Mexico, USA & Canada win gold at 2024 International Racquetball Federation World Championships

Mexico and the USA won two finals with Canada winning the other at the 22nd International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in San Antonio, Texas on Thursday. Mexicans took Women’s Singles and Women’s Doubles with the USA winning Men’s Singles and Mixed Doubles, and Canada winning Men’s Doubles.

Mexican Paola Longoria won Women’s Singles for a record extending 6th time, defeating Guatemalan Gabriela Martinez, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9, 12-10, in the final. Longoria and Martinez have played four of the last five Women’s Singles finals with Longoria winning three times and Martinez once.

Daniel De La Rosa won an All-American Men’s Singles final, as he defeated Jake Bredenbeck, 11-9, 11-9, 1-11, 11-4. It’s the 16th time an American has won Men’s Singles at Worlds, and the first since 2021, when Alejandro Landa won it. It’s De La Rosa’s second World Championship, as he won Men’s Doubles with Alvaro Beltran two years ago, when he was representing Mexico.

Mexicans Alexandra Herrera and Montserrat Mejia won a closely contested Women’s Doubles final, as they hung on to beat Argentina’s Natalia Mendez and Maria Jose Vargas, 11-3, 9-11, 15-13, 7-11, 11-7. It’s the third consecutive title for Mexico, but the first for Herrera and Mejia, who were runners up in 2018.

Those three finals were all won by the higher seed, but the top seeds in Men’s Doubles - Mexicans Eduardo Portillo and Andree Parrilla - lost to Canadians Coby Iwaasa and Samuel Murray, in a final that also went five games, though perhaps strangely none of the games were that close as Canada won 11-5, 6-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6. This is Canada’s first World Championship since 2006, when Christie Huczek (née Van Hees) won Women’s Singles, and the first Men's Doubles title for Canada.

De La Rosa and Hollie Scott won the Mixed Doubles title, as they defeated the top seeded Mexican team of Javier Mar and Mejia, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9, 14-12. That was De La Rosa’s third World Championship (and second of the day) and Scott’s first.

We expected good matches in all five finals, and they delivered. No final was decided in three straight games, and four of the five had multiple games decided by the minimum of two points. Of the 10 matches decided by two points, 4 went into extra points (i.e., were played past the minimum winning score of 11 points).

Match notes

Hollie Scott was the least experienced player in the Mixed Doubles final, but she came up big in game four, hitting five winners, as well as making two gets on another rally that led to a De La Rosa winner. In fact, she hit the match winner: a forehand splat shot off a lob serve to the right side.

The Men’s Doubles final was a streaky match, as four of the five games saw one side take a big lead that they didn’t give up. Only the third game was close all the way.

Mexico lost that game, so they needed to win game four. They won the first point of game four, and then got out to leads of 5-1 and 9-2 before closing it out at 11-4 to force a fifth game tie-breaker.

But in the breaker, it was Canada who scored first, and led all the way, at 3-0, 7-2, and 9-3. Mexico made it interesting at 9-5 and 10-6, but Murray won it then with a backhand shot that went over to the right side and handcuffed Parrilla.

Argentina won game four to force a tie-breaker in the Women’s Doubles final. In that breaker, they took the early lead over Mexico at 2-0 and 6-4. But at that point Vargas hit a loose ball that came back at her, causing an avoidable hinder and made the score 6-5 for Argentina. However, Argentina only scored one point after that.

The margins between elite players can be paper thin, and little things can make the difference.

Mexico score three more points to lead 8-6, so Argentina called a timeout. When play resumed Mendez hit a ball that was probably meant to be a cross court shot, but went into the middle and hit her partner Vargas, making the score 9-6.

A Mejia winner made it 10-6, but a Vargas winner denied them the first match point. But Herrera made good on the second match point, as the left-hander hit a forehand reverse pinch shot winner to the front right corner.

The Men’s Singles final was a contrast of styles, as De La Rosa is primarily a shooter and Bredenbeck a power player. Thus, De La Rosa mainly lob served during the match, while Bredenbeck drove serve. But the reason De La Rosa has been the #1 player on the International Racquetball Tour for the last three seasons is that he can also play a power game, and that was on display during the final.

Longoria is also a player who is both a shooter and a power player, which is why she has dominated women’s racquetball for nearly twenty years. Martinez is a power player, and fully committed on the court, as she throws herself around it making some great gets to keep the rallies going.

But Longoria’s shots were generally more precise that Martinez’s, and that was the difference. Martinez’s efforts might keep rallies going, but too often - and even on offensive opportunities - she was just giving Longoria another opportunity to hit a winner, and Longoria doesn’t need many opportunities to hit winning shots.

Team competition

Play continues at Worlds, as they will move on to the Men’s and Women’s Team competition. Countries face off in a best of three matches: two singles matches and a doubles match. The order of the matches varies across the rounds, although the final will be singles, singles and doubles, if necessary.

If you missed any of the action, and all the finals are well worth seeing, check out the IRF YouTube channel.

22nd IRF World Championships
August 24-31, 2024 - San Antonio, Texas, United States

Men's Singles

Gold Medal Final - Thursday

2) Daniel De La Rosa (USA) d. 4) Jake Bredenbeck (USA), 11-9, 11-9, 1-11, 11-4

Consolation Final - Thursday

Woody Close (Eritrea) d. Ramon De Leon (Dominican Republic), 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7

Women's Singles

Gold Medal Final - Thursday

1) Paola Longoria (Mexico) d. 6) Gabriela Martinez (Guatemala), 11-5, 6-11, 11-9, 12-10

Consolation - Final - Thursday

Danielle Ramsay (Canada) d. Paula Mansilla (Chile), 11-3, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5

Men's Doubles

Gold Medal Final - Thursday

3) Coby Iwaasa & Samuel Murray (Canada) d. 1) Andree Parrilla & Eduardo Portillo (Mexico), 11-5, 6-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6

Consolation - Final - Thursday

Edwin Galicia & Juan Salvatierra (Guatemala) d. Johan Igor & Alan Natera (Chile), forfeit

Women's Doubles

Gold Medal Final - Thursday

1) Monserrat Mejia & Alexandra Herrera (Mexico) d. 2) Natalia Mendez & Maria Jose Vargas (Argentina), 11-3, 9-11, 15-13, 7-11, 11-7

Consolation - Final - Thursday

Maria Cespedes & Merynanyelly Delgado (Dominican Republic) d. Haeok Jeong & Sumin Lee (Korea), 11-6, 13-11, 11-9

Mixed Doubles

Gold Medal Final - Thursday

3) Daniel De La Rosa & Hollie Scott (USA) d. 1) Javier Mar & Monserrat Mejia (Mexico), 11-9, 10-12, 11-9, 14-12

Consolation - Final - Thursday

Ramon De Leon & Merynanyelly Delgado (Dominican Republic) d. Andrés Acuña & Larissa Faeth (Costa Rica), forfeit

Follow the bouncing ball....

2023 USA Singles Qualifying & Canadian Racquetball Championships

Last week USA Racquetball (USAR) held its National Team Singles Qualifying event, and Racquetball Canada held its National Championship. There were some new winners and some repeat winners in both.

The USAR’s event was the National Adult Team Singles Qualifying in Memory of Geoff Peters (or the NATSQMGP) at the Glass Court club in Lombard, Illinois, where Geoff Peters played an instrumental part in supporting and developing racquetball for decades until his death in 2022. As a stand alone event, there were not many participants. Only five women and ten men competed for spots to make the USA National Team, which will compete at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile this October. That’s significantly fewer players than competed at the 2022 National Championships, when there were 19 players in Men’s Singles and 14 in Women’s Singles.

Daniel De La Rosa and Erika Manilla won the Men’s and Women’s events, respectively, in Illinois. In the Men’s Final, De La Rosa defeated Adam Manilla, who as the 5th seed was a surprise finalist, 3-11, 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, while Manilla, Adam’s sister, defeated Kelani Lawrence in the women’s final, 11-3, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6.

This is the second USAR event De La Rosa has played. He has previously competed for Mexico, where he was born. Indeed, De La Rosa is the current International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champion in Men’s Doubles, winning the title with Alvaro Beltran last year in De La Rosa’s hometown of San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

De La Rosa also won Men’s Doubles earlier this year with Alejandro Landa in Arizona, which was his first USAR National Team event. Thus, we believe that De La Rosa has double qualified to be on Team USA.

In the semi-finals, De La Rosa defeated Landa, 11-9, 11-9, 11-3, while Manilla upset top seed Jake Bredenbeck, 2-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-2. According USAR rules the semi-finalists will all be appointed to Team USA from which a travelling team will be created.

Of note, veteran Rocky Carson was in the draw, but was a late withdrawal. Carson has competed at every Pan Am Games with racquetball since 2003, winning gold in Men’s Singles in 2011 and 2015. However, it seems he will not be going to Chile.

In the Women’s semis, Erika Manilla came back from two games down to defeat Holly Scott, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-5, while Lawrence beat veteran Rhonda Rajsich, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6. Rajsich needed five games to get past Lexi York in the quarterfinals, and lost the 3rd Place match to Scott, 11-7, 11-5, 11-3. However, by making the semis Rajsich should qualify for Team USA.

The USA’s results at the 2023 Pan American Championships in April qualified them to send 3 men and 2 women to the Pan Am Games. On the women’s side, it seems like the players will be Manilla and Lawrence, as they were the singles finalists and also in the doubles final in February, when Manilla and Michelle De La Rosa defeated Lawrence and Scott.

