia) & Julian Singh & Mitchell Turner (USA)

MEDAL COUNTS BY COUNTRY

Mexico - 6 Gold, 3 Silver, 7 Bronze = 16 Overall
Bolivia - 3 G, 1 S, 4 B = 8
USA - 1 G, 4 S, 3 B = 8
Costa Rica - 1 G, 0 S, 2 B = 3
Guatemala - 1 G, 1 S, 0 B = 2
Ecuador - 0 G, 1 S, 3 B = 4
Canada - 0 G, 0 S, 3 B = 3
Dominican Republic - 0 G, 2 S, 0 B = 2
Ireland - 0 G, 0 S, 1 B = 1
Colombia - 0 G, 0 S, 1 B = 1

World Cup Team Points

Girl's

GOLD - Mexico - 888
SILVER - Bolivia - 812
BRONZE - USA - 688
4th - Dominicana - 444
5th - Canada - 360
6th - Guatemala - 340
7th - Ecuador - 296
7th - Costa Rica - 296
9th - Ireland - 146
10th - Honduras - 124
11th - Colombia - 48
11th - Puerto Rico - 48
13th - Chile - 20
13th - South Korea - 20

Boy's

GOLD - Mexico - 1416
SILVER - Bolivia - 752
BRONZE - USA - 672
4th - Costa Rica - 572
5th - Canada - 486
6th - Ecuador - 476
7th - Guatemala - 276
8th - Colombia - 178
9th - Chile - 132
10th - South Korea - 82
11th - Honduras - 78
12th - Dominicana - 28
12th - Ireland - 28
14th - Puerto Rico - 10

Overall

GOLD - Mexico - 2304
SILVER - Bolivia - 1564
BRONZE - USA - 1360
4th - Costa Rica - 868
5th - Canada - 846
6th - Ecuador - 772
7th - Guatemala - 616
8th - Dominicana - 472
9th - Colombia - 226
10th - Honduras - 202
11th - Ireland - 174
12th - Chile - 152
13th - South Korea - 102
14th - Puerto Rico - 58

Follow the bouncing ball....