The racquetball competition of the 2023 Pan American Games concluded two weeks ago in Santiago, Chile, so it’s way past time for us to summarize what all happened in Chile. Four nations took home gold medals, which was twice as many as in the last games. The addition of Mixed Doubles meant there was one more racquetball event than at any other games, so there were more medals to win. Nonetheless, the overall results show how competitive racquetball has become. It’s a long way from the 1990s Pan American Games, when the USA swept gold and Canada took most of the silver.
Bolivia won two gold medals in Santiago, which was one better than they did four years ago in Lima, Peru, where they won gold in the Men’s Team event. They successfully defended that medal, and added another when Conrrado Moscoso defeated his team-mate Carlos Keller in the Men’s Singles final.
Bolivia got three other medals: Keller got silver in Men’s Singles, Moscoso and Angelica Barrios got bronze in Mixed Doubles and Barrios also got bronze in Women’s Doubles. Those five medals were all the medals that Team Bolivia, as a whole, took home from Santiago.
Mexico topped the medal table for the fourth consecutive games, getting three gold, one silver and five bronze medals. Also for the fourth consecutive games, Paola Longoria won gold in Women’s Singles defeating her team-mate, and perhaps heir apparent, Montserrat Mejia. Longoria, 34, was quoted as saying she was uncertain whether she would play in another Pan Am Games, but her record at the games has been impeccable.
Mexicans Javier Mar and Rodrigo Montoya successfully defended their Men’s Doubles gold medal from four years ago, beating Canadians Coby Iwaasa and Samuel Murray in the final. That was Canada’s first Pan Am Games final since 2003, when Mike Green was in the Men’s Singles final.
Mexico’s third gold medal was in the Women’s Team event, which they have won each time since team events were re-introduced at Pan Am Games in 2011. The final against Argentina came down to the third match, which was doubles with Alexandra Herrera and Mejia defeating Natalia Mendez and Maria Jose Vargas.
Vargas looked distraught on the podium during the Women’s Team event medal ceremony. However, it was her 4th medal from the games - two silver and two bronze, which were more than anyone else earned. But none of them were gold.
At international events, when closely matched players or doubles teams play each other in the individual events and then again in the team event often the matches will be split. Mendez and Vargas beat Herrera and Mejia in the Women’s Doubles semi-final, but lost in the re-match in the team event. Similarly, Mexicans Mar and Montoya beat Canadians Iwaasa and Murray in the Men’s Doubles final, but in the Men’s Team event semi-finals, the Canadians won.
Finally, the first Pan American Games Mixed Doubles gold medal went to American siblings Adam Manilla and Erika Manilla, but it wasn’t the first time siblings had won gold at the Pan Ams. American twin sisters Joy MacKenzie and Jackie Paraiso won Women’s Doubles gold twice: in 1995, the first time racquetball was in the games, and again in 1999.
Matches on replay
You can watch some of the finals from Santiago via the Pan Am Sports Channel. The production was very good, although the commentary not always so good. Still it’s worth watching.
The 2027 Pan American Games will be Barranquilla, Colombia. Barranquilla was the site of the 2019 Pan American Championships, so there are racquetball courts there. Thus, we are hopeful that racquetball will once again be included in the Pan American Games.
2023 Pan American Games - Medal Summary
Santiago, Chile
Country - Gold - Silver - Bronze - Total
1. Mexico - 3 - 1 - 5 = 9
2. Bolivia - 2 - 1 - 2 = 5
3. Independent Athletes - 1 - 0 - 2 = 3
3. USA - 1 - 0 - 2 = 3
5. Argentina - 0 - 3 - 1 = 3
6. Canada - 0 - 2 - 0 = 2
7. Costa Rica - 0 - 0 - 2 = 2
Men’s Singles
GOLD - Conrrado Moscoso (Bolivia)
SILVER - Carlos Keller (Bolivia)
BRONZE - Eduardo Portillo (Mexico), Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico)
Women’s Singles
GOLD - Paola Longoria (Mexico)
SILVER - Montserrat Mejia (Mexico)
BRONZE - Maricruz Ortiz (Costa Rica), Maria José Vargas (Argentina)
Men’s Doubles
GOLD - Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico)
SILVER - Coby Iwaasa & Samuel Murray (Canada)
BRONZE - Andrés Acuña & Gabriel Garcia (Costa Rica), Edwin Galicia & Juan Salvatierra (EAI)
Women’s Doubles
GOLD - Gabriela Martinez & Maria Renee Rodriguez (EAI)
SILVER - Natalia Mendez & Maria José Vargas (Argentina)
BRONZE - Angelica Barrios & Jenny Daza (Bolivia), Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia (Mexico)
Mixed Doubles
GOLD - Adam Manilla & Erica Manilla (USA)
SILVER - Diego Garcia & Maria José Vargas (Argentina)
BRONZE - Paola Longoria & Eduardo Portillo (Mexico), Angelica Barrios & Conrrado Moscoso (Bolivia)
Men’s Team
GOLD - Bolivia - Carlos Keller, Conrrado Moscoso, Kadim Carrasco
SILVER - Canada - Coby Iwaasa, Samuel Murray
BRONZE - Mexico - Javier Mar, Rodrigo Montoya, Edurardo Portillo
BRONZE - USA - Daniel De La Rosa, Alejandro Landa, Adam Manilla
Women’s Team
GOLD - Mexico - Montserrat Mejia, Paola Longoria, Alexandra Herrera
SILVER - Argentina - Maria José Vargas, Natalia Mendez
BRONZE - USA - Michelle Key, Erika Manilla
BRONZE - Independent Athletes - Gabriela Martinez, Maria Renee Rodriguez
Follow the bouncing ball....
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