Four different countries won gold in racquetball Tuesday at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. In singles, Bolivian Conrrado Moscoso defeated his team-mate Carlos Keller, 11-2, 13-11, 14-12, to win Men’s Singles, and Mexican Paola Longoria beat team-mate Montserrat Mejia, 11-9, 11-8, 11-3, to win Women’s Singles for the 4th consecutive Pan American Games. Moscoso is the first Bolivian to win gold in an individual event at a Pan Am Games.
The doubles gold medals went to Mexico, Independent Athletes (i.e., Guatemala) and the USA.
Gabriela Martinez and Maria Renee Rodriguez - playing under the Independent Athletes banner rather than their native Guatemala because of issues between the International Olympic Committee and the Guatemala Olympic Committee - were Women’s Doubles silver medalists in 2019, but this year they went one better, as they defeated Argentina’s Natalia Mendez and Maria José Vargas, 11-2, 8-11, 14-12, 11-6, to win gold.
It’s the first gold medal for Martinez and Rodriguez, who have been a doubles partnership for about a decade. In Tuesday’s final, Rodriguez was the player of the match, as she was very good, and hit the match winning shot: a forehand pinch to the front left corner.
In Men’s Doubles, Mexicans Javier Mar and Rodrigo Montoya successfully defended the gold medal they won four years ago in Lima, as they came back from a game down to defeat Canadians Coby Iwaasa and Samuel Murray, 6-11, 11-7, 12-10, 12-10.
It was a match that could have gone either way, but the Mexicans made just a few more winners. Mar’s excellent re-killing skill was on display, as he made winners out of several balls that looked like they were going to be Canada winners before Mar hit them back better.
Finally, the first ever Mixed Doubles Pan Am Games gold medal was won by the USA’s Adam Manilla and Erica Manilla, as the siblings went through the Argentina team of Diego Garcia and Maria José Vargas like a buzzsaw, beating them in three straight games, 11-4, 11-4, 11-6.
Vargas did not have her best performances in either the Women’s Doubles or Mixed Doubles final. She played in three events in Santiago - the two doubles as well as singles, and medalled in all of them: bronze in singles to go with silver in the doubles events.
Three medals is great, yet you’d like to think that she could have won one of the finals today. But it’s a lot of racquetball over four days, and while she seems fit, it was maybe just a bit too much for Vargas to be her best on Tuesday.
The doubles finals were streamed on the Pan American Sports channel, and we believe they will be achieved on that site, so if you missed them, we encourage to go back and watch them. There were some great rallies in all three doubles finals.
2023 Pan American Games - Santiago, Chile
Men’s Singles - Final - Tuesday
1) Conrrado Moscoso (Bolivia) d. 2) Carlos Keller (Bolivia), 11-2, 13-11, 14-12
Women’s Singles - Final - Tuesday
3) Paola Longoria (Mexico) d. 4) Montserrat Mejia (Mexico), 11-9, 11-8, 11-3
Men’s Doubles - Final - Tuesday
1) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico) d. 6) Coby Iwaasa & Samuel Murray (Canada), 6-11, 11-7, 12-10, 12-10
Women’s Doubles - Final - Tuesday
2) Gabriela Martinez & Maria Renee Rodriguez (EAI) d. 4) Natalia Mendez & Maria José Vargas (Argentina), 11-2, 8-11, 14-12, 11-6
Mixed Doubles - Final - Tuesday
3) Adam Manilla & Erica Manilla (USA) d. 4) Diego Garcia & Maria José Vargas (Argentina), 11-4, 11-4, 11-6
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