The men’s side isn’t quite as clear. We understand that De La Rosa is clear to compete for the USA, so he should be going to Chile, as the winner of singles and doubles. Adam Manilla should also be going, as he was runner up in both singles and doubles. The third player could be Landa, as he won doubles with De La Rosa, and made the semis of singles.

But Landa lost the 3rd place match to Bredenbeck, 11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8. However, Bredenbeck lost in the semi-finals of doubles, so maybe he’ll be on the outside looking in for Chile.

If you missed any of the matches from Lombard, check out the USA Racquetball YouTube channel.

2023 Racquetball Canada National Championships

Samuel Murray and Frédérique Lambert are the 2023 Racquetball Canada National Champions in Men's and Women's Singles, respectively, winning the titles last Saturday in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It’s Murray’s 5th consecutive title, and also Lambert’s 5th - and 3rd consecutive - title. In the Men’s Final, Murray beat 2nd seed Coby Iwaasa, 11-4, 12-10, 11-3, while Lambert defeated 4th seed Juliette Parent, 11-2, 11-7, 10-12, 11-4, in the Women’s Final.

Lambert also won Women’s Doubles with partner Michèle Morissette, as they defeated the other four teams competing. Indeed, they only lost two games across those four matches. They needed four games to beat Alexis Iwaasa and Danielle Ramsay, 11-5, 11-4, 13-15, 11-4, four games against sisters Juliette and Marjolaine Parent, winning 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8. The title is Lambert and Morissette’s 2nd consecutive, and overall it’s Lambert’s 3rd and Morissette’s 4th doubles titles.

Murray had a chance to win his 7th Men’s Doubles and 4th consecutive with his brother Tommy Murray, but they were upset in the final by 2nd seeds Iwaasa and Kurtis Cullen, 12-10, 11-9, 11-4. The win was Iwaasa’s 4th doubles title, and the 1st for Cullen.

Canada’s results at the 2023 Pan American Championships qualified them to send 2 men and 2 women to the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile in October, and the likely candidates are Murray and Iwaasa on the men’s side and Lambert and Morissette on the women’s side.

If you missed any of the matches from Winnipeg, check out the Racquetball Canada YouTube channel.

2023 USA Racquetball Adult Team Singles Qualifying In Memory of Geoff Peters
Lombard, Illinois - May 25-28, 2023

Men's Singles - Quarterfinals

1) Jake Bredenbeck d. 8) James Black, 11-4, 11-3, 11-3
5) Adam Manilla d. 4) Thomas Carter, 9-11, 11-6, 14-12, 11-5

3) Alejandro Landa d. 6) Rocky Carson, forfeit
2) Daniel De La Rosa d. 7) Sam Bredenbeck, 11-4, 14-16, 12-10, 11-7

Semi-finals

5) Adam Manilla d. 1) Jake Bredenbeck, 2-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-2
2) Daniel De La Rosa d. 3) Alejandro Landa, 11-9, 11-9, 11-3

Final

2) Daniel De La Rosa d. 5) Adam Manilla, 3-11, 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6

3rd place

1) Jake Bredenbeck d. 3) Alejandro Landa, 11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8

Women's Singles - Quarterfinals

1) Kelani Lawrence - BYE
4) Rhonda Rajsich d. 5) Lexi York, 11-7, 11-6, 5-11, 9-11, 11-9

3) Hollie Scott - BYE
2) Erika Manilla - BYE

Semi-finals

1) Kelani Lawrence d. 4) Rhonda Rajsich, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6
2) Erika Manilla d. 3) Hollie Scott, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-5

Final

2) Erika Manilla d. 1) Kelani Lawrence, 11-3, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6

3rd place

3) Hollie Scott d. 4) Rhonda Rajsich, 11-7, 11-5, 11-3

2023 Racquetball Canada National Championships
May 23-27, 2023 - Winnipeg, Manitoba

Men's Open - Singles

Final

1) Samuel Murray d. 2) Coby Iwaasa, 11-4, 12-10, 11-3

3rd Place

5) Kurtis Cullen d. 6) Tanner Prentice, 11-5, 11-7, 11-9

Semi-finals

1) Samuel Murray d. 5) Kurtis Cullen, 11-5, 11-4, 11-6
2) Coby Iwaasa d. 6) Tanner Prentice, 11-2, 11-7, 11-8

Quarterfinals

1) Samuel Murray d. 19) Jeff Buller, 11-5, 11-7, 11-4
5) Kurtis Cullen d. 4) Lee Connell, 12-10, 11-6, 10-12, 11-4

6) Tanner Prentice d. 3) Trevor Webb, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8
2) Coby Iwaasa d. 7) Nathan Jauvin, 11-4, 11-3, 11-1

Women's Open - Singles

Final

1) Frédérique Lambert d. 4) Juliette Parent, 11-2, 11-7, 10-12, 11-4

3rd place

3) Michèle Morissette d. 2) Christine Keay, forfeit

Semi-finals

1) Frédérique Lambert d. 3) Michèle Morissette, 11-4, 10-12, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5
4) Juliette Parent d. 2) Christine Keay, 11-9, 3-11, 11-8, 11-6

Quarterfinals

1) Frédérique Lambert - BYE
3) Michèle Morissette d. 5) Danielle Ramsay, 11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9

4) Juliette Parent d. 7) Marjolaine Parent, 11-7, 11-8, 12-10
2) Christine Keay - BYE

Men's Open - Doubles

Final

2) Kurtis Cullen & Coby Iwaasa d. 1) Samuel Murray & Tommy Murray , 12-10, 11-9, 11-4

3rd Place

3) Lee Connell & Trevor Webb d. 4) Nathan Jauvin & Michael Leduc, 11-6, 10-12, 11-8, 8-11, 11-2

Semi-finals

1) Samuel Murray & Tommy Murray d. 4) Nathan Jauvin & Michael Leduc, 11-6, 11-3, 11-5
2) Kurtis Cullen & Coby Iwaasa d. 3) Lee Connell & Trevor Webb, 13-11, 11-8, 11-8

Quarterfinals

1) Samuel Murray & Tommy Murray d. 9) Devin Halko & Paul Shanks, 11-3, 11-5, 11-5
4) Nathan Jauvin & Michael Leduc d. 5) Naman Gauri & Christian Pocsai, 6-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8

3) Lee Connell & Trevor Webb d. 6) Conrad Cole & Tanner Prentice, 11-9, 11-3, 12-10
2) Kurtis Cullen & Coby Iwaasa d. 7) Jeff Buller & David Serra, 11-4, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5

Women's Open - Doubles - Round robin

1) Frédérique Lambert & Michèle Morissette - 4 wins & 0 losses (12 games won, 2 lost)
2) Christine Keay & Cassie Prentice - 2-2 (7-7)
3) Alexis Iwaasa & Danielle Ramsay - 2-2 (7-6)
4) Juliette Parent & Marjolaine Parent - 2-2 (7-7)
5) Disney Linares & Ofelia Wilscam - 0-4 (1-12)

Follow the bouncing ball….

Morissette & Murray win at 2023 Canadian National Team Selection Event

Samuel Murray and Michèle Morissette won Men’s and Women’s Open, respectively, at the 2nd Racquetball Canada National Team Selection Event of the season in Grande Prairie, Alberta on the weekend. The Men’s final was a barn burner of a match that went the distance with three of the five games being decided by the minimum two points. Both Murray and Coby Iwaasa were throwing themselves all over the court with Murray narrowly winning, 10-12, 11-4, 12-14, 11-7, 11-9.

In the Women’s final, Morissette and Danielle Ramsay split the first two games, but Morissette won the next two to take the match in four games, 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7.

Murray led for all of game one of the Men’s Final, although Iwaasa tied it at 7-7. Then when Murray was up 9-7, Iwaasa called a timeout. A Murray forehand made it 10-7, when play resumed, but three game points for Murray went by as Iwaasa again tied it, 10-10. He got to game point with a backhand pinch shot, and then won it, when Murray skipped a forehand shot that made it 12-10.

The match became a best of three after Murray won game two by a comfortable margin, 11-4.

They were back and forth early in game three with Murray leading 3-1 and then Iwaasa up 6-3. In a parallel to game one, they tied at 7-7, and when Murray pulled ahead to 9-7, Iwaasa called a timeout. Yet Murray scored the next point, making it 10-7. Déjà vu all over again.

Iwaasa fought off the first game point with a backhand pinch shot. Before his second game point, Murray called a timeout. Yet that didn’t stop Iwaasa from winning the next three points to get to game point himself at 11-10.

A Murray forehand denied Iwaasa that opportunity, and his got game point #3 as Iwaasa tried to hit a forehand pinch shot from shoulder high. Not a great choice. Murray didn’t convert that opportunity despite having a chance to hit a forehand pinch shot from the left wall, but he skipped that shot, tying the game at 12-12.

Iwaasa closed out game three with forehand winners on the next two rallies - one cross court, one down the line - to go up 2-1 on Murray.

Murray again responded to the loss with a strong game, winning the fourth game 11-7 to force a tie-breaker.

Iwaasa led early in the breaker at 4-1, 5-2 and 7-5. But an ace drive serve to the right side by Murray made it 7-7. They tied again at 8-8, but two winners by Murray put him on match point at 10-8. Iwaasa called a timeout.

