Medal summary for 2023 IRF World Junior Championships

The 34th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Junior Championships wrapped up on Saturday in Tarija, Bolivia, and we have a summary of all the players who reached the podium in Tarija.

Several players were on the podium multiple times, so left Tarija with more than one medal. Nine players earned three medals: four Mexicans, two Americans, two Ecuadorans and one Bolivian. None of the nine was a triple gold medalist, and only Mexican Diego Gastelum two gold medals of his three.

Seventeen players earned two medals: seven Bolivians, five Mexicans, one Argentine, one American, one Chilean, one Costa Rican, and one Ecuadoran. Five of those Bolivians were double gold medalists.

Triple medalists

Diego Gastelum (MEX): Gold - Boys U21 Singles, Gold - Boys U21 Doubles, Silver - Mixed Doubles U21
Luis Aguilar (BOL): Silver - Boys U21 Singles, Silver - Boys U21 Doubles, Gold - Mixed Doubles U21
Eder Renteria (MEX): Silver - Boys U16 Singles, Silver - Boys U16 Doubles, Gold - Mixed Doubles U16
Jorge Gutierrez Ortiz (MEX): Bronze - Boys U18 Singles, Gold - Boys U18 Doubles, Silver - Mixed Doubles U18
Yanna Salazar (MEX): Silver - Girls U16 Singles, Bronze - Girls U16 Doubles, Gold - Mixed Doubles U16
Sonya Shetty (USA): Bronze - Girls U16 Singles, Silver - Girls U16 Doubles, Bronze - Mixed Doubles U16
Martin Carchi (ECU): Bronze - Boys U16 Singles, Bronze - Boys U16 Doubles, Bronze - Mixed Doubles U18
Naomi Ros (USA): Bronze - Girls U18 Singles, Bronze - Girls U18 Doubles, Bronze - Mixed Doubles U18
Ana Lucia Sarmiento (ECU): Bronze - Girls U21 Singles, Bronze - Girls U21 Doubles, Bronze - Mixed Doubles U21

Double medalists

Camila Rivero (BOL): Gold - Girls U21 Singles, Gold - Girls U18 Singles
Marco Mamani Aguilar (BOL): Gold - Boys U16 Singles, Gold - Boys U16 Doubles
Natalia Mendez Veizaga (BOL): Gold - Girls U16 Singles, Gold - Girls U16 Doubles
Micaela Meneses (BOL): Gold - Girls U21 Doubles, Gold - Mixed Doubles U21
Valeria Miranda Martinez (BOL): Gold - Girls U18 Doubles, Gold - Mixed Doubles U18

Luis Renteria (MEX): Silver - Boys U18 Singles, Gold Boys U18 Doubles
Kristin Salinas (BOL): Gold - Girls U21 Doubles, Silver - Girls U18 Singles

Nicolás Iglesias (BOL): Bronze - Boys U18 Doubles, Gold - Mixed Doubles U18

Maria Gutierrez (MEX): Silver - Girls U21 Doubles, Silver - Mixed Doubles U21

Nicolas Galindo (MEX): Bronze - Boys U16 Singles, Silver - Boys U16 Doubles
Martina Katz (ARG): Silver - Girls U21 Singles, Bronze - Girls U21 Doubles
Leonela Osorio (MEX): Bronze - Girls U21 Singles, Silver - Girls U21 Doubles
Ivanna Balderrama (MEX): Bronze - Girls U18 Doubles, Silver - Mixed Doubles U18
Cole Sendrey (USA): Silver - Boys U18 Doubles, Bronze - Mixed Doubles U18

Esteban De Janon (ECU): Bronze: Boys U21 Doubles, Bronze - Mixed Doubles U21
Jaime Mansilla (CHI): Bronze: Boys U21 Singles, Bronze - Mixed Doubles U21
Antonio Sanchez (CRC): Bronze - Boys U18 Singles, Bronze Boys U18 Doubles

If you missed any of the action from Tarija, check out the matches that were streamed live from Bolivia via the IRF YouTube channel.

34rd IRF World Junior Championships 

November 11-18, 2023 - Tarija, Bolivia

Girls U21 Singles

Gold: Camila Rivero (Bolivia)
Silver: Martina Katz (Argentina)
Bronze: Leonela Osorio (Mexico), Ana Lucia Sarmiento (Ecuador)

Girls U21 Doubles

Gold: Micaela Meneses & Kristin Salinas (Bolivia)
Silver: Maria Gutierrez & Leonela Osorio (Mexico)
Bronze: Fabiana Landy & Ana Lucia Sarmiento (Ecuador), Sabrina Flores & Martina Katz (Argentina)

Boys U21 Singles

Gold: Diego Gastelum (Mexico)
Silver: Luis Aguilar (Bolivia)
Bronze: Jhoel Alexis Acha Portugal (Bolivia), Jaime Mansilla (Chile)

