Day 1 at XXX Pan American Championship

Costa Rican Andrés Acuña, playing at home, had the first surprise of the XXVII Pan American Racquetball Championships that began Saturday in San Jose, Costa Rica, as he defeated Carlos Keller of Bolivia, 15-8, 15-6. Saturday is the first of three days of the group stage, as players are divided into groups based on their country’s respective performances at recent Pan American Championships. The group stage results will be used to seed players for an elimination stage to determine this year’s Pan American Champions.

On the first day, the closet seeds play off, so things start with a bang. Hence, there were several tie-breakers, including one between defending gold medalist in Women’s Singles Paola Longoria of Mexico, who dropped the first game against Gabriella Martinez of Guatemala before coming back to win in three games, 11-15, 15-7, 11-3.

Longoria’s team-mate, Samantha Salas also needed three games to win Saturday, as like Longoria, Salas lost the first game against Stefanny Barrios of Bolivia but came back to win in three, 9-15, 15-4, 11-0.

In other action, Veronica Sotomayor of Ecuador outlasted Colombian Cristina Amaya, 12-15, 15-2, 11-6, in what is an upset by the seeding, but we’d say was more of a toss up match, as it could have gone either way, evidenced by them playing a breaker to decide it.

The Pan American Championships have two parts. A preliminary round will be played first to determine seeding for an elimination round, similar to the FIFA World Cup. The preliminary round will be played on Saturday, Sunday and Monday with the elimination round beginning Wednesday.

XXX Pan American Racquetball Championships
San Jose, Costa Rica - April 8-15, 2017

Group Play

Women's Singles - Group A

Paola Longoria (Mexico) d. Gabriella Martinez (Guatemala), 11-15, 15-7, 11-3
Sharon Jackson (USA) - BYE

Women's Singles - Group B

Rhonda Rajsich (USA) d. Véronique Guillemette (Argentina), 15-7, 15-0
Maria Renee Rodriguez (Guatemala) d. Maria Viera (Cuba), 15-4, 7-15, 11-2

Women's Singles - Group C

Samantha Salas (Mexico) d. Stefanny Barrios (Bolivia), 9-15, 15-4, 11-0
Carla Muñoz (Chile) d. Yurisledis Araujo (Cuba), 15-1, 15-8

Women's Singles - Group D

Natalia Mendez (Argentina) d. Ana Christina Velez (Ecuador), 15-2, 15-1
Melania Sauma (Costa Rica) d. Pamela Sierra (Honduras), 15-13, 15-9

Women's Singles - Group E

Jenny Daza (Bolivia) d. Jennifer Saunders (Canada), 15-5, 15-5
Paola Guerra (Venezuela) d. Josefa Parada (Chile), 15-3, 15-10

Women's Singles - Group F

Veronica Sotomayor (Ecuador) d. Cristina Amaya (Colombia), 12-15, 15-2, 11-6
Maria Cespedes (Dominican Republic) d. Naomi Sasso Kessler (Costa Rica), 15-7, 3-15, 11-0

Women's Singles - Group G

Carolina Gomez (Colombia) d. Michèle Morissette (Canada), 9-15, 15-13, 11-5
Merynanyelly Delgado (Dominican Republic) d. Mariana Tobon (Venezuela), 15-10, 15-13

Women's Doubles - Group A

Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas (Mexico) d. Maricruz Ortiz & Melania Sauma (Costa Rica), 15-0, 15-1
Andrea Martinez & Gabriella Martinez (Guatemala) - BYE

Women's Doubles - Group B

Véronique Guillemette & Natalia Mendez (Argentina) d. Cristina Amaya & Carolina Gomez (Colombia), 15-12, 15-7
Carla Muñoz & Josefa Parada (Chile) - BYE

Women's Doubles - Group C

Veronica Sotomayor & Maria Paz Muñoz (Ecuador) d. Maria Cespedes & Merynanyelly Delgado (Dominican Republic), 15-3, 15-6
Stefanny Barrios & Jenny Daza (Bolivia) - BYE

Women's Doubles - Group D

Sheryl Lotts & Rhonda Rajsich (USA) d. Danielle Drury & Jennifer Saunders (Canada), 15-4, 15-4
Yurisledis Araujo & Maria Viera (Cuba) d. Paola Guerra & Mariana Tobon (Venezuela), 15-9, 15-13

Men's Singles - Group A

Javier Mar (Mexico) d. Ramon De Leon (Dominican Republic), 15-11, 15-1
Edwin Garcia (Guatemala) - BYE

Men's Singles - Group B

David Horn (USA) d. Francisco Gomez (Colombia), 15-7, 14-15, 11-4
Francisco Troncoso (Chile) - BYE

Men's Singles - Group C

Alejandro Landa (Mexico) d. Luis Perez (Dominican Republic), 11-15, 15-8, 11-4
Juan Jose Salvatierra (Guatemala) - BYE

Men's Singles - Group D

Charlie Pratt (USA) d. Set Cubillos (Colombia), 15-7, 15-2
Rodrigo Salgado (Chile) d. Fernando Mansell (Nicaragua), 15-8, 15-5

Men's Singles - Group E

Conrado Moscoso (Bolivia) d. Jose Ubilla (Costa Rica), 15-9, 15-7
Fernando Kurzbard (Argentina) d. Marco Sarmiento (Honduras), 15-8, 15-7

Men's Singles - Group F

Mike Green (Canada) d. Christian Chavez (Ecuador), 15-3, 15-8
Ricardo Gomez (Venezuela) d. Raul Gutierrez (Cuba), 15-2, 15-0

Men's Singles - Group G

Andrés Acuña (Costa Rica) d. Carlos Keller (Bolivia), 15-8, 15-6
Shai Mazuri (Argentina) d. Carlos Medrano (Honduras), 15-9, 15-9

Men's Singles - Group H

Samuel Murray (Canada) d. Jose Daniel Ugalde (Ecuador), 15-4, 9-15, 11-4
Maikel Mollet Suarez (Cuba) d. Luis Felipe Zea (Venezuela), forfeit

Men's Doubles - Group A

Polo Gutierrez & Alejandro Landa (Mexico) d. Roland Keller & Conrado Moscoso (Bolivia), 15-10, 15-8
Set Cubillos & Francisco Gomez (Colombia) - BYE

Men's Doubles - Group B

Jake Bredenbeck & David Horn (USA) d. Luis Perez & Ramon De Leon (Dominican Republic), 15-3, 15-13
Ricardo Gomez & Luis Felipe Zea (Venezuela) - BYE

Men's Doubles - Group C

Felipe Camacho & Teobaldo Fumero (Costa Rica) d. Fernando Rios & Jose Daniel Ugalde (Ecuador), 10-15, 15-11 11-4
Edwin Garcia & Christian Wer (Guatemala) d. Maikel Mollet Suarez & Raul Gutierrez (Cuba), 15-8, 15-2

Men's Doubles - Group D

Tim Landeryou & Pedro Castro (Canada) d. Shai Mazuri & Fernando Kurzbard (Argentina), 15-10, 15-9
Francisco Troncoso & Rodrigo Salgado (Chile) d. Carlos Medrano & Sergio Ortega (Honduras), 15-13, 15-7

Follow the bouncing ball....