On the ensuing rally, Iwaasa held up prior to a backhand shot in the middle of the court, and the referee called an avoidable hinder. It didn’t seem like an avoidable, and Murray appealed the call, but the line judges upheld the referee’s decision, which make the score 10-9 with Iwaasa serving to extend the match.

He drove serve to the left side, and Murray smashed the ball back up the line and it rolled out from the front wall. Game over. Match over. Murray wins.

The Alberta Racquetball Association streamed the final on its Facebook page, so you can view it there.

The results for this event will be combined with the results from last year’s Canadian National Championships, as well as the first National Team Selection Event last November, to select the players for the 2023 Pan American Championships in Guatemala in April. That’s an important event, because it will be the qualifying event for the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile in October. How many players countries can send will depend on the results in Guatemala.

The results of this season’s two selection events, as well as the 2023 Canadian National Championships in May, will determine who will compete for Team Canada at the Pan Am Games in Chile.

2023 Racquetball Canada National Team Selection Event February 3-4, 2023 - Grande Prairie, Alberta

Men's Open

Final

1) Samuel Murray d. 2) Coby Iwaasa, 10-12, 11-4, 12-14, 11-7, 11-9

3rd Place

3) Trevor Webb d. 4) Lee Connell, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7

Semi-finals

1) Samuel Murray d. 4) Lee Connell, 11-4, 8-11, 11-9, 11-1
2) Coby Iwaasa d. 3) Trevor Webb, 11-3, 8—11, 11-7, 11-4

Quarterfinals

1) Samuel Murray d. 9) Nathan Jauvin, 11-6, 11-7, 11-1
4) Lee Connell d. 5) Tanner Prentice, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-4

3) Trevor Webb d. 6) Kurtis Cullen, 6-11, 11-13, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7
2) Coby Iwaasa d. 7) Mitch Brayley, 11-7, 11-4, 12-10

Women's Open

Final

2) Michèle Morissette d. 4) Danielle Ramsay, 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7

3rd place

3) Juliette Parent d. 1) Christine Kaey, 8-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-2

Semi-finals

4) Danielle Ramsay d. 1) Christine Kaey, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 11-6
2) Michèle Morissette d. 3) Juliette Parent, 11-3, 3-11, 11-2, 11-8

Quarterfinals

1) Christine Kaey - BYE
4) Danielle Ramsay d. 5) Marjolaine Parent, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6

3) Juliette Parent d. 6) Cassie Prentice, 11-9, 11-3, 11-7
2) Michèle Morissette d. 7) Ofelia Wilscam, 11-4, 11-5, 11-7

Follow the bouncing ball….

Iwaasa & Lambert win at 1st Racquetball Canada Selection Event

Coby Iwaasa and Frédérique Lambert won the Men’s and Women’s titles, respectively, at Racquetball Canada’s first National Team Selection Event of the season on the weekend in Brossard, Québec. Iwaasa had a walkover win in the final against Samuel Murray, as Murray’s knee injury from last month is still bothering him. He was able to play through the first rounds, but didn’t want to push it against Iwaasa in the final.

Lambert won the Women’s title by defeating Michèle Morissette, 11-5, 11-4, 9-11, 11-7, in the final. She defeated Danielle Ramsay in one semi-final, 11-2, 11-4, 11-5, while Morissette beat Juliette Parent, 9-11, 11-8, 14-12, 11-4, in the other. Racquetball Canada has adopted the match format used by the International Racquetball Federation (IRF): best of 5 games with each game to 11 and the winning margin must be at least two points with each rally resulting in a point (rally scoring).

In the Men’s semi-finals, Iwaasa beat Trevor Webb, 11-8, 11-2, 11-3, and Murray defeated Lee Connell, 11-2, 11-8, 11-6.

These results are the first results that will count towards selecting Team Canada for the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile next October. They will be combined with the results from the second National Team Selection Event that will be held in Grand Prairie, Alberta in February, as well as the 2023 Canadian Racquetball Championships to be held in Winnipeg in May, to select the Pan Am Games team.

Racquetball Canada National Team Selection Event #1
November 11-12, 2022 - Brossard, Québec

Men's Open

Final

2) Coby Iwaasa d. 1) Samuel Murray, forfeit

3rd Place

3) Trevor Webb d. 5) Lee Connell, 5-11, 11-9, 11-5, 3-11, 11-9

Semi-finals

1) Samuel Murray d. 4) Lee Connell, 11-2, 11-8, 11-6
2) Coby Iwaasa d. 3) Trevor Webb, 11-8, 11-2, 11-3

Quarterfinals

1) Samuel Murray d. 8) Francis Guillemette, 11-5, 11-9, 11-6
4) Lee Connell d. 5) Tanner Prentice, 11-9, 12-10, 7-11, 11-9

3) Trevor Webb d. 6) Michael Leduc, 14-12, 11-4, 11-9
2) Coby Iwaasa d. 10) Mitchell Brayley, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6

Women's Open

Final

1) Frédérique Lambert d. 3) Michèle Morissette, 11-5, 11-4, 9-11, 11-7

3rd place

2) Juliette Parent d. 4) Danielle Drury, 11-8, 11-4, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9

Semi-finals

1) Frédérique Lambert d. 4) Danielle Drury, 11-2, 11-4, 11-5
3) Michèle Morissette d. 2) Juliette Parent, 9-11, 11-8, 14-12, 11-4

Quarterfinals

1) Frédérique Lambert d. 8) Chloe Jauvin, 11-6, 11-7, 11-3
4) Danielle Drury d. 5) Marjolaine Parent, 12-10, 15-9, 11-4
3) Michèle Morissette d. 6) Cassie Prentice, 11-6, 11-4, 14-12
2) Juliette Parent d. 7) Ofelia Wilscam, 12-10, 11-3, 11-1

Follow the bouncing ball….

Team Canada & Team Mexico for 2022 IRF World Championships

The 2022 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships begin in San Luis Potosi, Mexico on August 20, and we’ll review the Canadian and Mexican teams today. Eight Canadians and six Mexicans will compete in San Luis Potosi.

Team Canada

The Canadian team is led by the current Men’s Doubles Pan American Champions: Coby Iwaasa and Samuel Murray. They qualified for the team through their performances at a Racquetball Canada National Team Selection Svent as well as the 2022 Canadian National Championships. Murray won both those events with Iwaasa as the runner up both times, so they are the top men’s qualifiers.

Joining Iwaasa and Murray on the team will be veteran Lee Connell, who’ll make his fourth appearance on Team Canada, and Kurtis Cullen, who’s on the team for the first time. But Cullen has considerable international experience, as he’s been a referee at several IRF events, including the recent World Games in Birmingham, Alabamba and the Pan American Championships earlier this year in Bolivia.

Iwaasa and Murray will play doubles, hoping to add a World title to their Pan American one, and Connell and Cullen will play singles. Murray will also play Mixed Doubles with Frédérique Lambert.

Lambert, the current Canadian Champion in both Women’s Singles and Doubles, will play doubles in Mexico with Michèle Morissette, who she won the Canadian title with in May. Danielle Drury and Juliette Parent will play singles.

Supporting Team Canada in San Luis Potosi will be Head Coach Michel Gagnon, Assistant Coach Evan Pritchard, Therapist Amy Barrette and Team Manager Jen Saunders.

Team Mexico

More than half of the six Mexican team has won a IRF World Championship, and half the team are currently World Champions. Paola Longoria leads the team, and comes in as the IRF World Champion in both Women’s Singles and Doubles with Samantha Salas, who will be in San Luis Potosi to help Longoria defend that title. Alexandra Herrera rounds out the women’s side, and she’ll be the other player in Women’s Singles.

All three of the Mexican men have been World Champions, and Rodrigo Montoya won Men’s Doubles at Worlds last year with Javier Mar. However, this year he’ll play singles with the 2018 Men's Doubles World Champions Daniel De La Rosa and Alvaro Beltran there to try to win again. De La Rosa - the #1 player on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) - will also play singles. Montoya and Salas will be the Mexican team for Mixed Doubles, and they won mixed at this year’s Pan American Championships.

Mexican controversy

It’s great that Mexico will have such a strong team at Worlds. However, some controversy will surround the team, as the Mexican racquetball federation has issued released a press release, which was reportedly printed in a Mexican national newspaper, stating that it’s not receiving financial support from their national sport body to compete at Worlds. The lack of support is surprising given the success of the Mexican team in recent years and the popularity of the sport in the country.

The Mexican sport funding body CONADE, issued a press release in response. They contend that the Mexican racquetball federation has not complied with several requirements for funding. Moreover, CONADE believes that it is owed over 400,000 pesos (over US$20,000) by the Mexican racquetball federation, and almost 4 million pesos (almost US$200,000) by nine racquetball people, including Longoria, Salas, Beltran and De La Rosa.

The Mexican racquetball federation has responded to CONADE’s release in which they dispute some of the non-compliance issues, as well as whether any funds are owed by the organization. Apparently, there was former Mexican racquetball federation that should be responsible for some of those funds.

Clearly, there’s some “he said / she said” going on here as the racquetball federation and CONADE argue back and forth about these issues. Such conflict is never good for a team preparing for a competition, as it can be a complete distraction.

