Lambert & Murray win at Canadian National Team Selection Event

Racquetball Canada ran its National Team Selection Event in Calgary on the weekend with Samuel Murray and Frédérique Lambert winning the Men’s and Women’s titles, respectively. In the finals, Murray beat Coby Iwaasa, 15-8, 15-11, 15-14, and Lambert defeated Michèle Morissette, 8-15, 15-10, 15-6, 15-10. The rally point scoring system was used for the first time with matches a best of five games: four games to 15, win by 1, and a tie-breaker to 11 win by 2, as the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) will be using this system in its events this year.

These results will be combined with the results from the 2021 Canadian National Championships to select the players for the 2022 Pan American Championships in Santa Cruz, Bolivia in April. Murray and Lambert won at Nationals, so they will be selected for Pan Ams for sure. Iwaasa was 2nd at Nationals also, so he should be invited too. Racquetball Canada will send out invitations this week, and then announce the team later this month.

In the men’s semi-finals, Murray needed four games to get past 5th seed Kurtis Cullen, 15-2, 15-7, 11-15, 15-9, while Iwaasa took out 3rd seed Trevor Webb in three straight games, 15-8, 15-13, 15-7. Cullen then got a forfeit win over Webb in the 3rd place match to get his best ever finish at a selection event.

On the women’s side, Lambert beat 4th seed Juliette Parent, 15-3, 15-11, 15-13, in one semi with Morissette coming back from two games down to defeat 3rd seed Danielle Drury, 11-15, 11-15, 15-13, 15-12, 11-8. Drury was playing her first match in over two years, as she took time off for academic reasons. But she managed to finish 3rd by defeating Parent in another match that went to a breaker with Drury winning 11-15, 15-9, 15-11, 13-15, 11-6.

Racquetball Canada plans to have its National Championships the third week of May 23rd - Victoria Day in Canada - as usual, although a site for the event has yet to be chosen. The results from this weekend and the 2022 Nationals will be used to select the team for the 2022 IRF World Championships in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, August 19-27.

2022 Racquetball Canada National Team Selection Event February 25-26, 2022 - Calgary, Alberta

Men's Open

Final

1) Samuel Murray d. 2) Coby Iwaasa, 15-8, 15-11, 15-14

3rd Place

5) Kurtis Cullen d. 3) Trevor Webb, injury forfeit

Semi-finals

1) Samuel Murray d. 5) Kurtis Cullen, 15-2, 15-7, 11-15, 15-9
2) Coby Iwaasa d. 3) Trevor Webb, 15-8, 15-13, 15-7

Quarterfinals

1) Samuel Murray d. 9) Mitchell Brayley, 15-9, 15-6, 15-11
5) Kurtis Cullen d. 4) Lee Connell, 15-3, 15-13, 13-15, 15-13

3) Trevor Webb d. 6) Francis Guillemette, 15-8, 15-13, 15-7
2) Coby Iwaasa d. 10) Nathan Jauvin, 15-2, 15-10, 15-3

Women's Open

Final

1) Frédérique Lambert d. 2) Michèle Morissette, 8-15, 15-10, 15-6, 15-10

3rd place

3) Danielle Drury d. 4) Juliette Parent, 11-15, 15-9, 15-11, 13-15, 11-6

Semi-finals

1) Frédérique Lambert d. 4) Juliette Parent, 15-3, 15-11, 15-13
2) Michèle Morissette d. 3) Danielle Drury, 11-15, 11-15, 15-13, 15-12, 11-8

Quarterfinals

1) Frédérique Lambert d. 9) Marjolaine Parent, 15-7, 15-12, 15-2
4) Juliette Parent d. 5) Alexis Iwaasa, 15-14, 12-15, 15-6, 15-5

3) Danielle Drury d. 6) Cassie Prentice, 15-8, 15-9, 15-6
2) Michèle Morissette d. 7) Tamara Wilscam, 15-6, 15-6, 15-9

Follow the bouncing ball….