Bolivia tops team standings at 2019 IRF World Junior Champinoships

Bolivia topped both the Boy’s and Girl’s Team standings, so the Overall Team standings as well at the 2019 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Junior Racquetball Championships last week in San José, Costa Rica. Mexico was 2nd and the USA 3rd in both Boy’s and Girl’s and Overall standings.

Costa Rica came 4th overall with their highest point total (1136) since 2014 (1092), and maybe their highest ever, which perhaps proves it helps to play at home. It certainly helped Pablo Freer and Tomas Sanchez, who won Boy’s U18 Doubles, and Maricruz Ortiz, who won Girl’s U16 Singles.

Bolivians Angelica Barrios and Gerson Miranda ended their junior years on a high, winning Girl’s and Boy’s U18 Singles, respectively. Barrios also won Girl’s U18 Doubles with Valeria Centellas, who was runner up to Barrios in her first year of 18 singles play.

Hector Barrios of Bolivia was the only boy to win gold in both singles and doubles. He beat Mexican Sebastian Longoria in the Boy’s U16 Singles final and with Adrian Jaldin defeated the USA’s Nikhill Prasad and Timothy Hansen in the Boy’s U16 Doubles final.

Shout out to the Cubans Suniaris Rodriguez and Loraine Felipe, who earned bronze medals in Girl’s U16 Doubles. Those are the first medals for Cuba at World Juniors as far as we know.

Also a shout out to Ireland’s Daniel Hanrahan and Keelan O’Gorman, who were the first Irish players in an IRF World Junior final in over 20 years, when they played for gold in Boy’s U14 Doubles. They lost to Mexico’s Luis Renteria and Jorge Gutierrez, but it’s a big achievement nonetheless.

The IRF streamed several of the matches from San José, so if you want see them, check out their Facebook page). The next international event will be the Pan American Championships April 4-12, 2020, but the site is still to be determined. Bolivia was mentioned as a possibility during one of the matches from San José, but given the domestic unrest there right now, we’re not sure if that will be the host nation.

31st IRF World Junior Racquetball Championships
San José, Costa Rica - November 9-16, 2019

Boy’s Team Standings

1. Bolivia - 1080
2. Mexico - 872
3. USA - 654
4. Costa Rica - 636
5. Ecuador - 492
6. Guatemala - 318
7. Colombia - 270
8. Chile - 254
9. Canada - 242
10. Argentina - 238
11. Ireland - 192
12. Korea - 114

Girl’s Team Standings

1. Bolivia - 1220
2. Mexico - 896
3. USA - 800
4. Costa Rica - 500
5. Ecuador - 324
6. Canada - 286
7. Guatemala - 256
8. Cuba - 188
9. Argentina - 168
10. Chile - 96
11. Ireland - 88

Overall Team Standings

1. Bolivia - 2300
2. Mexico - 1768
3. USA - 1454
4. Costa Rica - 1136
5. Ecuador - 816
6. Guatemala - 574
7. Canada - 528
8. Argentina - 406
9. Chile - 350
10. Ireland - 280
11. Chile - 270
12. Cuba - 188
13. Korea - 114

U18 Girl's Singles

GOLD: Angelica Barrios (Bolivia)
SILVER: Valeria Centellas (Bolivia)
BRONZE: Martina Katz (Argentina) & Ana Sarmiento (Ecuador)

U16 Girl's Singles

GOLD: Maricruz Ortiz (Costa Rica)
SILVER: Micaela Meneses (Bolivia)
BRONZE: Annie Roberts (USA) & Ximena Martinez (Mexico)

U14 Girl's Singles

GOLD: Heather Mahoney (USA)
SILVER: Angela Ortega (Mexico)
BRONZE: Camila Rivero (Bolivia) & Ava Kaiser (USA)

U18 Boy's Singles

GOLD: Gerson Miranda (Bolivia)
SILVER: Tomas Sanchez (Costa Rica)
BRONZE: Diego Garcia (Argentina) & Jose Ramos (Mexico)

U16 Boy's Singles

GOLD: Hector Barrios (Bolivia)
SILVER: Sebastian Longoria (Mexico)
BRONZE: Timothy Hansen (USA) & Adrian Jaldin (Bolivia)

U14 Boy's Singles

GOLD: Jhonatan Flores (Bolivia)
SILVER: Nikhil Prasad (USA)
BRONZE: Hector Sierra (Guatemala) & Juan Rodriguez (Colombia)

U18 Boy's Doubles

GOLD: Pablo Freer & Tomas Sanchez (Costa Rica)
SILVER: Esteban De Janon & Juan Flores (Ecuador)
BRONZE: Diego Garcia & Tomas Oyhanart (Argentina) and Emir Martinez & Jose Ramos (Mexico)

U16 Boy's Doubles

GOLD: Hector Barrios & Adrian Jaldin (Bolivia)
SILVER: Nikhill Prasad & Timothy Hansen (USA)
BRONZE: Josue Bermeo & Pablo Vera (Ecuador) and Sebastian Longoria & Erick Trujillo (Mexico)

U14 Boy's Doubles

GOLD: Luis Renteria & Jorge Gutierrez (Mexico)
SILVER: Daniel Hanrahan & Keelan O’Gorman (Ireland)
BRONZE: Juan Rodriguez & Duvan Torres (Colombia) and Jhonatan Flores & Ezequiel Subieta (Bolivia)

U18 Girl's Doubles

GOLD: Angelica Barrios & Valeria Centellas (Bolivia)
SILVER: Marifer Gutierrez & Anna Rivera (Mexico)
BRONZE: Fabiana Landy & Ana Sarmiento (Ecuador) and Nikita Chauhan & Erin Slutzky (USA)

U16 Girl's Doubles

GOLD: Micaela Meneses & Camila Rivero (Bolivia)
SILVER: Guadalupe Griffin & Ximena Martinez (Mexico)
BRONZE: Sofia Freer & Maricruz Ortiz (Costa Rica) and Suniaris Rodriguez & Loraine Felipe (Cuba)

U14 Girl's Doubles

GOLD: Valeria Miranda & Krystin Salinas (Bolivia)
SILVER: Gisele Nieto & Angela Ortega (Mexico)
BRONZE: Anna Aguilar & Andrea Reyes (Guatemala) and Ava Kaiser & Kareena Mathew (USA)

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