Veteran players like those on Team Mexico are less likely to be distracted than rookies, so perhaps this won’t matter too much. However, four of the six players on the team are specifically named by CONADE as owing money. That could be difficult to ignore. While the players might try to ignore it, they will undoubtedly be asked by the media about this situation during the World Championships, as the event is happening in Mexico.

There are 9 days until Worlds begins in San Luis Potosi. We’d like to think there will be a resolution to this conflict by then. However, the wheels of government rarely work that quickly, so it would be a surprise if they did in this case.

Tournament format

The XXI IRF World Championships begin Saturday August 20 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. There will be three days of group stage matches follow by three days of medal round competition beginning Tuesday August 23 and concluding Thursday August 25. Only the top two players from each group will advance to the medal round, so every group stage match matters. There will also be a team event beginning on August 25 and ending Saturday August 27.

The team event will be a best of three matches: two singles matches and a doubles match. The order of the matches may vary, so, for example, the doubles match may be the first, second or third match between the teams. Player positions may change from the individual events to the team event, so the players who played doubles, for example, in the individual events need not be the players to play doubles in the team event. But once a team roster is set, it can’t change from one round to the next. Team rosters will be determined after the individual events are over.

Follow the bouncing ball…..

Le Roi et La Reine

Samuel Murray and Frédérique Lambert are Racquetball Canada’s King and Queen, respectively, as they were both double winners on the weekend at the 2022 Canadian National Championships in Brossard, Québec. Murray won both singles and doubles for a 4th consecutive time (it was his 6th Men’s Doubles title overall), while Lambert won her 4th Women’s Singles title (2nd consecutive) and 3rd Women’s Doubles title.

In the singles finals, Murray beat Coby Iwaasa, 15-9, 15-8, 15-8, and Lambert defeated Michèle Morissette, 15-8, 15-9, 15-5. In doubles, Murray played with his brother Tommy for a third year, and they beat Iwaasa and Kurtis Cullen in the final, 12-15, 15-14, 15-6, 15-9. Lambert teamed up with Morissette in Women’s Doubles, and they were undefeated through a five team round robin competition.

As with the National Team Selection Event in Calgary earlier this season, a rally point scoring system was used with matches being the best of five games: four games to 15, win by 1, and a tie-breaker to 11 win by 2.

These results will be combined with the results from Calgary to select Team Canada for the 2022 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in San Luis Potosí, Mexico August August 19-27. Murray, Lambert, Iwaasa and Morissette should all be invited to be part of the team.

If you missed any of the action from Brossard, check out the Racquetball Canada page on Facebook.

2022 Racquetball Canada National Championships May 24-28, 2022 - Brossard, Québec

Men's Open

Final

1) Samuel Murray d. 2) Coby Iwaasa, 15-9, 15-8, 15-8

3rd Place

5) Lee Connell d. 3) Trevor Webb, injury forfeit

Semi-finals

1) Samuel Murray d. 5) Lee Connell, 15-12, 15-5, 15-5
2) Coby Iwaasa d. 3) Trevor Webb, 15-13, 15-7, 15-12

Quarterfinals

1) Samuel Murray d. 8) Tanner Prentice, 15-8, 15-8, 15-11
5) Lee Connell d. 4) Kurtis Cullen, 11-15, 15-11, 15-13, 15-8

3) Trevor Webb d. 6) Etienne Chayer, 15-5, 15-5, 15-5
2) Coby Iwaasa d. 7) Michael Leduc, 14-15, 15-0, 15-7, 15-7

Women's Open

Final

1) Frédérique Lambert d. 3) Michèle Morissette, 15-8, 15-9, 15-5

3rd place

4) Danielle Drury d. 2) Juliette Parent, 15-11, 15-9, 5-15, 15-12

Semi-finals

1) Frédérique Lambert d. 4) Danielle Drury, 15-5, 15-10, 13-15, 15-12
3) Michèle Morissette d. 2) Juliette Parent, 15-14 15-6, 15-5

Quarterfinals

1) Frédérique Lambert - BYE
4) Danielle Drury d. 5) Marjolaine Parent, 15-5, 15-14, 15-6
6) Michèle Morissette d. 3) Alexis Iwaasa, 15-13, 15-10. 12-15, 15-8
2) Juliette Parent - BYE

Follow the bouncing ball….

Argentina, Bolivia (twice), Canada & Mexico are Pan American Champions

Bolivia swept gold in Men’s and Women’s Singles at the 2022 Pan American Racquetball Championships in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Angelica Barrios won Women’s Singles by coming back from two games down against top seed and former Pan Am Champion María José Vargas of Argentina, winning in five games 14-15, 10-15, 15-10, 15-14, 12-10. Barrios was playing in her 1st international final, and her 1st medal is gold.

In the men’s final, Conrrado Moscoso defeated Costa Rican Andres Acuña, 15-14, 14-15, 15-6, 15-13, to win his first Pan American Championship in singles, but his second overall, as he and Roland Keller won Men’s Doubles in 2019. Bolivia has now won Men’s Singles at Pan Am Championships for three years running - the third country to do so (after the USA and Mexico).

In Women’s Doubles, the 2nd seeded Argentine team of Natalia Mendez and Maria Jose Vargas won their 1st Pan American Championship in doubles - and first for Argentina overall and, indeed, for a South American country, as they defeated the #1 seeded team of Alejandra Herrera and Samantha Salas of Mexico, 15-14, 14-15, 15-10, 8-15, 11-8. It was a cagey match with many ceiling ball exchanges.

But down the stretch of game five it was Vargas who was hitting the winning shots. With Mexico leading 6-4, a Salas shot was called a skip. She appealed it, but the line judges upheld the call. From 6-5, Vargas hit winners for all six of Argentina’s points, the most spectacular of which was a backhand off a dive to the left wall that just made the front wall. A “you know things are going your way when” kind of shot. She ended the game and match with a forehand kill shot to the right side from the front court.

The gold is Vargas’s 2nd at the Pan Am Championships, as she was the Women’s Singles champion back in 2014, and Mendez’s first gold at Pan Ams.

Canadians Coby Iwaasa and Samuel Murray, the 4th seeds, came back from a game down to defeat 3rd seeds Juan Francisco Cueva and Jose Daniel Ugalde of Ecuador, in five games, 10-15, 15-13, 15-5, 11-15, 11-5, and win the Men’s Doubles title. It’s the first gold at an international event for both Iwaasa and Murray, and the first for Canada in Men’s Doubles at the Pan Am Championships since 2010, when Mike Green and Tim Landeryou won. Ecuador is still seeking its first Pan Am Championship gold medal.

Rodrigo Montoya and Samantha Salas of Mexico won the Mixed Doubles final, beating Boliviaians Micaela Meneses and Conrrado Moscoso, 15-12, 15-7, 14-15, 15-12.

If you want to watch the finals - and you should definitely check out the Women’s Singles final - they are available via the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) Facebook page and the IRF YouTube channel.

XXXIII Pan American Racquetball Championships
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia - April 9-16, 2022

Women's Singles - Final - Thursday

10) Angelica Barrios (Bolivia) d. 1) María José Vargas (Argentina), 14-15, 10-15, 15-10, 15-14, 12-10

Men's Singles -

Final - Thursday

1) Conrrado Moscoso (Bolivia) d. 11) Andres Acuña (Costa Rica), 15-14, 14-15, 15-6, 15-13

Women's Doubles - Final - Thursday

2) Natalia Mendez & Maria Jose Vargas (Argentina) d. 1) Alejandra Herrera & Samantha Salas (Mexico), 15-14, 14-15, 15-10, 8-15, 11-8

Men's Doubles - Final - Thursday

4) Coby Iwaasa & Samuel Murray (Canada) d. 3) Juan Francisco Cueva & Jose Daniel Ugalde (Ecuador), 10-15, 15-13, 15-5, 11-15, 11-5

Mixed Doubles - Final - Thursday

6) Rodrigo Montoya & Samantha Salas (Mexico) d. 1) Micaela Meneses & Conrrado Moscoso (Bolivia), 15-12, 15-7, 14-15, 15-12

Follow the bouncing ball….

2022 Pan American Championships - Preview

The Pan American Racquetball Championships are being held for the first time in three years. The COVID 19 pandemic, which is still going on, resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 Pan American Championships. But the 2022 Pan American Championships will begin Saturday in Santa Cruz, Bolivia with 140 players from 12 countries in 24 divisions, as there’s also junior events. Notable is that mixed doubles will be on the program for the first time in the event’s history, as well as U21 in the junior competition. Also, this will be the first international event using rally scoring with a five game match format: four games to 15 with a tie-breaker to 11, and the first four games are win by one point while the breaker is win by two.

Matches will be streamed by the International Racquetball Federation (IRF), as well as a broadcast on Bolivian television. You can check out links for play via the IRF Facebook page or the IRF YouTube channel.

The IRF hasn’t released any player rosters, and the draws won’t be finalized until after the coaches meeting Friday afternoon, but we have some information for some of the countries.

The USA will have six players in Bolivia. Alejandro Landa, the current IRF Men’s Singles World Champion, leads the team and will try to win his 2nd Pan American Championship title in Men’s Singles. He won in 2017 while representing Mexico. Brothers Jake Bredenbeck and Sam Bredenbeck will play Men’s Doubles with Jake as the 2nd player in Men’s Singles.

