The 2023 Central American & Caribbean Games have being going on in San Salvador, El Salvador, but the racquetball competition is being held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (as were some other sports) due to facility availability. Six countries participated: Costa Rica, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, the host Dominican Republic and Guatemalan born athletes, but not Guatemala. That is, athletes from Guatemala are competing under the banner of Central Caribe Sport (CCS), as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned the Guatemalan National Olympic Committee due to government interference last October.
Mexican athletes swept the gold medals in the individual competitions. For the fifth time, Paola Longoria won gold in Women’s Singles, and Eduardo Portillo won gold in Men’s Singles, which is his first international gold medal. In doubles, Alexandra Herrera and Montserrat Mejia won Women’s Doubles with Javier Mar and Rodrigo Montoya winning Men’s Doubles. Longoria and Portillo teamed up to win the Mixed Doubles title.
The Women’s Singles final was the same as in 2018, as Longoria faced Gabriela Martinez (CCS), 6-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4. That was the 3rd time the two have faced off in the last year, as they were also the Women's Singles finalists at World Games and the International Racquetball Federation World Championships last summer, and Longoria has won all three of the finals.
Mexican gold was guaranteed in Men’s Singles, as Portillo and team-mate Rodrigo Montoya faced off in the final. The games were close, but Portillo won three straight, 11-7, 13-11, 15-13.
Although Mexico won all three doubles titles, each of the finals went a full five games. In Women’s Doubles, Herrera and Mejia came back from two games down to defeat Martinez and Maria Renee Rodriguez (CCS), 9-11, 8-11, 11-7, 13-11, 11-6. Martinez and Rodriguez were also runners-up in 2018, when Longoria and Samantha Salas won gold.
Mar and Montoya won the first two games against Costa Ricans Andrés Acuña and Gabriel Garcia, but then had to hang on to win the match in a tie-breaker, as the Costa Ricans won games three and four. Mexico prevailed, 11-6, 11-5, 10-12, 9-11, 11-6. In 2018, Mexico and Costa Rica also faced off in the Men’s Doubles final, as Daniel De La Rosa and Alvaro Beltran defeated Acuña and Felipe Camacho.
Longoria and Portillo went down 2 games to 1 against Martinez and Edwin Galicia (CCS), but then came back to win the match in five games: 11-6, 10-12, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6. This was the first time Mixed Doubles was part of the racquetball competition at the Central American and Caribbean Games.
Mexico has won gold in singles at all but two Central American and Caribbean Games. Fabian Balmori of Venezuela is the only non-Mexican man to win Men’s Singles, doing so In 1993 and 1998. Claudine Garcia of the Dominican Republic (1993) and Antia Maldonado of Puerto Rico (1998) are the two non-Mexican women to win gold in Women’s Singles at the Central American and Caribbean Games. Mexico has won gold in Men’s and Women’s Doubles at every Central American and Caribbean Games.
2023 Central American & Caribbean Games
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - June 24 - July 1
Women’s Singles - Final
Paola Longoria (Mexico) d. Gabriela Martinez (Centro Caribe Sport), 6-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4
Semi-finals
Paola Longoria (Mexico) d. Maricruz Ortiz (Costa Rica), 11-6, 11-6, 11-3
Gabriela Martinez (Centro Caribe Sport) d. Montserrat Mejia (Mexico), 11-9, 13-11, 7-11, 11-6
Women’s Doubles - Final
Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia (Mexico) d. Gabriela Martinez & Maria Renee Rodriguez (Centro Caribe Sport), 9-11, 8-11, 11-7, 13-11, 11-6
Semi-finals
Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia (Mexico) d. Merynanyelly Delgado & Alejandra Jiménez (Dominican Republic), 11-1, 11-3, 11-5
Gabriela Martinez & Maria Renee Rodriguez (Centro Caribe Sport) d. Jimena Gomez & Maricruz Ortiz (Costa Rica), 8-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-3
Men’s Singles - Final
Eduardo Portillo (Mexico) d. Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico), 11-7, 13-11, 15-13
Semi-finals
Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico) d. Edwin Galicia (Centro Caribe Sport), 11-6, 11-6, 11-7
Eduardo Portillo (Mexico) d. Andrés Acuña (Costa Rica), 11-7, 11-3, 11-8
Men’s Doubles - Final
Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico) d. Andrés Acuña & Gabriel Garcia (Costa Rica), 11-6, 11-5, 10-12, 9-11, 11-6
Semi-finals
Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico) d. Juan Salvatierra & Christian Wer (Centro Caribe Sport), 11-9, 11-4, 11-5
Andrés Acuña & Gabriel Garcia (Costa Rica) d. Yandy Espinoza & Maikel Moyet (Cuba), 11-4, 11-9, 11-8
Mixed Doubles - Final
Paola Longoria & Eduardo Portillo (Mexico) d. Edwin Galicia & Gabriela Martinez (Centro Caribe Sport), 11-6, 10-12, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6
Semi-finals
Paola Longoria & Eduardo Portillo (Mexico) d. Maria Cespedes & Ramón De Leon (Dominican Republic), 11-4, 11-8, 11-7
Edwin Galicia & Gabriela Martinez (Centro Caribe Sport) d. Andrés Acuña & Maricruz Ortiz (Costa Rica), 12-10, 7-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7
Follow the bouncing ball….
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment