Gold is split three ways in doubles at 2018 IRF World Junior Championships

Bolivia, Mexico and the USA shared the spoils in doubles as each country won two gold medals at the 30th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Junior Racquetball Championships in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Perhaps curiously, Mexico won both the Girl’s and Boy’s U18 titles; Bolivia won both Boy’s and Girl’s U16 title, and the USA won gold in both Girl’s and Boy’s U14.

Sometimes a player will win both singles and doubles at World Juniors. Three Bolivian players won both this year. Valeria Centallas won Girl’s U16 Singles and Doubles - to go with her win in Women’s Doubles at the IRF World Championships in August. She’s the first player to win doubles at Worlds and at World Juniors in the same year. Centellas’s doubles partner Micaela Meneses won Girl’s U14 Singles as well as the U16 Doubles title. Finally, Diego Garcia of Bolivia won gold in Boy’s U16 Singles and Doubles with partner Roberto Arellano.

The Boy’s U18 Doubles final followed the same storyline as the Boy’s U18 Singles final, as one side narrowly won the first game, and then the other side won games two and three convincingly. In the Doubles final, Sebastian Fernandez and Rodrigo Rodriguez of Mexico came back to defeat Gerson Miranda and Fernando Ruiz of Bolivia, 13-15, 15-6, 11-4. Fernandez ended the match with a soft forehand down the right side.

Mexicans also won the Girl’s U18 gold medal, as Ana Laura Flores and Abril Sacristan beat Maria Jose Muñoz and Ana Lucia Sarmiento of Ecuador, 15-5, 15-10, in the final. As with the boys final, Mexico and Ecuador played earlier in the week in a Group Stage match, which was also won by the Mexicans.

Bolivian Valeria Centellas became the first player to win both a IRF World Junior Championship in doubles and an IRF World Championship in doubles in the same year, as she won Women's Doubles at the 2018 IRF World Championships in August with Yasmine Sabja. Centellas and Micaela Meneses won the Girl’s U16 Doubles final by defeating Canadians Juliette Parent and Cassie Prentice, 15-8, 15-8. The win is Centellas’s second World Junior Championship in Girl’s U16 Doubles in as many years. Last year she won with Romina Rivero.

In the U14 divisions, Heather Mahoney and Julia Stein of the USA avenged a loss earlier in the week to defeat Mexicans Jessica Balderrama and Daniela Rico, 15-10, 1-15, 11-1, in the final. They teams had played earlier in the week in a preliminary round robin competition prior to the medal round, and Mexico won that match albeit in a tie-breaker.

On the boys’ side, Mahoney and Stein’s team-mates also needed a tie-breaker to win the gold medal in Boy’s U14 doubles. Andrew Gleason and Timmy Hansen came back from a game down to defeat Bolivians Luis Aguilar and Mateo Claros, 5-15, 15-3, 11-9.

If you want to see some of the action from San Luis Potosi, look to the IRF Facebook page or the IRF YouTube channel.

30th IRF World Junior Racquetball Championships
San Luis Potosi, Mexico - November 3-10, 2018

U18 Boy's Doubles

Final - Saturday

3. Sebastian Fernandez & Rodrigo Rodriguez (Mexico) d. 1. Gerson Miranda & Fernando Ruiz (Bolivia), 13-15, 15-6, 11-4

U16 Boy's Doubles

Final - Saturday

1. Diego Garcia & Roberto Arellano (Bolivia) d. 2. Sebastian Longoria & Jose Ramos (Mexico), 15-11, 15-6

U14 Boy's Doubles

Final - Saturday

1. Andrew Gleason & Timmy Hansen (USA) d. 3. Luis Aguilar & Mateo Claros (Bolivia), 5-15, 15-3, 11-9

U18 Girl's Doubles - Round Robin

Final - Saturday

1. Ana Laura Flores & Abril Sacristan (Mexico) d. 2. Maria Jose Muñoz & Ana Lucia Sarmiento (Ecuador), 15-5, 15-10

U16 Girl's Doubles

Final - Saturday

1. Valeria Centellas & Micaela Meneses (Bolivia) d. 3. Juliette Parent & Cassie Prentice (Canada), 15-8, 15-8

U14 Girl's Doubles

Final - Saturday

2. Heather Mahoney & Julia Stein (USA) d. 1. Jessica Balderrama & Daniela Rico (Mexico), 15-10, 1-15, 11-1

Follow the bouncing ball….