Veteran Rhonda Rajsich leads the women’s side and will play singles and doubles with Erika Manilla. Rajsich and Manilla were silver medalists at Worlds last year. Manilla will play Mixed Doubles with Landa, and Kelani Bailey rounds out the team playing Women’s Singles, in which she was also a silver medalist at Worlds in 2021.

Team Canada will have its top three men’s players and some young women’s players in Bolivia. Samuel Murray, a winner on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT), leads the team, and will play both Men’s Singles and Doubles. Coby Iwaasa will be Murray’s doubles partner, and the two were silver medalists at the last Pan Am Championships back in 2019. Trevor Webb will be the other Canadian Men’s Singles player.

Michèle Morissette - a 2022 World Games qualifier - leads the Canadian women in the absence of veterans Frédérique Lambert and Christine Richardson, and she’ll play Women’s Singles along with Juliette Parent, who’s just making her second appearance on Team Canada after playing at Worlds last year. Parent will also play Mixed Doubles with Coby Iwaasa. Alexis Iwaasa - Coby’s cousin - and Cassie Prentice will be the Canadian Women’s Doubles team. Prentice is making her Team Canada debut.

Some of the Bolivian players reported to be representing the host country are Conrrado Moscoso, a two time winner on the IRT, Carlos Keller, and Kadim Carrasco on the men’s side, and on the women’s side Yazmine Sabja, Micaela Meneses, Angelica Barrios. Keller is the two time defending Pan American Champion in Men’s Singles.

The format of the event is to have two days of group play followed by a medal round on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Then they plan to have a team competition on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Finally, as it has been awhile since the last Pan American Championships, let’s remind you of who was on the podium in 2019.

XXXII Pan American Racquetball Championships
Barranquilla, Colombia - April 12-20, 2019

Women's Singles

GOLD - Paola Longoria (Mexico)
SILVER - María José Vargas (Argentina)
BRONZE - Maria Paz Muñoz (Ecuador) and Natalia Mendez (Argentina)

Men's Singles

GOLD - Carlos Keller (Bolivia)
SILVER - Charles Pratt (USA)
BRONZE - Alvaro Beltran (Mexico) and Andres Acuña (Costa Rica)

Women's Doubles

GOLD - Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas (Mexico)
SILVER - Valeria Centellas & Yazmine Sabja (Bolivia)
BRONZE - Cristina Amaya & Adriana Riveros (Colombia) and Danielle Drury & Jennifer Saunders (Canada)

Men's Doubles

GOLD - Roland Keller & Conrrado Moscoso (Bolivia)
SILVER - Coby Iwaasa & Samuel Murray (Canada)
BRONZE - Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico) and Andres Acuña & Felipe Camacho (Costa Rica)

Follow the bouncing ball….

Lambert & Murray win at Canadian National Team Selection Event

Racquetball Canada ran its National Team Selection Event in Calgary on the weekend with Samuel Murray and Frédérique Lambert winning the Men’s and Women’s titles, respectively. In the finals, Murray beat Coby Iwaasa, 15-8, 15-11, 15-14, and Lambert defeated Michèle Morissette, 8-15, 15-10, 15-6, 15-10. The rally point scoring system was used for the first time with matches a best of five games: four games to 15, win by 1, and a tie-breaker to 11 win by 2, as the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) will be using this system in its events this year.

These results will be combined with the results from the 2021 Canadian National Championships to select the players for the 2022 Pan American Championships in Santa Cruz, Bolivia in April. Murray and Lambert won at Nationals, so they will be selected for Pan Ams for sure. Iwaasa was 2nd at Nationals also, so he should be invited too. Racquetball Canada will send out invitations this week, and then announce the team later this month.

In the men’s semi-finals, Murray needed four games to get past 5th seed Kurtis Cullen, 15-2, 15-7, 11-15, 15-9, while Iwaasa took out 3rd seed Trevor Webb in three straight games, 15-8, 15-13, 15-7. Cullen then got a forfeit win over Webb in the 3rd place match to get his best ever finish at a selection event.

On the women’s side, Lambert beat 4th seed Juliette Parent, 15-3, 15-11, 15-13, in one semi with Morissette coming back from two games down to defeat 3rd seed Danielle Drury, 11-15, 11-15, 15-13, 15-12, 11-8. Drury was playing her first match in over two years, as she took time off for academic reasons. But she managed to finish 3rd by defeating Parent in another match that went to a breaker with Drury winning 11-15, 15-9, 15-11, 13-15, 11-6.

Racquetball Canada plans to have its National Championships the third week of May 23rd - Victoria Day in Canada - as usual, although a site for the event has yet to be chosen. The results from this weekend and the 2022 Nationals will be used to select the team for the 2022 IRF World Championships in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, August 19-27.

2022 Racquetball Canada National Team Selection Event February 25-26, 2022 - Calgary, Alberta

Men's Open

Final

1) Samuel Murray d. 2) Coby Iwaasa, 15-8, 15-11, 15-14

3rd Place

5) Kurtis Cullen d. 3) Trevor Webb, injury forfeit

Semi-finals

1) Samuel Murray d. 5) Kurtis Cullen, 15-2, 15-7, 11-15, 15-9
2) Coby Iwaasa d. 3) Trevor Webb, 15-8, 15-13, 15-7

Quarterfinals

1) Samuel Murray d. 9) Mitchell Brayley, 15-9, 15-6, 15-11
5) Kurtis Cullen d. 4) Lee Connell, 15-3, 15-13, 13-15, 15-13

3) Trevor Webb d. 6) Francis Guillemette, 15-8, 15-13, 15-7
2) Coby Iwaasa d. 10) Nathan Jauvin, 15-2, 15-10, 15-3

Women's Open

Final

1) Frédérique Lambert d. 2) Michèle Morissette, 8-15, 15-10, 15-6, 15-10

3rd place

3) Danielle Drury d. 4) Juliette Parent, 11-15, 15-9, 15-11, 13-15, 11-6

Semi-finals

1) Frédérique Lambert d. 4) Juliette Parent, 15-3, 15-11, 15-13
2) Michèle Morissette d. 3) Danielle Drury, 11-15, 11-15, 15-13, 15-12, 11-8

Quarterfinals

1) Frédérique Lambert d. 9) Marjolaine Parent, 15-7, 15-12, 15-2
4) Juliette Parent d. 5) Alexis Iwaasa, 15-14, 12-15, 15-6, 15-5

3) Danielle Drury d. 6) Cassie Prentice, 15-8, 15-9, 15-6
2) Michèle Morissette d. 7) Tamara Wilscam, 15-6, 15-6, 15-9

Follow the bouncing ball….

2021 Canadian National Racquetball Championships

Samuel Murray and Frédérique Lambert are the 2021 Racquetball Canada National Champions in Men's and Women's Singles, respectively, as they won the titles this past weekend in Brossard, Québec. In the Men’s Final, Murray defeated Coby Iwaasa, 15-8, 15-4, while Lambert beat Christine Keay in the Women’s Final, 15-13, 15-2. The victories should put Murray and Lambert on the Canadian team for the 2021 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships that are still anticipated to happen in Guatemala in late November.

Murray also won Men’s Doubles as he and brother Tommy successfully defended the title they won two years ago by defeating Iwaasa and Trevor Webb, 15-4, 15-7, in the final. However, Lambert and partner Michele Morissette lost in the semi-finals to sisters Juliette and Marjolaine Parent, 9-15, 17-15, 11-8. But then the Parents were beaten in the final by Keay and Cassie Prentice, 15-10, 15-11.

Overall, Murray won his 3rd consecutive Men’s Singles title, and his 5th Men’s Doubles title (3rd in a row and the last two with brother Tommy). Lambert’s Women’s Singles title was her 3rd. Keay (née Richardson) has won three Women’s Doubles titles now (the previous two were with Morissette), and Prentice won her first National Championship.

The players who made the singles semi-finals should be named to the Canadian National Team for the World Championships. That would be Samuel Murray, Coby Iwaasa, Lee Connell and Trevor Webb on the Men’s side, and Frédérique Lambert, Christine Keay, Alexis Iwaasa and Juliette Parent on the Women’s side. It will be the 1st time on the team for Parent, and just the 2nd times for Alexis Iwaasa, Connell and Webb.

Connell’s first appearance on the team was in 2009, so if he goes this year, it will be 12 years between 1st and 2nd appearances, which would be a record.

2021 Racquetball Canada National Championships September 16-19, 2021 - Brossard, Québec

Men's Open

Final

1) Samuel Murray d. 2) Coby Iwaasa, 15-8, 15-4

3rd Place

4) Lee Connell d. 3) Trevor Webb, injury forfeit

Semi-finals

1) Samuel Murray d. 4) Lee Connell, 15-5, 15-1
2) Coby Iwaasa d. 3) Trevor Webb, injury forfeit

Quarterfinals

1) Samuel Murray d. 9) Francis Guillemette, 15-11, 15-0
4) Lee Connell d. 5) Kurtis Cullen, 10-15, 15-5, 12-10

3) Trevor Webb d. 6) Tanner Prentice, 15-6, 15-7
2) Coby Iwaasa d. 7) Michael Leduc, 15-5, 15-0

Women's Open

Final

1) Frédérique Lambert d. 2) Christine Keay, 15-13, 15-2

3rd place

5) Alexis Iwaasa d. 6) Juliette Parent, 13-15, 15-8, 11-5

Semi-finals

1) Frédérique Lambert d. 5) Alexis Iwaasa, 15-2, 15-4
2) Christine Keay d. 6) Juliette Parent, 15-8, 15-13

Quarterfinals

1) Frédérique Lambert d. 9) Ofelia Wilscam, 15-1, 15-3
5) Alexis Iwaasa d. 4) Brigitte Richard, 5-15, 15-12, 11-2

6) Juliette Parent d. 3) Michèle Morissette, 15-10, 15-7
2) Christine Keay d. 7) Cassie Prentice, 11-15, 15-13, 11-5

Follow the bouncing ball….

