Singles quarterfinals at 2019 IRF World Junior Championships

Thursday was quarterfinal day at the 2019 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Junior Racquetball Championships in San José, Costa Rica, and the quarters did produce some upsets.

In Boy’s U18, 7th seed Jose Ramos of Mexico beat his team-mate 2nd seed Emir Martinez, 15-7, 15-6. Ramos will face 6th seed Tomas Sanchez of Costa Rica, who also had to defeat a team-mate to advance. Sanchez beat fellow Costa Rican Pablo Freer, 15-7, 15-10, in the quarters Friday. So Ramos plays Sanchez in one B18 semi-final.

The other Boy’s U18 semi, top seed Gerson Miranda of Bolivia plays 4th seed Diego Garcia of Argentina. In the quarters, Miranda defeated Ben Baron (USA), 15-4, 15-6, and Garcia defeated Juan Flores (Ecuador), 15-9, 15-12. We're expecting the Miranda-Garcia winner to go on to win gold also.

Bolivians Valeria Centellas and Angelica Barrios remain on track to meet in the final of Girl’s U18, as they won their respective quarterfinal matches Thursday. Centellas beat Marifer Gutierrez of Mexico, 15-5, 15-4, while Barrios defeated Anna Rivera of Mexico, 15-4, 15-8.

In the semi-finals, Centellas will play Argentina’s Martina Katz, as she beat the USA’s Graciana Wargo, 15-8, 15-1, and Barrios will face Ana Sarmiento of Ecuador, who was a winner over Nikita Chauhan of the USA, 15-6, 15-6.

In other matches of note, while Katz assured herself of a medal in Girl’s U18 with the win over Wargo, she won’t be on the podium in Girl’s U16, as she lost to Maricruz Ortiz of Costa Rica, 15-12, 15-4. In the U16 semis, Ortiz will play the USA’s Annie Roberts, the 9th seed, who upset the top seed Guadalupe Griffin of Mexico, 12-15, 15-4, 11-8.

The top seed in Girl’s U14 was also upset, as 8th seed Angela Ortega of Mexico squeaked out the victory over 1st seed Natalia Mita of Bolivia, 15-8, 8-15, 11-10. Ortega will play 4th seed Ava Kaiser of the USA in the semi-finals, as Kaiser defeated 5th seed Jasmin Aguilar of Guatemala, 15-6, 15-7.

The USA’s Timothy Hansen, the 6th seed in Boy’s U16, defeated 3rd seed Aldo Caraveo of Mexico, 15-10, 15-7. Hansen will play 2nd seed Hector Barrios of Bolivia in the semi-finals, as Barrios beat 10th seed Felipe Guillen of Costa Rica, 15-3, 15-9.

Three of the four quarterfinal matches in Boy’s U14 went tie-breaker, and in two of them, the lower seeded player came out with the W. Thirteenth seed Hector Sierra of Guatemala beat 5th seed Luis Renteria of Mexico, 15-7, 4-15, 11-3, and 14th seed Juan Rodriguez of Colombia defeated 6th seed Jorge Gutierrez of Mexico, 10-15, 15-11, 11-4. But the top seeds survived. First seed Jhonatan Flores from Bolivia needed three games to get past 9th seed Vedant Chauhan of the USA, 15-13, 11-15, 11-0, while 2nd seed Nikhil Prasad (USA) had a comfortable win over 10th seed Duvan Torres of Colombia, 15-2, 15-4. In the semis, Flores will play Sierra and Prasad will face Rodriguez.

The IRF is streaming some matches via its Facebook page). The times for the matches are central standard time.

