Top 10 Racquetball Stories of 2023

Happy New Year! A Racquetball Blog staff member thinks it's OK to say that early in a new year as long as you haven’t seen the other person. As this is our first post of 2024, we think it’s still OK to say happy new year and with you all the best in 2024.

Somehow we didn’t do a “Stories of the Year” for 2022 (the staff member responsible has been disciplined), but we want to rectify that with our Stories of 2023.

Top 10 Racquetball Stories of 2023

10) Adam and Erika Manilla. The Manilla siblings had a great year in 2023, as they won Mixed Doubles at the USA Racquetball National Championships and followed that up with gold at the Pan American Games, becoming the inaugural winners of that division at Pan Ams. They were also some of the organizers of the Golden State Open - the last event of the 2023 International Racquetball Tour (IRT) season, which featured the all glass court for the first time since it was seen at the 2022 World Games.

9) Rodrigo Montoya. Rodrigo Montoya got his first win on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) in 2023. He is also the #1 doubles player on tour, winning four doubles titles in 2023. Playing for Mexico, Montoya won Men’s Doubles at the Pan American Championships (with Eduardo Portillo) and at the Pan American Games (with Javier Mar).

8) Absences. There were some things missing from racquetball in 2023. Neither Rocky Carson nor Rhonda Rajsich were on Team USA at the Pan American Games, which was the first time Carson had missed in 20 years and Rajsich’s first miss after three games in a row. Similarly, Alvaro Beltran wasn’t on Team Mexico at the Pan Am Games. None of them were seen much on their respective pro tours either, as time seems to be catching up with those veterans, who are now all well into their 40s. They also weren’t at the US Open, nor was anyone else, as USA Racquetball chose not to run the event in 2023 due to budget constraints. It’s the first time it hadn’t been held since 1996 (aside from the COVID cancellation in 2020).

7) Daniel De La Rosa. Daniel De La Rosa finished #1 on the IRT for the third year in a row. But he didn’t win the most events, and in his first international appearance for the USA, De La Rosa came away with just one medal over three events at the Pan American Games. So there was good and bad in 2023 for De La Rosa. Moreover, in December he indicated that his focus moving forward was going to be on pickleball, rather than racquetball. Losing the #1 player to another sport is a sad thing.

6) Maria José Vargas. Maria José Vargas returned to competition in 2023, and what a return. She won four medals at the Pan American Games, including silver in Women’s Doubles and the Women’s Team event (both with Natalia Mendez). Vargas defeated Paola Longoria three times on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) and also beat her at the Pan American Championships, where Vargas came second to Montserrat Mejia. She’s won two of the first three LPRT events this season, which has her currently ranked 2nd. 2024 could be even better for Vargas than 2023.

5) Pan American Games. 2024 was a Pan Am Games year, which is the largest multi-sport event featuring racquetball. The matches did not disappoint with several great results. As mentioned above, the Manilla siblings - Adam & Erika - won the 1st Mixed Doubles gold medal at Pan Ams. Guatemalans Gabriela Martinez and Maria Renee Rodriguez won their 1st Women’s Doubles gold medal in international play (technically that was for the Caribe Sport Organization as the Guatemala Olympic Committee isn’t recognized currently). There was an all Bolivian men’s final with Conrrado Moscoso beating Carlos Keller, and an all Mexico women’s final with Paola Longoria getting the best of Montserrat Mejia. Mexicans Javier Mar and Rodrigo Montoya defeated Canadians Coby Iwaasa and Samuel Murray in the Men’s Doubles final, but the Canadians bested Mexico in the Men’s Team semi-finals, though they lost to Bolivia in the final. Mexico took the Women’s Team final, though they needed the third match to do it with Mejia and Alexandra Herrera eking out a win over Argentina’s Natalia Mendez and Maria José Vargas.

4) Kane Waselenchuk. Kane Waselenchuk made a return to the courts in the fall after suffering an achilles injury in September 2022. He had some good results, beating Adam Manilla and Conrrado Moscoso in Boston in November, though Moscoso beat him in California in December. Clearly, Waselenchuk can still play well. Can he play well enough to win another IRT title? Maybe more importantly, can he play well enough to satisfy his own standards, which must be very high given the exceptional quality that Waselenchuk has played at throughout his career. Waselenchuk has 124 IRT wins. Will he get the 125th in 2024?

3) Paola Longoria. For the first time since 2011, Paola Longoria was not the #1 player on the LPRT. It was eventually going to happen, but still it was surprising that it happened in 2023. She’d won most of the events the season before, and there was no obvious successor. But Longoria lost to four different players on the LPRT in 2023, three of whom she’d never previously lost to on tour. However, Longoria did win gold in Women’s Singles at the Pan Am Games, which was her 4th consecutive gold medal at Pan Ams, and helped Mexico to a 4th consecutive gold medal in the Women’s Team event. Thus, Longoria still has a lot of game left, and it would not be a surprise if she regained the #1 position on the LPRT in 2024.

2) Conrrado Moscoso. Conrrado Moscoso won both the Pan American Games and the Pan American Championships in 2023, which is just the second time a man has done that (Jack Huczek won both in 2003). He also had more IRT wins in 2023 than anyone else, including winning the last event of the season, but finished 2nd in the rankings behind Daniel De La Rosa. Mosocso also helped Bolivia win the Men’s Team event at the Pan Am Games and took the Mixed Doubles title (with Angelica Barrios) at the Pan Am Championships. A very good year indeed.

1) Montserrat Mejia. Montserrat Mejia finished as the #1 player on the LPRT in 2023. An accomplishment that no one in The Racquetball Blog office saw coming. She’d only won once on tour prior to the 2022-23 season, but won five times that season to claim the #1 position and end Paola Longoria’s 11 year run at #1. Amazing. Mejia also won the Pan American Championships in singles and doubles, and won doubles and the team event at the Pan American Games. She lost to Longoria in the singles final at Pan Am Games, and has yet to win in the 2023-24 LPRT season, but nonetheless Mejia’s accomplishments fully merit her being the top racquetball story of 2023.

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