USA will not be going to the Pan Am Championships

USA Racquetball (USAR) has announced that they will not be sending a team to the 2021 Pan American Championships in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, September 3-11. This is the first international racquetball event since the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

The announcement of this decision is oddly written, as it states “The USA Racquetball Board of Directors brings the disappointing news that the United States will not be sending our U.S. Team to participate in the Pan American Racquetball Championships,” which makes it sound like the United States has made this decision. But the USAR Board made the decision.

They did so after the USAR Team Committee analyzed the situation, and made a recommendation to the Board to not send a team to Bolivia given the current travel conditions that are still being effected by the coronavirus pandemic. The decision is entirely reasonable, but weirdly presented.

Racquetball Canada is not planning on sending a team to Bolivia either, and reached that decision some time ago. They have yet to hold a National Championships since the pandemic began, although are planning to do so next month: September 16-19 in Brossard, Québec.

USAR still hopes to send a team to the International Racquetball Federation World Championships in Guatemala, October 29-November 6, and Racquetball Canada is also planning to send a team to Worlds.

Hopefully, the pandemic conditions will not prevent that event from going ahead with a full compliment of participating countries.

Follow the bouncing ball…..

The astonishing Mr. Murray

A week on and it’s still astonishing to think that Samuel Murray is an International Racquetball Tour (IRT) champion. Not astonishing because of the luck involved. Luck played little role in Murray’s win, as he defeated Javier Mar, Daniel De La Rosa, Alejandro Landa, and Conrrado Moscoso to win the Suivant Consulting Pro-Am title in Lilburn, Georgia last weekend. The last three of those players - De La Rosa, Landa and Moscoso - have all won IRT events and have nine titles between them (4, 4, 1, respectively). Murray beat them, so now he joins them as an IRT champion.

Rather it’s astonishing because few saw it coming. Indeed, in the IRT pre-tournament discussion Dean Baer, Todd Boss and Favio Soto were unanimous in their prediction of a Murray loss to Mar in the Round of 16 (prediction at 44' of video). So, none of them even thought Murray would play one of those past champions, because they didn’t have Murray getting out of the 16s! To be fair, in the fantasy entries only one of 22 entries had Murray getting past the quarterfinals with 7 of 22 having him lose to Mar and 13 having him lose to De La Rosa.

Astonishing because of where Murray's come from. He grew up in Baie-Comeau, Québec (~21,000 population) on the north shore of the St Lawrence River some 700 km (420 miles) east of Montreal. You wouldn’t pick Baie-Comeau as the origin of a star in any sport, let alone in racquetball, but as a coach we know likes to say “they have to come from somewhere.” So Murray's win is a real "small town boy does good" story.

Astonishing because when Murray was a junior no one was thinking "Sam’s going to be an IRT champion." He was overshadowed by Coby Iwaasa, who was a phenomenal junior player. Murray did beat Iwaasa to win U16 at the 2010 Canadian Junior Championships, though Iwaasa is three years younger than Murray. He didn’t win U18 singles in Canada, and didn’t win any titles at the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Junior Championships.

But Murray persisted. In 2014, he won his 1st Canadian title by teaming with Vincent Gagnon to win Men’s Doubles at the Canadian Championships. Another Men’s Doubles title came in 2016 (with Pedro Castro), and that win helped Murray go to the 2016 IRF World Championships. He was the only Canadian man to come home from that Worlds with a medal: a bronze in Men’s Singles, which was Murray’s first medal for Canada.

Murray followed up that success by starting to play the IRT full time in the 2016-17 season. He only made it past the 16s twice that season - one quarterfinal and one semi-final - and finished ranked 14th. Not the kind of results that would make you think that he would win an IRT event, let alone that “Murray could be #1” someday, which is the kind of talk that has surrounded the likes of De La Rosa and Moscoso from the time they started on tour.

He’s only missed two events over the past four seasons, and been in the top ten each of the last three seasons, including making his first final in September 2018. There’s a common saying that success is a lot about showing up, and Murray has continued to show up.

In doing so, he’s achieved something few other players - and only one other Canadian - has achieved: an IRT title. What other astonishing achievements will be in Murray's future?

Probably more than we think.

Follow the bouncing ball….

Canadian Championships cancelled

Today Racquetball Canada announced its “made the difficult decision to CANCEL [sic] the 2020 Canadian Championships” that were scheduled for May 17-24 in Brossard, Québec. They “hope to hold a selection event to crown our Open 2020 Canadian Champions in singles and doubles … and select our National team.”

Not a surprising announcement, and confirms that another big event has been effected the current COVID-19 situation.

With this cancellation, Racquetball Canada will be unlikely to send a team to the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships if those go ahead as scheduled in August. They would also need to figure out how to determine a team for the IRF World Junior Championships, if that event goes ahead in November.

As with other cancellations due to COVID-19, this is a sad decision, but the appropriate one given the current conditions.

We're not sure how this situation is going to end, let alone when. But we look forward to once again being able to...

Follow the bouncing ball….

LPRT cancels San Antonio due to COVID-19 situation, plus US & Canadian Nationals

The COVID-19 situation continues to effect the racquetball world. The Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) announced Tuesday that the Battle at the Alamo event scheduled for April 17-19 has been cancelled. That was a sad announcement, but not surprising given how the COVID-19 situation has been developing in the USA.

It’s also entirely sensible, and we’re surprised that the announcement on Facebook has garnered some “angry” reactions. We understand being sad about this decision, but anger? Come on.

According to LPRT Commissioner T.J. Baumbaugh, the YMCA that would host the event has forbidden group events until further notice, and she felt the uncertainty on whether the event would go ahead was too great to ask players to make travel arrangements to be in San Antonio at this time, so it was best to cancel it.

US & Canadian Nationals

USA Racquetball sent an email today stating they remain “fully committed to hosting our National Singles and Junior Championships… there is no need for any drastic decisions. Any speculation at this moment would be counterproductive.” But they will be guided by two principles: “to protect the health of everyone involved and to support the containment of the virus” and “to safeguard the interests of the athletes and all involved with USA Racquetball.”

It’s good for USA Racquetball to get in touch with its membership, but a little optimistic to think that everything’s going to be fine in two month time.

Last week (that is, last Thursday, not today, Wednesday), Racquetball Canada sent an email about their Nationals, which happen at the same time as US National Singles. In their message, Racquetball Canada states “we are working closely with our National Team and High-Performance Committee to ensure our athletes and coaches are not put into an unsafe situation. As of today, we are still planning our National Championships. Registration is on hold while we wait for further information” in the coming weeks.

Furthermore, Racquetball Canada is working on “contingency plans” to use “if the situation escalates.” A message on their website states they recommend “NOT [purchasing] flights or [making] travel arrangements until registration is open.”

Both USA Racquetball and Racquetball Canada are hopeful their National events will go ahead, although the latter’s message seems more pessimistic, and speaks to actively planning for alternatives. USA Racquetball should be doing that too, and perhaps they are even if they are not stating that publicly at the moment.

It’s not the best of times, but it’s not the worst of times either. There isn’t fire and brimstone raining down on us, but the situation isn’t normal either. We will go through some pain and discomfort, but overall, we will get through this.

And when we do, racquetball will be waiting.

Follow the bouncing ball….

Samuel Murray and Michèle Morissette won the Men's and Women's divisions, respectively, at the second Racquetball Canada National Team Selection Event of the season on the weekend in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which was held in conjunction with the 46th Annual Keystone Classic. In their respective finals, Murray had to come back from a game down to defeat Coby Iwaasa, 8-15, 15-7, 11-1, and Morissette beat Christine Richardson, 15-6, 15-11. Their victories will help Murray and Morissette qualify for the 2020 World Championships to be held next year in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

Murray, the #1 ranked men’s player in Canada and currently 8th on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT), got off to a slow start in game one, as Iwaasa went out to a 12-0 lead. Murray came back to 13-8, so Iwaasa called a timeout, and was able to close out the game after that.

They were even early in game two with a tie at 5-5. From there, Murray went out to a 10-5 lead, and closed it out at 15-7. He carried that momentum into the tie-breaker, as Murray won it going away, 11-1.

Morissette played well against Richardson in the women’s final. She did have a bit of trouble closing out game two, as Richardson scored several points with Morissette on 14. But when Richardson got to 11, Morissette called a timeout. When play resumed, Richardson, who had been hitting drive Z serves to Morissette’s backhand, hit a serve to Morissette’s forehand, and it was returned for a winner. Morissette won the game and match on the next rally, as Richardson skipped a backhand return.

This is the second event in the qualification process for the 2020 International Racquetball Federation (

Monday, December 16, 2019

Weekend Round Up - Wins for Miller, Muñoz & Mendez & Miller & change at Racquetball Canada

Maurice Miller won the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) division at the 2019 Christmas Classic in Laurel, Maryland on the weekend. Miller came back from a game down in the final to defeat Troy Warigon, 13-15, 15-4, 11-4.