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

U18 Girl's Singles

Quarterfinals - Thursday

1) Valeria Centellas (Bolivia) d. 8) Marifer Gutierrez (Mexico), 15-5, 15-4
4) Martina Katz (Argentina) d. 5) Graciana Wargo (USA), 15-8, 15-1

3) Angelica Barrios (Bolivia) d. 6) Anna Rivera (Mexico), 15-4, 15-8
2) Ana Sarmiento (Ecuador) d. 7) Nikita Chauhan (USA), 15-6, 15-6

Semi-finals - Friday

1) Valeria Centellas (Bolivia) v. 4) Martina Katz (Argentina) - 4 PM
2) Ana Sarmiento (Ecuador) v. 3) Angelica Barrios (Bolivia) - 4 PM

U16 Girl's Singles

Quarterfinals - Thursday

9) Annie Roberts (USA) d. 1) Guadalupe Griffin (Mexico), 12-15, 15-4, 11-8
5) Maricruz Ortiz (Costa Rica) d. 4) Martina Katz (Argentina), 15-12, 15-4

3) Ximena Martinez (Mexico) d. 6) Loraine Felipe (Cuba), 15-12, 15-9
2) Micaela Meneses (Bolivia) d. 10) Erin Slutzky (USA), 15-13, 15-0

Semi-finals - Friday

5) Maricruz Ortiz (Costa Rica) v. 9) Annie Roberts (USA) - 3 PM
2) Micaela Meneses (Bolivia) v. 3) Ximena Martinez (Mexico) - 3 PM

U14 Girl's Singles

Quarterfinals - Thursday

8) Angela Ortega (Mexico) d. 1) Natalia Mita (Bolivia), 15-8, 8-15, 11-10
4) Ava Kaiser (USA) d. 5) Jasmin Aguilar (Guatemala), 15-6, 15-7

3) Camila Rivero (Bolivia) d. 6) Gisele Nieto (Mexico), 15-5, 15-1
2) Heather Mahoney (USA) d. 7) Anna Aguilar (Guatemala), 15-3, 15-7

Semi-finals - Friday

4) Ava Kaiser (USA) v. 8) Angela Ortega (Mexico) - 1 PM
2) Heather Mahoney (USA) v. 3) Camila Rivero (Bolivia) - 1 PM

U18 Boy's Singles

Quarterfinals - Thursday

1) Gerson Miranda (Bolivia) d. 8) Ben Baron (USA), 15-4, 15-6
4) Diego Garcia (Argentina) d. 5) Juan Flores (Ecuador), 15-9, 15-12

6) Tomas Sanchez (Costa Rica) d. 14) Pablo Freer (Costa Rica), 15-7, 15-10
7) Jose Ramos (Mexico) d. 2) Emir Martinez (Mexico), 15-7, 15-6

Semi-finals - Friday

1) Gerson Miranda (Bolivia) v. 4) Diego Garcia (Argentina) - 4 PM
6) Tomas Sanchez (Costa Rica) v. 7) Jose Ramos (Mexico) - 4 PM

U16 Boy's Singles

Quarterfinals - Thursday

1) Sebastian Longoria (Mexico) d. 8) Namwoo Lee (Korea), 15-5, 15-9
4) Adrian Jaldin (Bolivia) d. 12) Jaime Mansilla (Chile), 15-4, 15-6

6) Timothy Hansen (USA) d. 3) Aldo Caraveo (Mexico), 15-10, 15-7
2) Hector Barrios (Bolivia) d. 10) Felipe Guillen (Costa Rica), 15-3, 15-9

Semi-finals - Friday

1) Sebastian Longoria (Mexico) v. 4) Adrian Jaldin (Bolivia) - 3 PM
2) Hector Barrios (Bolivia) v. 6) Timothy Hansen (USA) - 3 PM

U14 Boy's Singles

Quarterfinals - Thursday

1) Jhonatan Flores (Bolivia) d. 9) Vedant Chauhan (USA), 15-13, 11-15, 11-0
13) Hector Sierra (Guatemala) d. 5) Luis Renteria (Mexico), 15-7, 4-15, 11-3

14) Juan Rodriguez (Colombia) d. 6) Jorge Gutierrez (Mexico), 10-15, 15-11, 11-4
2) Nikhil Prasad (USA) d. 10) Duvan Torres (Colombia), 15-2, 15-4

Semi-finals - Friday

1) Jhonatan Flores (Bolivia) v. 13) Hector Sierra (Guatemala) - 2 PM
2) Nikhil Prasad (USA) v. 14) Juan Rodriguez (Colombia) - 2 PM

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