The five gold medal finals today at the 22nd International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in San Antonio, Texas are all intriguing for different reasons. We have short previews of each one.
Men’s Singles
This is a repeat of the 2016 Pan American Championships, when De La Rosa crushed Bredenbeck, helped by playing at altitude (and in his hometown of San Luis Potosi, Mexico) and that the 1 serve rule was still in effect. Also, De La Rosa was much further developed in his career than Bredenbeck then. Now, it should be a much closer contest, and Bredenbeck could pull it out. He’s only played singles, while De La Rosa has also played Mixed Doubles, so perhaps Bredenbeck will be fresher? He’ll need to take advantage of every opportunity.
Women’s singles
Paola Longoria has been the queen of women’s racquetball for most of the last two decades. Now in her mid thirties there are real threats to her crown. On the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT), it’s been Montserrat Mejia and Maria Jose Vargas who have wrested the #1 spot from Longoria, but at Worlds, it’s Gabriela Martinez who has been Longoria's big rival, even defeating her once. For 4th time in 8 years they will meet again in the singles final. Perhaps Martinez can win it again, but make no mistake, Longoria will clutch on to her crown with all her might. She will not give it up easily.
Men’s doubles
It’s nice to have a doubles team with balance. A shooter - playing at the back - and a getter - playing at the front - is one classic combination. The Mexican team of Andree Parrilla and Eduardo Portillo is a team of two shooters, while the Canadian team of Samuel Murray and Coby Iwaasa has a shooter and a power player, respectively. Will that prove to be an advantage to Canada? Mexico has won the last 4 men's doubles titles, and this is the first time Canada is playing for the title since 2012, when Colombia won the title.
Women’s doubles
Mexicans Alexandra Herrera and Montserrat Mejia and Argentinians Natalia Mendez and Maria Jose Vargas face off in a major final for the 2nd time in less than a year, as they met in the deciding match of the women’s team final at the 2023 Pan American Games. That was a strange match, as Argentina came out on fire, only to see Mexico come back and steal away game one. That knocked the wheels off the Argentina bus, and Mexico won the next two games, handing Argentina a crushing loss. Argentina will not want that to happen again, but Herrera and Mejia are the best women’s team around now, as evidenced by their top rankings on the LPRT.
Mixed Doubles
Some say mixed doubles is all about the gal. If so, then advantage to Mexico with Mejia versus the USA’s Holly Scott. But American De La Rosa is a better player than Mexico’s Javier Mar, and often the team with the best player wins doubles. Thus, it should be an excellent match. And while Mar isn’t as great a singles player as De La Rosa, he is an excellent doubles player. But usually both Mar and Mejia play the right side, so someone will need to cover the left side. Will that make a difference? Again, it’s a match that is finely poised.
The IRF will live stream all the final matches from San Antonio via their YouTube channel.
Follow the bouncing ball....
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