Warigon got to the final by the narrowest win possible in the semi-finals, as he knocked off the 2nd seed Mauricio Zelada, 14-15, 15-14, 11-10. Miller beat Thomas Gerhardt, 15-1, 15-9, in the other semi.

Miller also got the better of Warigon in the Mixed Open Doubles final, as he and Natalia Mendez defeated Warigon and Kelani Bailey Lawrence, 13-15, 15-2, 11-4, in the final. But they did team up to win the Men’s Open Doubles title, as they beat David Austin and Dylan Pruitt in the final, 15-9, 15-14.

Carla Muñoz won the Women’s Open division in Laurel. She defeated Lexi York, 15-4, 15-11, in the final. In the semi-finals, Muñoz beat Abril Prado, 15-3, 15-8, and York defeated Amie Brewer, 15-4, 15-6.

Racquetball Canada

Last week, Racquetball Canada announced Kathy Brook will be their new Executive Director. Brook succeeds Donna Harris, and brings a wealth of experience within the Canadian sport system to the position and organization.

Racquetball Canada will begin 2020 with new people at both their staff positions with Brook as Executive Director and Jen Saunders as Administrator of High Performance and Sport Development. Saunders takes over from Geri Powell, who is retiring at the end of the year. It will be interesting to see how the organization moves forward with new people in these positions.

Looking ahead to 2020

The most significant event of 2020 will be the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships from August 14-22 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The 2020 Worlds will be the qualifying event for the 2021 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama.

Prior to that the annual Pan American Championships will be April 4-12 at a site still to be determined. Bolivia was mentioned as a possibility for the Pan Am Championships during the streaming of the World Junior Championships, but that’s unconfirmed as now. Yes, we’re less than four months away from the event, and we’re still not sure where it’s going to happen.

On the pro side, the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) will be busier in the second part of the season than the first, as they have 8 events (maybe 9, as one is listed as tentative on the schedule) in 2020 compared with 5 events so far. Two of those events will be in January with the Florida Open January 9-11 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the Sweet Caroline Open January 23-25 in Greenville, South Carolina.

The IRT will be even busier in January, as there are three events on their schedule. It will begin with the Longhorn Open January 17-19 in Austin, Texas with the 42nd Lewis Drug Pro-Am in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, January 23-26, and completing the run of three events on back to back to back weekends will be the Lou Bradley Memorial in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, January 30-February 2. That will be quite the run for the players. After that there are just three other IRT events in 2020 with the season ending in Bolivia at the Open Bolivia American Iris May 13-16.

2019 Christmas Classic, December 13-15, 2019
Laurel, Maryland

IRT Singles - Final

1) Maurice Miller d. 3) Troy Warigon, 13-15, 15-4, 11-4

Semi-finals

1) Maurice Miller d. 4) Thomas Gerhardt, 15-1, 15-9
3) Troy Warigon d. 2) Mauricio Zelada, 14-15, 15-14, 11-10

Women’s Open - Final

1) Carla Muñoz d. 2) Lexi York, 15-4, 15-11

Semi-finals

1) Carla Muñoz d. 4) Abril Prado, 15-3, 15-8
2) Lexi York d. 6) Amie Brewer, 15-4, 15-6

Mixed Open Doubles - Final

1) Natalia Mendez & Maurice Miller d. 2) Kelani Bailey Lawrence & Troy Warigon, 13-15, 15-2, 11-4

Semi-finals

1) Natalia Mendez & Maurice Miller d. 4) Joe Kelley & Hollie Scott, 15-5, 15-9
2) Kelani Bailey Lawrence & Troy Warigon d. 3) Samuel Kelley & Masiel Rivera, 15-8, 15-7

Follow the bouncing ball….

Canadian National Team Selection Event

Samuel Murray and Frédérique Lambert won the Men's and Women's divisions, respectively, at the first Racquetball Canada National Team Selection Event of the season on the weekend in Edmonton, Alberta. In their respective finals, Murray beat Coby Iwaasa, 15-5, 15-8, and Lambert went to a tie-breaker to defeat Christine Richardson, 14-16, 15-12, 11-2. Their victories will help Murray and Lambert qualify for the 2020 World Championships to be held next year in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

Murray, the #1 ranked men’s player in Canada and currently 8th on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT), dominated the final with 2nd seed Iwaasa.

But Lambert’s route to victory was more difficult, as Richardson came back from 14-10 down in game one to win 16-14. Then in game two they were tied at 12-12, so Richardson was three points away from pulling off the upset.

However, Lambert was able to get the final three points to win game two, 15-12, and force a tie-breaker. In the breaker - as often happens after two close games - one player ran away with it, and in this case, that was Lambert, who won it going away at 11-2.

This is the first event in the qualification process for the 2020 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships to be held next summer in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The next National Team Selection Event will be February 7-9, 2020 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Saunders retires

Jennifer Saunders announced her retirement from competitive racquetball, and the Canadian National Team, on Monday. She retires as the winningest Canadian at the National Championships with 24 combined Canadian National titles: 11 in Women’s Singles and 13 in Women’s Doubles.

It’s a record unlikely to be surpassed, although Lambert at 27 actually has one more Canadian Championship than Saunders did at 27. Lambert has two singles titles and two doubles titles, while Saunders had two in singles and one in doubles at the same age. However, to match Saunders’s 24, Lambert would have to win both singles and doubles each year for the next decade. As good as Lambert is, that still seems unlikely.

Saunders also represented Canada on many occasions, winning numerous medals, highlighted by silver in Women’s Singles at the IRF World Championships in 2002 and 2012. No other woman has been a finalist in Women’s Singles at Worlds ten years apart. Most recently, Saunders was a bronze medalist at the 2019 Pan American Championships with Danielle Drury.

Although Saunders is retiring from playing competitive racquetball, she will remain involved in competitive racquetball, as Racquetball Canada has hired Saunders to be its new Administrator of High Performance and Sport Development. So, Saunders will continue to be involved in Canadian racquetball, only not on court.

2019 Racquetball Canada Selection Event
November 29–December 1, Edmonton, Alberta

Men's Open

Final

1) Samuel Murray d. 2) Coby Iwaasa, 15-5, 15-8

3rd Place

3) Tim Landeryou d. 4) Trevor Webb, 15-9, 4-1, injury forfeit

Semi-finals

1) Samuel Murray d. 4) Trevor Webb, 15-8, 15-8
2) Coby Iwaasa d. 3) Tim Landeryou, 15-11, 15-10

Quarterfinals

1) Samuel Murray d. 9) Mitch Brayley, 15-6, 15-1
4) Trevor Webb d. 5) Lee Connell, 15-11, 15-11

3) Tim Landeryou d. 6) Tanner Prentice, 15-5, 15-10
2) Coby Iwaasa d. 7) Ian Frattinger, 15-3, 15-6

Women's Open

Final

1) Frédérique Lambert d. 2) Christine Richardson, 14-16, 15-12, 11-2

3rd place

3) Michèle Morissette d. 5) Juliette Parent, 15-7, 9-15, 11-9

5th place

4) Alexis Iwaasa d. 6) Cassie Prentice, 15-7, 9-15, 11-5

Follow the bouncing ball….

Pan Am Games Then & Now

Twenty years ago the 1999 Pan American Games were held in Winnipeg, Canada, and included racquetball for just the second time in Pan Am Games history. USA players swept gold. Adam Karp and Cheryl Gudinas won Men’s and Women’s Singles, respectively, while Doug Ganim and Drew Kachtik won Men’s Doubles with Joy MacKenzie and Jackie Paraiso winning Women’s Doubles.

It was the last tournament for Canadian Sherman Greenfeld, who was playing in his hometown. He had to play fellow Canadian Kane Waselenchuk in the quarterfinals, as Waselenchuk had lost a match in the preliminary round to Rob De Jesus of Puerto Rico. Waselenchuk had beated Greenfeld for his first Canadian National Championship two months before, but in the rematch at Pan Ams Greenfeld squeaked out a victory in a tie-breaker.

Unfortunately for Greenfeld, he wasn’t able to get to the gold medal match, as he lost to the USA’s Michael Bronfeld in the semi-finals. Then De Jesus beat Greenfeld in the bronze medal match (bronze medals have been awarded to both racquetball semi-finalists from the 2003 Games).

Next week the racquetball competition will begin at the 2019 Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru. The USA would surely love to sweep gold, as they did in Winnipeg, but that seems unlikely given the improvements from the other countries over the last two decades.

Team News

There is a limit to the number of racquetball athletes that will compete in Lima. Usually for international racquetball events countries can send four players for both the men’s and women’s competitions, so two players would play singles and two would play doubles. Some countries send two or three players with one or both of them playing both singles and doubles.

But the Pan Am Games is a huge event; there were over 6100 athletes at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto. Thus, entries are limited for all sports. A qualification process is required to determine how many players each country can send.

The 2019 Pan American Racquetball Championships in Barranquilla, Colombia was the qualifying event for the 2019 Pan Am Games. The results from Barranquilla determined the number of players each country qualified for Lima. Only two countries are able to send 4 athletes to Lima: Bolivia in men’s play and Mexico in women’s play.

The USA will send three men and two women. Canada two men and two women. Bolivia four and three; Mexico three and four. It’s the Mexican selection that has caused some controversy.