Boys U21 Doubles

Gold: Oscar Elias Nieto Validez & Diego Gastelum (Mexico)
Silver: Luis Aguilar & Adrian Jaldin Lobo (Bolivia)
Bronze: Josue Bermeo & Esteban De Janon (Ecuador), Iain Dunn & Paul Saraceno (USA)

Mixed Doubles U21

Gold: Luis Aguilar & Micaela Meneses (Bolivia)
Silver: Maria Gutierrez & Diego Gastelum (Mexico)
Bronze: Esteban De Janon & Ana Lucia Sarmiento (Ecuador), Jaime Nicolas Mansilla & Paula Javiera Mansilla (Chile)

Girls U18 Singles

Gold: Camila Rivero (Bolivia)
Silver: Kristin Salinas (Bolivia)
Naomi Ros (USA), Angela Ortega (Mexico)

Girls U18 Doubles

Gold: Rebecca Amaya & Valeria Miranda Martinez (Bolivia)
Silver: Heather Mahoney & Naomi Ros (USA)
Bronze: Andrea Reyes Perez & Anna Paula Aguilar Salvatierra (Guatemala), Cynthia Gutierrez & Ivanna Balderrama (Mexico)

Boys U18 Singles

Gold: Jhonatan Flores (Bolivia)
Silver: Luis Renteria (Mexico)
Bronze: Jorge Gutierrez Ortiz (Mexico), Antonio Sanchez (Costa Rica)

Boys U18 Doubles

Gold: Jorge Gutierrez Ortiz & Luis Renteria (Mexico)
Silver: Vedant Chauhan & Cole Sendrey (USA)
Bronze: Hernán Ruiz Michel & Nicolás Iglesias (Bolivia), Oscar Montejo & Antonio Sanchez (Costa Rica)

Mixed Doubles U18

Gold: Nicolás Iglesias & Valeria Miranda Martinez (Bolivia)
Silver: Ivanna Balderrama & Jorge Gutierrez Ortiz (Mexico)
Bronze: Naomi Ros & Cole Sendrey (USA), Martin Carchi & Maria Angela Villacreses (Ecuador)

Girls U16 Singles

Gold: Natalia Mendez Veizaga (Bolivia)
Silver: Yanna Salazar (Mexico)
Bronze: Sonya Shetty (USA), Sofia Verónica Argandoña Moscoso (Bolivia)

Girls U16 Doubles

Gold: Adriana Noelia Blacutt Conde & Natalia Mendez Veizaga (Bolivia)
Silver: Victoria Rodriguez & Sonya Shetty (USA)
Bronze: Andrea Marquez & Yanna Salazar (Mexico)

Boys U16 Singles

Gold: Marco Mamani Aguilar (Bolivia)
Silver: Eder Renteria (Mexico)
Bronze: Nicolas Galindo (Mexico), Martin Carchi (Ecuador)

Boys U16 Doubles

Gold: Marco Mamani Aguilar & Bismarck Pereira (Bolivia)
Silver: Nicolas Galindo & Eder Renteria (Mexico)
Bronze: Martin Carchi & Juan David Zea Cueva (Ecuador), Benjamin Andre Aguirre Fuentes & Ruben Igor (Chile)

Mixed Doubles U16

Gold: Eder Renteria & Yanna Salazar (Mexico)
Silver: Gabriela Diaz Fernández & Marco Antonio Vedia Rosales (Bolivia)
Bronze: Eshan Ali & Sonya Shetty (USA), Raphël Guillemette & Chloé Jauvin (Canada)

Follow the bouncing ball....

Dominating Bolivian & Mexican performances at the 2023 IRF World Junior Championships

Bolivian Camila Rivero won gold in two divisions - Girl’s U21 & U18 - Saturday at the 34th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Junior Championships in Tarija, Bolivia. In the U21 final, Rivero beat Argentina’s Martina Katz, 12-10, 11-4, 11-6, and in the Girls U18 final, Rivero defeated team-mate Kristin Salinas in the final, 11-7, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7.

In Boys U21, Mexican Diego Gastelum won two gold and Bolivia’s Luis Aguilar one, as the two of them faced off in all three of the finals. In the Boys U21 Singles final, Gastelum beat Aguilar, 11-6, 11-7, 12-10, and he got the better of the Bolivian in the U21 Doubles final too, as he and Oscar Elias Nieto Validez defeated Aguilar and Adrian Jaldin Lobo, 12-10, 11-13, 11-1, 13-11.

But in the U21 Mixed Doubles final, Aguilar and Micaela Meneses came out on top, defeating Gastelum and Maria Gutierrez, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6.

