Day 3 at XXX Pan American Championships

When sports competition has a group stage, there is often one group that looks especially strong. In the FIFA World Cup that group is labelled the group of death, as the group stage will eliminate some teams, and in a strong group that means one or more strong teams will be eliminated.

The group stage at the XXX Pan American Racquetball Championships in San Jose, Costa Rica, doesn’t eliminate any players, rather the results are simply used to seed all players for an elimination round. However, if there was a group of death, Group A in Women’s Singles may have been it, as it featured the two finalists from the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships last year in Paola Longoria of Mexico and Gabriella Martinez of Guatemala as well as another strong player in American Sharon Jackson.

After three days of play, Longoria - the defending Pan American Champion and current IRF World Champion - has won the group ending it with a win over Jackson, 15-6, 15-3, on Monday. Thus, Longoria will be the #1 seed for the elimination round that will begin Wednesday.

Monday’s matches conclude the group stage of the competition. The group stage results will determine seeding for the elimination stage, which will begin 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. Sharon Jackson (USA), 15-6, 15-3
Gabriella Martinez (Guatemala) - BYE

Women's Singles - Group B

Rhonda Rajsich (USA) d. Maria Viera (Cuba), 15-5, 15-1
Maria Renee Rodriguez (Guatemala) d. Véronique Guillemette (Argentina), 15-5, 15-7

Women's Singles - Group C

Samantha Salas (Mexico) d. Carla Muñoz (Chile), 15-10, 15-6
Stefanny Barrios (Bolivia) d. Yurisledis Araujo (Cuba), 15-8, 11-15, 11-2

Women's Singles - Group D

Natalia Mendez (Argentina) d. Melania Sauma (Costa Rica), 15-4, 15-5
Pamela Sierra (Honduras) d. Ana Christina Velez (Ecuador), 11-15, 15-12, 11-10

Women's Singles - Group E

Jenny Daza (Bolivia) d. Paola Guerra (Venezuela), 15-5, 15-3
Jennifer Saunders (Canada) d. Josefa Parada (Chile), 15-5, 15-7

Women's Singles - Group F

Veronica Sotomayor (Ecuador) d. Maria Cespedes (Dominican Republic), 15-0, 15-5
Cristina Amaya (Colombia) d. Naomi Sasso Kessler (Costa Rica), 15-7, 15-5

Women's Singles - Group G

Merynanyelly Delgado (Dominican Republic) d. Michèle Morissette (Canada), 15-10, 15-1
Mariana Tobon (Venezuela) d. Carolina Gomez (Colombia), 9-15, 15-12, 11-9

Women's Doubles - Group A

Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas (Mexico) d. Andrea Martinez & Gabriella Martinez (Guatemala), 15-5, 15-8
Maricruz Ortiz & Melania Sauma (Costa Rica) - BYE

Women's Doubles - Group B

Véronique Guillemette & Natalia Mendez (Argentina) d. Carla Muñoz & Josefa Parada (Chile), 15-7, 8-15, 11-5
Cristina Amaya & Carolina Gomez (Colombia) - BYE

Women's Doubles - Group C

Stefanny Barrios & Jenny Daza (Bolivia) d. Maria Cespedes & Merynanyelly Delgado (Dominican Republic), 15-5, 15-9
Veronica Sotomayor & Maria Paz Muñoz (Ecuador) - BYE

Women's Doubles - Group D

Sheryl Lotts & Rhonda Rajsich (USA) d. Yurisledis Araujo & Maria Viera (Cuba), 15-11, 15-7
Danielle Drury & Jennifer Saunders (Canada) d. Paola Guerra & Mariana Tobon (Venezuela), 15-6, 15-4

Men's Singles - Group A

Javier Mar (Mexico) d. Edwin Garcia (Guatemala), 15-12, 15-13
Ramon De Leon (Dominican Republic) - BYE

Men's Singles - Group B

David Horn (USA) d. Francisco Troncoso (Chile), 15-6, 15-13
Francisco Gomez (Colombia) - BYE

Men's Singles - Group C

Alejandro Landa (Mexico) d. Juan Jose Salvatierra (Guatemala), 15-7, 15-3
Luis Perez (Dominican Republic) - BYE

Men's Singles - Group D

Charlie Pratt (USA) d. Rodrigo Salgado (Chile), 15-0, 15-0
Set Cubillos (Colombia) d. Fernando Mansell (Nicaragua), 15-3, 15-5

Men's Singles - Group E

Conrado Moscoso (Bolivia) d. Fernando Kurzbard (Argentina), 15-1, 15-2
Jose Ubilla (Costa Rica) d. Marco Sarmiento (Honduras), 15-13, 15-9

Men's Singles - Group F

Mike Green (Canada) d. Ricardo Gomez (Venezuela), 15-1, 15-2
Raul Gutierrez (Cuba) d. Christian Chavez (Ecuador), forfeit

Men's Singles - Group G

Andrés Acuña (Costa Rica) d. Carlos Medrano (Honduras), 15-2, 15-5
Carlos Keller (Bolivia) d. Shai Mazuri (Argentina), 15-4, 15-10

Men's Singles - Group H

Jose Daniel Ugalde (Ecuador) d. Maikel Mollet Suarez (Cuba), 15-10, 15-10
Samuel Murray (Canada) d. Luis Felipe Zea (Venezuela), forfeit

Men's Doubles - Group A

Polo Gutierrez & Alejandro Landa (Mexico) d. Set Cubillos & Francisco Gomez (Colombia), 15-7, 15-8
Roland Keller & Conrado Moscoso (Bolivia) - BYE

Men's Doubles - Group B

Luis Perez & Ramon De Leon (Dominican Republic) d. Ricardo Gomez & Luis Felipe Zea (Venezuela), 15-12, 15-2
Jake Bredenbeck & David Horn (USA) - BYE

Men's Doubles - Group C

Felipe Camacho & Teobaldo Fumero (Costa Rica) d. Edwin Garcia & Christian Wer (Guatemala), 7-15, 15-12, 11-0
Fernando Rios & Jose Daniel Ugalde (Ecuador) d. Maikel Mollet Suarez & Raul Gutierrez (Cuba), 15-1, 15-2

Men's Doubles - Group D

Tim Landeryou & Pedro Castro (Canada) d. Carlos Medrano & Sergio Ortega (Honduras), 15-5, 15-3
Shai Mazuri & Fernando Kurzbard (Argentina) d. Francisco Troncoso & Rodrigo Salgado (Chile), 15-3, 15-12

Follow the bouncing ball....