The 20th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships begin play on Monday in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Normally, Worlds happens every second year in even numbered years, but these are not normal times. The COVID-19 pandemic led to the postponement of Worlds last year to this year. Guatemala benefited from this, as they completed a new facility earlier this year, and that’s where Worlds will be hosted.
We expect the competition to begin with three days of group play with the results being used to seed players for a playoff draw. Players are put in groups such that if players from the same country win all their games in their respective group, they won’t play on the same side of the draw, which means they wouldn’t play each other until the final.
However a preliminary round loss could mean players from the same country end up on the same side of the draw. That may result in team-mates playing before the final, and worst case, before the semi-finals, so only one of them has a chance at the podium.
Who won last time
Three years ago, Gabriela Martinez of Guatemala surprised the field by defeating then three time champion Paola Longoria of Mexico to win Women’s Singles. This year Martinez will have a chance to defend her title on home soil. However, Longoria - the #1 player on Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) - has been in great form of late, and you know she wants to regain the World Championship.
Perhaps more surprisingly - though it’s probably a toss up - Valeria Centellas and Yazmine Sabja of Bolivia won Women’s Doubles, defeating Mexicans Alexandra Herrera and Montserrat Mejia in the final. They won’t repeat this year, as Centellas now plays for Argentina.
On the men’s side, Mexico won both singles and doubles. Rodrigo Montoya defeated American Charlie Pratt to win Men’s Singles, and Alvaro Beltran and Daniel De Rosa beat Americans Rocky Carson and Sudsy Monchik for gold in Men’s Doubles. Montoya may repeat, and he may do the double, as we believe he’ll also represent Mexico in Men’s Doubles with partner Javier Mar.
Who’ll be there this time
Montoya may have to defeat Pratt again to win in Men’s Doubles, as Pratt will be on Team USA in Guatemala. He’ll play doubles with Alejandro Landa after Rocky Carson chose not to go to Worlds because of COVID-19 concerns. Jake Bredenbeck will play Men’s Singles and rounds out USA’s Men’s Team. The USA Women’s Team will be Kelani Lawrence in Women’s Singles, Erika Manilla in Women’s Doubles and veteran Rhonda Rajsich playing both singles and partnering with Manilla in doubles.
We think that Longoria and Samantha Salas double qualified for Mexico, so they could be their players in both Women’s Singles and Doubles. If so, they’ll have a chance for a 4th Women’s Doubles title together, and Longoria a 4th Women’s Singles title.
Montoya and Mar should be Mexico’s Men’s Doubles team with Montoya also playing Men’s Singles. Andree Parrilla will be the other Mexico Men’s Singles player. Thus, Daniel De La Rosa, the #1 player on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT), who’s been in great form lately, will not be in Guatemala.
Team Canada will be a full team of 8 players. IRT #3 Samuel Murray will play Men’s Doubles with Coby Iwaasa, while Lee Connell and Francis Guillemette will play Men’s Singles. Connell and Guillemette have been on the team before, but not for awhile and not at Worlds. They both played at the Pan American Championships: Connell in 2009 and Guillemette back in 2001. Almost 30 different players have represented Canada since Guillemette last did so.
The Canadian women going to Guatemala are former LPRT #2 Frédérique Lambert and Alexis Iwaasa (Coby’s cousin), who will be the Women’s Doubles team with Michèle Morissette and Juilette Parent playing Women’s Singles.
As for the other teams, the IRF hasn’t made any official release of team rosters, but We’re uncertain of who else will be at Worlds. We’re pretty certain that Argentina’s women’s team will be Maria Jose Vargas - current LPRT #2 - and Natalia Mendez in Women’s Singles with Mendez and Centellas playing Women’s Doubles.
We also expect that the Guatemala Women’s Team will be Martinez and Maria Renee Rodriguez playing both Women’s Singles and Doubles.
Racquetball Ireland tweeted that their Worlds Team will be Aisling Hickey and Majella Haverty in Women’s Singles and Katie Kenny and Antonia Neary in Women’s Doubles. Eoin Tynan and Ken Cottrell will play both Men’s Singles and Doubles for Ireland.
World Games Qualifying & Live Streaming
The top 16 players in Women’s and Men’s Singles will qualify to compete at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama. The spots go to the players, not their countries. So, if a top 16 player can’t go to the World Games, the spot would go to the 17th finisher, rather than have that player’s country send a substitute player.
Thus, Rocky Carson won’t play in the World Games next year, because he is not competing at the World Championships. Similarly, Charlie Pratt won’t be at World Games either, because he’s only playing Men’s Doubles, and the World Games racquetball competition is singles only - no doubles.
We understand there will be live streaming of matches from San José, but we’re not sure when that will begin, as the IRF hasn’t made any announcements about it on their Facebook page or Twitter. Check the IRF website or their social media outlets (IRF on Facebook and @IRFRacquetball on Twitter) for updates.
Finally, here’s a rundown of what happened three years ago at the last IRF World Championships.
19th IRF World Championships
August 10-18, 2018
San José, Costa Rica
Men's Singles
GOLD - Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico)
SILVER - Charlie Pratt (USA)
BRONZE - David Horn (USA) & Sebastian Franco (Colombia)
Women's Singles
GOLD - Ana Gabriela Martinez (Guatemala)
SILVER - Paola Longoria (Mexico)
BRONZE - Maria Jose Vargas (Argentina) & Natalia Mendez (Argentina)
Men's Doubles
GOLD - Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa (Mexico)
SILVER - Rocky Carson & Sudsy Monchik (USA)
BRONZE - Roland Keller & Conrrado Moscoso (Bolivia) & Tim Landeryou & Samuel Murray (Canada)
Women's Doubles
GOLD - Valeria Centellas & Yasmine Sabja (Bolivia)
SILVER - Monserrat Mejia & Alexandra Herrera (Mexico)
BRONZE - Cristina Amaya & Adriana Riveros (Colombia) & Maria Renee Rodriguez & Gabriela Martinez (Guatemala)
Medal Table
1. Mexico - 2 gold, 2 silver, 0 bronze = 4 medals
2. USA - 0, 2, 1 = 3
3. Bolivia - 1, 0, 1 = 2
3. Guatemala - 1, 0, 1 = 2
5. Argentina - 0, 0, 2 = 2
5. Colombia - 0, 0, 2 = 2
7. Canada - 0, 0, 1 = 1
Men's Team Standings
1. Mexico
2. USA
3. Colombia
4. Bolivia
Women's Team Standings
1. Mexico
2. Guatemala
3. Bolivia
4. Argentina
Overall Team Standings
1. Mexico
2. USA
3. Bolivia
4. Guatemala
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