Mexican Eder Renteria also had a chance at triple gold in U16 Saturday, but like Aguilar, he only won gold in the U16 Mixed Doubles division, as he and Yanna Salazar came back from a game down to defeat Bolivans Gabriela Diaz Fernández and Marco Antonio Vedia Rosales, 11-13, 11-7, 11-4, 11-3.

In the other two U16 boys divisions, Marco Mamani Aguilar of Bolivia dashed Renteria’s dreams, as he defeated the Mexican in the Boys U16 Singles final, 12-10, 4-11, 11-4, 11-9, and then teamed up with Bismarck Pereira to take the Boys U16 Doubles final from Renteria and Nicolas Galindo, 11-5, 9-11, 12-10, 11-8.

But Jhonatan Flores of Bolivia may have had the best boys performance of the tournament, as he won Boys U18 Singles by beating Mexican Luis Renteria, 11-6, 11-2, 11-0, in the final. That capped off a seven match win streak in which Flores didn’t lose a game, and surrendered at most 8 points to an opponent twice; he never gave up 9 or more. Flores’s opponents scored 99 points across 21 games for an average of 4.71 points per game.

Performance by country

Bolivia and Mexico medaled in all 15 divisions in Tarija with Bolivia winning 11 gold medals and Mexico 4. In Boys U16 Singles, all four medals went to Bolivia (gold & bronze) and Mexico (silver & bronze). Here’s the country by country medal breakdown.

Bolivia - 11 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze
Mexico - 4, 7, 6
USA - 0, 3, 5
Argentina - 0, 1, 1
Ecuador - 0, 0, 6
Chile - 0, 0, 3
Costa Rica - 0, 0, 2
Canada - 0, 0, 1
Guatemala - 0, 0, 1

If you missed any of the action from Tarija, check out the matches that were streamed live from Bolivia via the IRF YouTube channel.

34rd IRF World Junior Championships 

November 11-18, 2023 - Tarija, Bolivia

Girls U21 Singles - Final - Saturday

2) Camila Rivero (Bolivia) d. 5) Martina Katz (Argentina), 12-10, 11-4, 11-6

Girls U21 Doubles - Final - Saturday

1) Micaela Meneses & Kristin Salinas (Bolivia) d. 2) Maria Gutierrez & Leonela Osorio (Mexico), 11-1, 9-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-1

Boys U21 Singles - Final - Saturday

1) Diego Gastelum (Mexico) d. 2) Luis Aguilar (Bolivia), 11-6, 11-7, 12-10

Boys U21 Doubles - Final - Saturday

1) Oscar Elias Nieto Validez & Diego Gastelum (Mexico) . 2) Luis Aguilar & Adrian Jaldin Lobo (Bolivia), 12-10, 11-13, 11-1, 13-11

Mixed Doubles U21 - Final - Saturday

1) Luis Aguilar & Micaela Meneses (Bolivia) d. 2) Maria Gutierrez & Diego Gastelum (Mexico), 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6

Girls U18 Singles - Final - Saturday

4) Camila Rivero (Bolivia) d. 2) Kristin Salinas (Bolivia), 11-7, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7

Girls U18 Doubles - Final - Saturday

2) Rebecca Amaya & Valeria Miranda Martinez (Bolivia) d. 4) Heather Mahoney & Naomi Ros (USA), 11-9, 11-4, 11-5

Boys U18 Singles - Final - Saturday

3) Jhonatan Flores (Bolivia) d. 8) Luis Renteria (Mexico), 11-6, 11-2, 11-0

Boys U18 Doubles - Final - Saturday

1) Jorge Gutierrez Ortiz & Luis Renteria (Mexico) d. 7) Vedant Chauhan & Cole Sendrey (USA), 11-4, 11-6, 11-1

Mixed Doubles U18 - Final - Saturday

2) Nicolás Iglesias & Valeria Miranda Martinez (Bolivia) d. 1) Ivanna Balderrama & Jorge Gutierrez Ortiz (Mexico), 8-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-4, 12-10

Girls U16 Singles - Final - Saturday

1) Natalia Mendez Veizaga (Bolivia) d. 2) Yanna Salazar (Mexico), 9-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 11-6

Girls U16 Doubles

Round 6 - Victoria Rodriguez & Sonya Shetty (USA) d. Andrea Marquez & Yanna Salazar (Mexico), 3-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-5

Standings: 1) Adriana Noelia Blacutt Conde & Natalia Mendez Veizaga (Bolivia), 3-1
2) Victoria Rodriguez & Sonya Shetty (USA), 2-2
3) Andrea Marquez & Yanna Salazar (Mexico), 1-3

Boys U16 Singles - Final - Saturday

2) Marco Mamani Aguilar (Bolivia) d. 1) Eder Renteria (Mexico), 12-10, 4-11, 11-4, 11-9

Boys U16 Doubles - Final - Saturday

2) Marco Mamani Aguilar & Bismarck Pereira (Bolivia) d. 1) Nicolas Galindo & Eder Renteria (Mexico), 11-5, 9-11, 12-10, 11-8

Mixed Doubles U16 - Final - Saturday

1) Eder Renteria & Yanna Salazar (Mexico) d. 2) Gabriela Diaz Fernández & Marco Antonio Vedia Rosales (Bolivia), 11-13, 11-7, 11-4, 11-3

Follow the bouncing ball....

