IRF World Junior Championships - Preview

The 28th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Junior Racquetball Championships begin this weekend in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. As has been the case for a few years now, Mexico was the top team in both Boy's and Girl's competitions last year in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where Mexicans earned 16 medals in the World Cup divisions (U18, U16, U14) followed by Bolivia and the USA who had 8 medals each.

The top players from last year have ‘graduated’ from juniors, so there will be opportunities for new players to take their place on the podium. Some of the threats to do that are Christian Longoria of Mexico on the boys’ side and USA’s Jordan Cooperrider on the girls’ side. Longoria was gold medalist last year in Boy’s U16, while Cooperrider won silver in Girl’s U16, but the Girl’s U16 gold medalist - Gabriela Martinez of Guatemala - still has a year of eligibility left in U16.

There will be live streaming of matches from San Luis Potosi via the IRF YouTube channel.

Here are the results from last year's World Juniors.

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 Standings

Girl's

GOLD - Mexico
SILVER - Bolivia
BRONZE - USA

Boy's

GOLD - Mexico
SILVER - Bolivia
BRONZE - USA

Follow the bouncing ball....