The Mexico team will be Javier Mar, Rodrigo Montoya and Alvaro Beltran - who played way back in those 1999 Games in Winnipeg, when he won bronze in Men’s Doubles with Javier Moreno. The controversy is that Alejandro Landa, not Beltran won the Mexican Nationals, which should have meant he was the #1 qualifier for Lima.

Apparently the logic is that Beltran did better than Landa at the Pan Am Championships in Barranquilla, so he gets to go to Lima. Beltran made the semis in Barranquilla, where Landa was upset in the quarterfinals by Costa Rican Andres Acuña. Acuña went breaker with the USA’s Charlie Pratt in the semis, and was four points from making the final. That suggests Acuña was a higher quality opponent than Luis Perez of the Dominican Republic, who was Beltran’s opponent in the quarters; Beltran won that match in two straight games.

We’ll leave it as an exercise to the reader to determine the validity of that logic.

On the women’s side, Mexico will send Paola Longoria, Monserrat Mejia, Samantha Salas and Alexandra Herrera. Mejia defeated Longoria to win the Mexican National Championship, so was the top player in Women’s Singles at the Pan Am Championships, but like Landa, she lost in the quarters, while Longoria won the event. Thus, Mexico is putting Longoria as their #1 player in Lima, using the same kind of logic as on the men’s side. Longoria and Salas will play doubles.

Team USA will be Jake Bredenbeck, Rocky Carson and Charlie Pratt in men’s play, with Kelani Lawrence and Rhonda Rajsich in women’s play. Bredenbeck should play Men’s Singles with Carson and Pratt playing Men’s Doubles, but we’re not sure which of them will be the 2nd singles player. Lawrence and Rajsich will play both singles and doubles.

Bolivia qualified four men for Lima, but they only sent three to the Pan Am Championships. Carlos Keller and Conrrado Moscoso played Men’s Singles in Barranquilla, with Keller winning gold, and Moscoso and Roland Keller played Men’s Doubles, winning the title by beating Canadians Iwaasa and Murray in the final. We anticipate that Valeria Centellas and Yazmine Sabja will represent Bolivia in Women’s Doubles, as they are the current Women’s Doubles World Champions, and were bronze medalists in Women’s Doubles team at the 2019 Pan Am Championships, when Centellas also played Women’s Singles with Angelica Barrios.

Canada will be represented by Coby Iwaasa and Samuel Murray playing both Men’s Singles and Doubles, and Frédérique Lambert and Jen Saunders playing both Women’s Singles and Women’s Doubles.

Also of note, Gabriela Martinez of Guatemala, who is the current Women’s Singles World Champion but seemed to indicate that she was stepping away from racquetball earlier this year, seems like she has been in training to represent Guatemala in Lima.

Follow the bouncing ball….

Murray & Saunders double winners at 2019 Canadian Championships

Samuel Murray and Jennifer Saunders were double winners at the 2019 Racquetball Canada National Championships in Langley, British Colombia, as they both won singles and doubles. In the Men's Open final, Murray beat Coby Iwaasa, 15-3, 15-6, while Saunders was equally impressive in her Women's Open victory over Christine Richardson, winning 15-4, 15-1. Murray was the defending Men's Open Champion, and it's his 2nd win. Saunders won for the 11th time, extending her Canadian record of women's titles and tying Mike Green for most singles titles by a man or woman.

Earlier in the week, Murray won the Men's Open Doubles title with his brother Tommy Murray, as they defeated another brother team in James Landeryou and Tim Landeryou, 17-15, 10-15, 11-1. It's the first time brothers have won the Canadian title, and likely the first time a major racquetball final has been between two sets of brothers.

In the Women's Open Doubles competition, Saunders and Danielle Drury came out on top of a four team round robin competition. They defeated the 2nd place team of Richardson and Michèle Morissette, 15-12, 6-15, 11-7. It's Saunders and Drury's 2nd title together, as they also won in 2015. Overall, it was Saunders's 13th Women's Doubles title, which is 2nd most behind Josée Grand'Maître's 15. Saunders and Grand'Maître won ten times together.

2019 Racquetball Canada National Championships
May 19-25, Langley, British Colombia

Men's Open Championship

1) Samuel Murray d. 2) Coby Iwaasa, 15-3, 15-6

3rd Place

3) Tim Landeryou d. 5) Trevor Webb, 15-8, 15-7

5th Place

4) Pedro Castro d. 7) Lee Connell, 11-15, 15-6, 11-7

7th Place

8) Tanner Prentice d. 6) Nicolas Bousquet, forfeit

9th Place

13) Ian Frattinger d. 10) Sean Sauvé, 8-15, 15-4, 11-8

Women's Open - Championship

1) Jennifer Saunders d. 2) Christine Richardson, 15-4, 15-1

3rd Place

4) Danielle Drury d. 3) Michèle Morissette, 11-15, 15-10, 11-9

5th Place

5) Erin Geereart d. 7) Juliette Parent, 9-15, 15-13, 11-9

7th Place

9) Cassie Prentice d. 6) Linda Ellerington, 12-15, 15-5, 11-7

Men's Open Doubles

Final

4) Samuel Murray & Tommy Murray d. 2) James Landeryou & Tim Landeryou, 17-15, 10-15, 11-1

Third Place

1) Coby Iwaasa & Trevor Webb d. 3) Nicolas Bousquet & Pedro Castro, 15-11, 15-9

Fifth Place

5) Lee Connell & Tanner Prentice d. 6) Ian Frattinger & Sean Sauvé, 15-4, 16-14

Women's Open Doubles

Women's Open Doubles - Standings

1. Danielle Drury & Jennifer Saunders - 3-0
2. Michèle Morissette & Christine Richardson - 2-1
3. Juliette Parent & Marjolaine Parent - 1-2
4. Erin Geereart & Cassie Prentice - 0-3

Follow the bouncing ball….

Mexico & Bolivia win doubles at 2019 Pan American Championships

Mexicans Paola Longoria and Samantha Salas won their 6th Pan American Championship Women’s Doubles title together Saturday at the 2019 Pan American Championships in Barranquilla, Colombia, as they defeated Colombians Cristina Amaya and Adriana Riveros, 15-8, 15-6. Six titles is a record for the most by one team. Overall, Longoria has won 7 Pan Am Women’s Doubles titles, including the last five straight years, and Salas now has 8 titles, which is one fewer than Jackie Paraiso (USA).

In Men’s Doubles, 4th seeds Roland Keller and Conrrado Moscoso of Bolivia came back from a game down to defeat 7th seeds Coby Iwaasa and Samuel Murray of Canada in three games, 2-15, 15-9, 11-2. The win is the 2nd for Keller, who joins his brother Carlos in being the only two South American men with two gold medals at Pan Am Championships. Also, it’s the first year Bolivians have won both Men’s Singles and Men’s Doubles, and the first time a country other than the USA or Mexico has done that.

In the women’s final, Mexico jumped out to a 9-0 lead in game one. Colombia came back and got within three trailing 10-7, which led to Mexico calling a timeout. Longoria got her side the serve back with a backhand pinch winner, and they ran the score up to 14-7.

Colombia fought off the first game point with a great backhand serve return by Adriana Riveros, but they were only able to get one point of their own before giving up serve again. Salas hit a pinch shot winner to end the first game, 15-8.

In game two, Colombia got the first two points, and then Salas got hot and hit four winners that helped get Mexico to a 5-2 lead. They ran that lead up to 10-2 before Colombia scored again. As in game one, Colombia had a bit of a comeback, as they cut the deficit to four at 10-6. But a Riveros backhand skip derailed the comeback, and Colombia wouldn’t serve again.

With the serve back, Mexico won it by hitting five winners over the next six rallies: three by Longoria and two by Salas. Longoria got the match winner, which was a strange one, as she hit a backhand cross court overhead shot that seemed like it was off the frame of her racquet but ended up hitting low on the front wall, so it was unreturnable.

In the men’s final, Canada charged out to a 8-2 lead in game one, and just kept piling on the points as they won it 15-2. While Canada played well, the Bolivians were not sharp.

That changed in game two, as the Bolivians took a 9-2 lead. Canada came back and got to within three at 10-7. But Bolivia ended it when Moscoso hit a winning backhand pinch shot to make it 15-9, and force a tie-breaker.

In the breaker, Bolivia once again took the early lead at 5-0. Canada called a timeout, and that led to two errors by the Bolivians that gave the serve back to Canada. Canada scored a point off an avoidable hinder call. Then the Moscoso took over the game.

There were 14 rallies from 5-1 to the end of the game, and Moscoso ended 10 of those rallies, hitting 8 winners (including one ace serve) and 2 skips. He also forced the match winning point, as he drove serve to the left, and Murray tried to return it with a backhand pinch shot, only to skip his shot.

If you missed the finals, check out the matches via theIRF Facebook page or the IRF YouTube channel for matches.

XXXII Pan American Racquetball Championships
Barranquilla, Colombia - April 12-20, 2019

Women's Doubles - Final - Saturday

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas (Mexico) d. 2) Cristina Amaya & Adriana Riveros (Colombia), 15-8, 15-6

Men's Doubles - Final - Saturday

4) Roland Keller & Conrrado Moscoso (Bolivia) d. 7) Coby Iwaasa & Samuel Murray (Canada), 2-15, 15-9, 11-2

Follow the bouncing ball….