Maurice Miller won the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) division at the 2019 Christmas Classic in Laurel, Maryland on the weekend. Miller came back from a game down in the final to defeat Troy Warigon, 13-15, 15-4, 11-4.
Warigon got to the final by the narrowest win possible in the semi-finals, as he knocked off the 2nd seed Mauricio Zelada, 14-15, 15-14, 11-10. Miller beat Thomas Gerhardt, 15-1, 15-9, in the other semi.
Miller also got the better of Warigon in the Mixed Open Doubles final, as he and Natalia Mendez defeated Warigon and Kelani Bailey Lawrence, 13-15, 15-2, 11-4, in the final. But they did team up to win the Men’s Open Doubles title, as they beat David Austin and Dylan Pruitt in the final, 15-9, 15-14.
Carla Muñoz won the Women’s Open division in Laurel. She defeated Lexi York, 15-4, 15-11, in the final. In the semi-finals, Muñoz beat Abril Prado, 15-3, 15-8, and York defeated Amie Brewer, 15-4, 15-6.
Racquetball Canada
Last week, Racquetball Canada announced Kathy Brook will be their new Executive Director. Brook succeeds Donna Harris, and brings a wealth of experience within the Canadian sport system to the position and organization.
Racquetball Canada will begin 2020 with new people at both their staff positions with Brook as Executive Director and Jen Saunders as Administrator of High Performance and Sport Development. Saunders takes over from Geri Powell, who is retiring at the end of the year. It will be interesting to see how the organization moves forward with new people in these positions.
Looking ahead to 2020
The most significant event of 2020 will be the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships from August 14-22 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The 2020 Worlds will be the qualifying event for the 2021 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama.
Prior to that the annual Pan American Championships will be April 4-12 at a site still to be determined. Bolivia was mentioned as a possibility for the Pan Am Championships during the streaming of the World Junior Championships, but that’s unconfirmed as now. Yes, we’re less than four months away from the event, and we’re still not sure where it’s going to happen.
On the pro side, the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) will be busier in the second part of the season than the first, as they have 8 events (maybe 9, as one is listed as tentative on the schedule) in 2020 compared with 5 events so far. Two of those events will be in January with the Florida Open January 9-11 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the Sweet Caroline Open January 23-25 in Greenville, South Carolina.
The IRT will be even busier in January, as there are three events on their schedule. It will begin with the Longhorn Open January 17-19 in Austin, Texas with the 42nd Lewis Drug Pro-Am in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, January 23-26, and completing the run of three events on back to back to back weekends will be the Lou Bradley Memorial in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, January 30-February 2. That will be quite the run for the players. After that there are just three other IRT events in 2020 with the season ending in Bolivia at the Open Bolivia American Iris May 13-16.
2019 Christmas Classic, December 13-15, 2019
Laurel, Maryland
IRT Singles - Final
1) Maurice Miller d. 3) Troy Warigon, 13-15, 15-4, 11-4
Semi-finals
1) Maurice Miller d. 4) Thomas Gerhardt, 15-1, 15-9
3) Troy Warigon d. 2) Mauricio Zelada, 14-15, 15-14, 11-10
Women’s Open - Final
1) Carla Muñoz d. 2) Lexi York, 15-4, 15-11
Semi-finals
1) Carla Muñoz d. 4) Abril Prado, 15-3, 15-8
2) Lexi York d. 6) Amie Brewer, 15-4, 15-6
Mixed Open Doubles - Final
1) Natalia Mendez & Maurice Miller d. 2) Kelani Bailey Lawrence & Troy Warigon, 13-15, 15-2, 11-4
Semi-finals
1) Natalia Mendez & Maurice Miller d. 4) Joe Kelley & Hollie Scott, 15-5, 15-9
2) Kelani Bailey Lawrence & Troy Warigon d. 3) Samuel Kelley & Masiel Rivera, 15-8, 15-7
Follow the bouncing ball….
Monday, December 16, 2019
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