Vargas and Herrera & Mejia win at 2023 LPRT Turkey Shoot

María José Vargas defeated Erika Manilla, 15-9, 15-5, to win the 2023 Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) Turkey Shoot in Lombard, Illinois on Sunday. It’s Vargas’s sixth win on tour, but first since 2019, although it was her third final in 2023.

Vargas never trailed in the match, taking large leads in both games. In the first Manilla came back from 6-0 down to get within one at 9-8. But Vargas outscored her 6-1 from there to close out game one, 15-9.

In game two, Vargas went out to a 7-0 lead, and while Manilla did score some points from there, she never got within five points of Vargas.

In the middle of game one, Vargas hit a backhand lob Z serve to the left side that Manilla was clearly uncomfortable with. Recognizing that Vargas used that serve for most of the rest of the match.

Vargas is a power player, so she generally drive serves, and did that to start game one. But she’s become a smarter player, and her recognition of Manilla’s discomfort and then trying to exploit that is a reflection of that smartness.

Manilla did make some good returns off that lob Z serve, but she was also called for encroachment twice, and continued trying to attack the ball early. Manilla seemed to be assuming that the ball would be too difficult to return if it went to the back wall, but maybe she should have tested that assumption by letting it go and seeing what happened.

Nonetheless, Manilla had a good tournament. She played in her 2nd career final, and beat Brenda Laime and Paola Longoria - both for the first time - to get there. Impressive.

Herrera and Mejia win doubles

Alejandra Herrera and Montserrat Mejia defeated Longoria and Samantha Salas, 12-15, 15-5, 11-9, to win the doubles final, which was a great match between two closely matched teams. There was a bit of controversy at the end, as match point was an avoidable call against Salas, as she prevented Mejia from setting up for a shot as the ball was coming off the back wall.

Longoria and Salas appealed, but the call stood, as the line judges both agreed with the referee’s call. Although harsh at match point, it seemed like the right call.

Herrera and Mejia looked like they were going to win the first game of the final, as they were up 12-5. But Longoria and Salas came back to get 10 unanswered points and steal the game. They carried that momentum into game three, going up 5-0.

However, the tables turned again, as Herrera and Mejia scored 15 (fifteen!) straight points - getting the first 10 without giving up serve to take game two, 15-5.

Herrera was the major force early in game two, as the left-hander started hitting very good drive Z serves to Longoria, who had trouble returning them. So much so that at 7-5, she switched sides with Salas for one return but to no avail.

Longoria and Salas’s timeouts - taken first when still leading 5-4 and then when trailing 9-5 - also didn’t help them.

In game three, Herrera and Mejia were up early at 4-0, 6-1 and 8-3. But, like game one, Longoria and Salas came back, as Salas hit winners on five straight rallies to tie the game at 8–8. Then Mejia skipped a ball to put Longoria and Salas in the lead at 9-8.

Mejia made up for it on the next rally with a touch pinch winner. Salas had been hitting drive Z serves to Mejia, so Longoria came across to hit that serve to Mejia also. But maybe they were outsmarting themselves, as Longoria and Salas lost that rally after Herrera hit a winner.

The teams exchanged sideouts with no one scoring over the next four rallies. A Herrera backhand made it 9-9, and then Longoria mishit a return of another Herrera drive Z serve to put Herrera and Mejia on match point at 10-9.

There was a bit of a scary incident then, as Mejia inadvertently tripped over Salas’s leg. But it was close to the back wall, and when she went down with a loud thud, it was feared that she might have fallen into the wall. However, the sound was worse than it was, as Mejia got up after a few seconds and seemed none the worse for wear.

And then the avoidable happened that ended the match.

The LPRT will next be in action next month at the 31st Annual Christmas Classic, December 8-10, 2023 in Millersville, Maryland.

If you missed any of this weekend’s action from the Glass Court, or want to watch them again - and there were some great matches, including today’s finals - check out the LPRT YouTube channel.

2023 Glass Court Swim & Fitness LPRT Turkey Shoot
Lombard, Illinois - November 17-19, 2023

LPRT Singles - Final - Sunday

4) María José Vargas d. 6) Erika Manilla, 15-9, 15-5

LPRT Doubles - Final - Sunday

2) Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia d. 1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas, 12-15, 15-5, 11-9

Follow the bouncing ball….