Singles quarterfinals at XXX Pan American Championships

The top three seeds won in Women’s Singles in the quarterfinals at the XXX Pan American Racquetball Championships in San Jose, Costa Rica. First seed Paola Longoria of Mexico beat Mariana Tobon of Venezuela, 15-0, 15-1. Longoria will play Gabriella Martinez of Guatemala in the semi-finals, as Martinez defeated Chilean Carla Muñoz, 15-4, 15-8, to set up what will be a rematch of last year’s gold medal final at the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships, which was won by Longoria.

In the other Women’s Singles semi, 2nd seed Rhonda Rajsich of USA defeated Colombian Cristina Amaya, 15-4, 15-7, and will play 3rd seed Samantha Salas of Mexico, who was a winner over Veronica Sotomayor of Ecuador, 15-8, 15-9. With Salas and Longoria in the semis, there could be an all Mexico final.

In Men’s Singles, #1 seed Javier Mar came back from a game down to defeat Canadian Samuel Murray, 6-15, 15-4, 11-3. Murray played very well in game one, but Mar got a good start in game two. Then with Mar leading 11-4, Murray went down for a ball, and stayed down for awhile, taking an injury timeout after he eventually got up. Murray didn’t play with the same energy after that, and seemed to be especially hampered in moving to the right.

They were tied at 2-2 in the tie-breaker, but Mar hit some good Z serves to the left side that led to points and he won the breaker comfortably.

Mar’s opponent in the semi-finals will be Charlie Pratt of the USA, who also needed a tie-breaker to advance. But he won the first game, 15-4, playing almost flawlessly, against Bolivian Carlos Keller. Pratt continued to dominate early in game two, as he led 5-1. But Keller then pulled his game together, and scored seven unanswered points to lead 8-5. From there Keller stayed ahead, winning game two, 15-9, to force a tie-breaker.

In the breaker, they were back and forth early. Then with Pratt serving down 3-2, he was charged with a technical for taking too much time to begin the rally, so the score became 3-1, Pratt serving. He disputed the call, but proceeded to two aces and then two service winners to go up 5-3, which became 7-3 before Keller regained the serve.

Then with Keller serving down 7-4, the referee judged Keller’s serve to have skipped. Keller didn’t think so, but was out of appeals, so it seemed he was going to lose serve. However, Pratt overturned the call, so Keller got a second serve. On the ensuing rally, Pratt made a diving get that he pinch rolled out of the left corner with his backhand. It was a great winner.

From there Pratt went on to win the breaker, hitting an ace serve on a drive that cracked off of the left wall just past the short line.

Afterwards speaking on overturning the skipped serve call, Pratt said “I’m not going to take a call like that.”

Pratt’s playing on Team USA for the first time since he was a junior player. “It’s such a cool experience,” he said, adding “I’m really happy that I performed well.” Pratt “knew I gave everything I had,” and “felt in the zone” during the match.

On the other side of the Men’s Singles draw, the hometown player Andrés Acuña (Costa Rica) upset the 2nd seed David Horn of the USA, 15-10, 15-12. In game one, Acuña had a 10-1 lead, only to see Horn come back to within one at 11-10. They were back and forth a couple times at that point before Acuña hit a soft backhand pinch shot to get his 12th point.

Horn took a timeout down 13-10, and he got a side out when play resumed, but he failed to score, as Acuña got a sideout in return. Acuña got game point with a flat forehand pinch shot, and then won it when Horn skipped the serve return on the next rally.

Game two was close all the way, and went back and forth. Acuña led 4-0, then Horn led 5-4. Acuña was up 6-5, and then Horn led 11-8. But Acuña tied it 11-11. Horn went up 12-11 with an avoidable call against Acuña, but the Costa Rican got the serve right back, and hit two drive serves to the left that were aces to go up 13-12.

However, Acuña skipped a forehand pinch shot to give the serve back to Horn. It appeared that Horn tied the game at 13-13 with a backhand shot on the next rally, but Acuña successfully appealed for a hinder, so the score remained 13-12 in his favour. Acuña got the serve back with a soft backhand shot, one of few that he hit in the match.

A forehand reverse winner put Acuña on match point at 14-12, and then Horn skipped a backhand serve return to end the game and match.

Afterwards, Acuña said it was “very special,” and “one of the most special days in my life.” He also felt playing at home was a definite advantage, as “the crowd played a part.”

Acuña will play Mexican Alejandro Landa in the semi-finals on Friday, as Landa beat Canadian veteran, and a two time Pan American Champion, Mike Green, 15-12, 15-5.

The semi-finals are Friday with the women playing at 11 AM and men at noon, and finals will be Saturday.

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

Women's Singles - Quarterfinals Thursday

1) Paola Longoria (Mexico) d. 8) Mariana Tobon (Venezuela), 15-0, 15-1
13) Gabriella Martinez (Guatemala) d. 12) Carla Muñoz (Chile), 15-4, 15-8

3) Samantha Salas (Mexico) d. 6) Veronica Sotomayor (Ecuador), 15-8, 15-9
2) Rhonda Rajsich (USA) d. 10) Cristina Amaya (Colombia), 15-4, 15-7

Women's Singles - Semi-finals Friday

1) Paola Longoria (Mexico) v. 13) Gabriella Martinez (Guatemala) - 11 AM
2) Rhonda Rajsich (USA) v. 3) Samantha Salas (Mexico) - 11 AM

Men's Singles - Quarterfinals Thursday

1) Javier Mar (Mexico) d. 8) Samuel Murray (Canada), 5-15, 15-4, 11-3
4) Charlie Pratt (USA) d. 12) Carlos Keller (Bolivia), 15-4, 9-15, 11-5

3) Alejandro Landa (Mexico) d. 6) Mike Green (Canada), 15-12, 15-5
7) Andrés Acuña (Costa Rica) d. 2) David Horn (USA), 15-10, 15-12

Men's Singles - Semi-finals Friday

1) Javier Mar (Mexico) v. 4) Charlie Pratt (USA) - Noon
3) Alejandro Landa (Mexico) v. 7) Andrés Acuña (Costa Rica) - Noon

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