Who will be World Champion? - 2018 IRF World Championships Preview

The 19th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships begin play on Saturday in San José, Costa Rica. Originally, this event was to be held in China, but government complications ended that possibility, so Cali, Colombia was to be host, as it was two years ago. However, the courts used for in 2016 were unexpectedly razed earlier this year, eliminating that as a venue. Thus, the players have convened in Costa Rica.

With more and more players competing on the men’s and women’s pro tours, international players are more familiar to fans, and when you see the entrants below you’ll appreciate how difficult it will to become a 2018 World Champion racquetball player.

Groups of Difficulty, but not Death

The competition begins with three days of group play with the results being used to seed players for a playoff draw. Often in international competitions that involve an initial group stage one group can be identified as a Group of Death, because the players or teams in the group are so strong and some players or teams are going to be eliminated at the group stage.

IRF competitions don’t eliminate players or teams at the group stage (though perhaps they should), but two - maybe three - groups in Women's Singles could be labeled a Group of Difficulty, if not actual Death (elimination). The most difficulty may come in Group F, where there is Maria Jose Vargas (Argentina) - formerly #2 on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT), Ana Gabriela Martinez (Guatemala) - the silver medalist from the 2016 World Championships and Adriana Riveros (Colombia), who’s 12th on the LPRT, as well as Maricruz Ortiz (Costa Rica).

But Group G won’t be easy either, as there are two current LPRT top 10 players in Natalia Mendez (Argentina) and Cristina Amaya (Colombia), as well as Canadian veteran Jen Saunders, who is a former LPRT top 10 player and Merynaanyelly Delgado of the Dominican Republic, who was a bronze medalist last month at the Central American and Caribbean Games. Furthermore, Group C doesn’t have any slouches either with Mexican Samantha Salas, Chilean Carla Muñoz, Bolivian Jenny Daza and Ireland’s Donna Ryder.

Yes, it’s going to be difficult to win those groups.

Doubles but not Singles

A couple of things to note about doubles play. One partly involves singles. Rocky Carson of the USA is the 5 time defending World Champion in Men’s Singles, but he’s playing Men’s Doubles not Men’s Singles, so his streak of championships will come to an end. However, Carson is partnered with Sudsy Monchik, a 4 time US Open Champion and legend of the sport, and with a partner like that, you can understand why Carson chose doubles over singles.

Monchik will be playing for the USA for only the second time. He first did so over 20 years ago at the 1995 Pan American Games in Argentina, where he won Men’s Doubles with Tim Sweeney. If he and Carson win Men's Doubles this year, Carson will become the third man to capture both Men’s Singles and Doubles titles after Todd O’Neill (USA) and Alvaro Beltran (Mexico).

In a similarly strange move, Maria Paz Muñoz and Veronica Sotomayor of Ecuador are in Women’s Doubles, but neither is playing singles. Indeed, no Ecuador woman is entered in singles, which is odd. Sotomayor, who is married to Monchik, recently had her first child, so it’s understandable she wouldn’t want to play two divisions, but why Muñoz - or any other Ecuador women - isn’t in singles is unclear.

We expect there will be live streaming of matches from San José, but it’s uncertain when that will begin, as the IRF hasn’t made any announcements about it on their Facebook page or Twitter. Check the IRF website for updates.

18th IRF World Championships
August 10-18, 2018
San José, Costa Rica

Men's Singles

Group A

David Horn (USA) v. Luis Perez (Dominican Republic)
Moon Gyun Kim (South Korea) - BYE

Group B

Daniel De La Rosa (Mexico) v. Daeyong Kwon (South Korea)
Ramon De Leon (Dominican Republic) - BYE

Group C

Charlie Pratt (USA) v. Felipe Camacho (Costa Rica)
Luis Felipe Zea (Venezuela) v. Jonny O’keeney (ireland)

Group D

Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico) v. Ryoki Kamahara (Japan)
Fernando Kurzbard (Argentina) v. Alberto Rojas (Switzerland)

