Miceala Meneses won Women’s Open at the Sweet Caroline Open in Greenville, South Carolina on Sunday. She defeated Erika Manilla in the final, 15-11, 15-7. It was a good tournament for both players. Meneses was seeded 10th, and beat 2nd seed Cristina Amaya in the quarterfinals, 15-14, 15-14, and 3rd seed Susana Acosta in the semi-finals, 14-15, 15-4, 11-7, before facing Manilla.
Manilla was seeded 4th, and beat 5th seed Jenny Daza in the quarters, 15-3, 15-8, before knocking off top seed Carla Muñoz, 15-12, 15-9, in the semis.
First LPRT Hall of Fame Inductees
The Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) has created a Hall of Fame, which will be hosted at the Sportsclub in Greenville, South Carolina. The Hall of Fame has been made possible through the sponsorship of Piedmont Comprehensive Pain Management Group.
The first three players inducted into the LPRT Hall of Fame on the weekend were: Lynn Adams, Michelle Gould and Heather McKay. All three were #1 on the pro tour multiple times.
The rivalry of Adams and McKay helped start the women’s pro tour. McKay was #1 three of the first four seasons from 1980 to 1984. Adams was #1 the other of those seasons, and then for five of six seasons from 1985 to 1990. After that, Gould took up the mantel, as she was #1 in seven of the next eight seasons during the 1990s.
Adams won 47 times on tour, 2nd all time, and was in the top 10 for 11 seasons. Gould won 43 times (3rd all time) in just 45 finals! She was in the top 10 for 9 seasons. McKay won 20 times, and may have won more, but she moved back to her native Australia in 1985, which ended her racquetball career.
These are the most deserving players to start a women’s pro racquetball Hall of Fame.
USAR cancels National Championships Festival
USA Racquetball was to hold the 2021 USA Racquetball National Championships Festival in St. Louis, Missouri, June 3-13, but Monday night they announced the festival has been cancelled due to the “ongoing COVID-19 restrictions in the St. Louis area” (from email release). That hours after USA Racquetball had sent a message on Twitter encouraging people to enter the event.
We look forward to having Smokestack Lightning perform at the USA Racquetball National Championships Festival presented by Penn at our Music Show on June 4th!
— USARacquetball (@usaracquetball) May 3, 2021
Register today to see Smokestack Lightning at the National Championship Festival! → https://t.co/rp4KSuwWtT pic.twitter.com/xJdMy4h37j
The email further states the cancellation is due to a failure to lift the mask restriction in St. Louis County, which is “over seven weeks behind on anticipated reopening measures.” Thus, USA Racquetball believes “players [would not get] the overall experience they deserve for their investment of time and money.”
Neither player health or safety is mentioned in the email.
When this Festival, which was to include the National Singles, National Doubles and National Junior Championships, was first announced in March, The Racquetball Blog felt that it was an ambitious plan. And perhaps a hasty one too, given it was done approximately three months prior to the event.
The COVID-19 pandemic is still going on in the world, and in some places it’s gotten worse. The USA seems to be doing a reasonable job at getting people vaccinated, but it will likely still be some time before being out in public places returns to anything like it was prior to March 2020.
USA Racquetball’s contingency plan for an event that will be used to qualify players for Team USA for the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) 2021 World Championships and 2021 World Junior Championships will now come into effect. Of course, whether those IRF events, which are scheduled for later this year, actually happen remains to be seen.
2021 LPRT Sweet Caroline Open, April 30-May 2, 2021
Greenville, South Carolina
Women’s Open - Final
10) Micaela Meneses d. 4) Erika Manilla, 15-11, 15-7
Semi-finals
4) Erika Manilla d. 1) Carla Muñoz, 15-12, 15-9
10) Micaela Meneses d. 3) Susana Acosta, 14-15, 15-4, 11-7
Quarterfinals - Saturday
1) Carla Muñoz d. 9) Daniela Rico, 15-1, 15-10
4) Erika Manilla d. 5) Jenny Daza, 15-3, 15-8
3) Susana Acosta d. 11) Carlee Jansz, 15-5, 15-7
10) Micaela Meneses d. 2) Cristina Amaya, 15-14, 15-14
Follow the bouncing ball….
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