Group E

Conrado Moscoso (Bolivia) v. Andres Acuña (Costa Rica)
Ricardo Gomez (Venezuela) v. Mark Murphy (Ireland)

Group F

Samuel Murray (Canada) v. Kono Michimune (Japan)
Shai Manuzi (Argentina) v. Sumeet Kamat (India)

Group G

Carlos Keller (Bolivia) v. Christian Chavez (Ecuador)
Edwin Galicia (Guatemala) v. Johan Igor (Chile)

Group H

Coby Iwaasa (Canada) v. Mario Mercado (Colombia)
Aaron Booker (Puerto Rico) v. Yash Doshi (India)

Group I

Sebastian Franco (Colombia) v. Jose Daniel Ugalde (Ecuador)
Christian Wer (Guatemala) v. Francisco Troncoso (Chile)

Women's Singles

Group A

Paola Longoria (Mexico) v. Harumi Kajino (Japan)
Jin Seok (South Korea) - BYE

Group B

Rhonda Rajsich (USA) v. Young Ock Lee (Korea)
Naomi Wakimoto (Japan) - BYE

Group C

Carla Muñoz (Chile) v. Donna Ryder (Ireland)
Samantha Salas (Mexico) v. Jenny Daza (Bolivia)

Group D

Lilian Zea (Venezuela) v. Aisling Hickey (Ireland)
Sheryl Lotts (USA) v. Maria Rene Rodriguez (Guatemala)

Group E

Frédérique Lambert (Canada) v. Yasmine Sabja (Bolivia)
Josefa Parada (Chile) v. Alejandra Jiménez (Dominican Republic)

Group F

Maria Jose Vargas (Argentina) v. Ana Gabriela Martinez (Guatemala)
Maricruz Ortiz (Costa Rica) v. Adriana Riveros (Colombia)

Group G

Jen Saunders (Canada) v. Natalia Mendez (Argentina)
Cristina Amaya (Colombia) v. Merynanyelly Delgado (Dominican Republic)

Men's Doubles

Group A

Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa (Mexico) v. Edwin Galicia & Christian Wer (Guatemala)
Yuki Nakano & Hiroshi Shimizu (Japan) v. Alok Mehta & Thirumurugan Thyagarajan (India)

Group B

Sebastian Franco & Mario Mercado (Colombia) v. Fernando Kurzbard & Shai Manzuri (Argentina)
Gabriel Garcia & Alexander Pirie (Costa Rica) v. Rodrigo Salgado & Francisco Troncoso (Chile)

Group C

Rocky Carson & Sudsy Monchik (USA) v. Juan Francisco Cueva & Jose Daniel Ugalde (Ecoador)
Ricardo Gomez & Luis Felipe Zea (Venezuela) v. Ken Cottrell & Eoin Tynan (Ireland)

Group D

Roland Keller & Conrrado Moscoso (Bolivia) v. Tim Landeryou & Samuel Murray (Canada)
Luis Perez & Ramon De Leon (Dominican Republic) v. Daeyong Kwon & Moon Gyun Kim (South Korea)

Women's Doubles

Group A

Monserrat Mejia & Alexandra Herrera (Mexico) v. Natalia Mendez & Maria Jose Vargas (Argentina)
Alejandra Jiménez & Merynanyelly Delgado (Dominican Republic) - BYE

Group B

Sheryl Lotts & Rhonda Rajsich (USA) v. Maiko Sato & Naomi Wakimoto (Japan)
Jin Seok & Mi Ok An (South Korea) - BYE

Group C

Carla Muñoz & Josefa Parada (Chile) v. Maria Paz Muñoz & Veronica Sotomayor (Ecuador)
Maria Renee Rodriguez & Gabriela Martinez (Guatemala) - BYE

Group D

Frédérique Lambert & Jennifer Saunders (Canada) v. Valeria Centellas & Yasmine Sabja (Bolivia)
Cristina Amaya & Adriana Riveros (Colombia) v. Majella Haventry & Katie Kenny (Ireland)

Follow the bouncing ball....