2026 Central American & Caribbean Games - Individual Results

The 2026 Central American & Caribbean Games (CACGs) began a week ago in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and the racquetball competition started last Saturday. Six countries are competing: Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, as well as the host Dominican Republic. The team competition is still in process, but the five individual competitions - men’s and women’s singles and doubles as well as mixed doubles - have concluded.

Mexico won four of the five individual events with Costa Rica preventing a Mexican sweep by winning Mixed Doubles.

Alexandra Herrera was a double gold medalist, as she won gold in Women’s Singles and Women’s Doubles with Montserrat Mejia. Herrera defeated Guatemalan Gabriela Martinez in the singles final, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9. It was Martinez’s 3rd silver medal in singles at the CACGs. In doubles, Herrera and Mejia defeated Martinez and Maria Renee Rodriguez in the final, 11-8, 11-4, 11-6, which was a repeat of the 2023 final. Thus, this is the 2nd consecutive title for Herrera and Mejia, and it’s the 4th consecutive silver medal for Martinez and Rodriguez.

In men’s play, Mexican Rodrigo Montoya beat team-mate Eduardo Portillo in singles, 11-4, 11-4, 11-6, which was a reversal of the 2023 CACGs final, when Portillo defeated Montoya. Portillo and Andree Parrilla won doubles by beating Guatemalans Christian Aldana and Juan Salvatierra in the final, 11-1, 12-10, 11-8. Mexico has won every men’s doubles title at the CACGs going back to 1990.

Montoya had a chance at a second gold medal, as he and Jessica Parrilla were in the Mixed Doubles final, but they lost to Costa Ricans Andrés Acuña and Larissa Faeth, 6-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9. This is just the second time Mixed Doubles has been part of the CACGs, and Mexico were the defending champions.

Other matches of note. Costa Rican teen-ager Larissa Faeth defeated Mexican Montserrat Mejia, 11-7, 11-13, 11-6, 11-7, in the quarterfinals of Women’s Singles, which is probably the largest upset of the tournament. Also, Guatemalans Christian Aldana and Juan Salvatierra coming back from 2-1 down to defeat the Costa Rican brothers Andrés and Sergio Acuña, 11-6, 8-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-5, in the Men’s Doubles semi-final was another significant upset.

Racquetball was first included in the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1990. Since then, Mexico has won gold in singles at all but two games: 1993 and 1998. Fabian Balmori of Venezuela won Men’s Singles in both those years, while the Women’s Singles titles went to Claudine Garcia of the Dominican Republic in 1993 and Anna Maldonado of Puerto Rico in 1998. Mexico has won gold in Men’s and Women’s Doubles at every Central American and Caribbean Games.

XXV Central American & Caribbean Games
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - July 25 - August 1, 2026

Women’s Singles - Final

Alexandra Herrera (Mexico) d. Gabriela Martinez (Guatemala), 11-6, 12-10, 11-9

Semi-finals

Alexandra Herrera (Mexico) d. Maria Cespedes (Dominican Republic), 11-9, 11-8, 11-4
Gabriela Martinez (Guatemala) d. Larissa Faeth (Costa Rica), 12-10, 11-7, 11-2

Quarterfinals

Alexandra Herrera (Mexico) d. Jimena Gomez (Costa Rica), 11-4, 11-5, 11-1
Maria Cespedes (Dominican Republic) d. Mariana Tobon Gordon (Venezuela), 7-11, 11-7, 11-0, 11-3

Larissa Faeth (Costa Rica) d. Montserrat Mejia (Mexico), 11-7, 11-13, 11-6, 11-7
Gabriela Martinez (Guatemala) d. Andrea Reyes Perez (Guatemala), 12-10, 11-7, 11-2

Women’s Doubles - Final

Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia (Mexico) d. Gabriela Martinez & Maria Renee Rodriguez (Guatemala), 11-8, 11-4, 11-6

Semi-finals

Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia (Mexico) d. Larissa Faeth & Jimena Gomez (Costa Rica), 11-2, 11-3, 11-2
Gabriela Martinez & Maria Renee Rodriguez (Guatemala) d. Maria Cespedes & Alejandra Jiménez (Dominican Republic), 11-4, 13-11, 11-2

Men’s Singles - Final

Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico) d. Eduardo Portillo (Mexico), 11-4, 11-4, 11-6

Semi-finals

Eduardo Portillo (Mexico) d. Ramon de Leon (Dominican Republic), 8-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-4, 11-8
Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico) d. Andrés Acuña (Costa Rica), 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8

Quarterfinals

Eduardo Portillo (Mexico) d. Luis Perez (Dominican Republic), 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6
Ramon de Leon (Dominican Republic) d. Gabriel Garcia (Costa Rica), 17-15, 11-9, 11-2

Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico) d. Juan Salvatierra (Guatemala), 11-2, 11-8, 11-4
Andrés Acuña (Costa Rica) d. Hector Sierra Mansilla (Guatemala), 11-4, 11-4, 13-11

Men’s Doubles - Final

Andree Parrilla & Eduardo Portillo (Mexico) d. Christian Aldana & Juan Salvatierra (Guatemala), 11-1, 12-10, 11-8

Semi-finals

Andree Parrilla & Eduardo Portillo (Mexico) d. Luis Perez & Junior Rodriguez (Dominican Republic), 11-4, 11-4, 11-4
Christian Aldana & Juan Salvatierra (Guatemala) d. Andrés Acuña & Sergio Acuña (Costa Rica), 11-6, 8-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-5

Mixed Doubles - Final

Andrés Acuña & Maricruz Ortiz (Costa Rica) d. Rodrigo Montoya & Jessica Parrilla (Mexico), 6-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9

Semi-finals

Andrés Acuña & Maricruz Ortiz (Costa Rica) d. Ana Cardentey & Maykel Moyet Suarez (Cuba), 14-12, 12-10, 11-2
Rodrigo Montoya & Jessica Parrilla (Mexico) d. Christian Aldana & Maria Renee Rodriguez (Guatemala), 9-11, 14-12, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8

Follow the bouncing ball….

Mexico & USA win gold in team finals at 2024 IRF World Championships

Mexico and the United States won the Women’s and Men’s Team competitions, respectively, at the 22nd International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in San Antonio, Texas on Saturday. Mexico’s win is their 7th consecutive Women’s Team title, while the United States won the Men’s Team title for a record extending 14th time.

Mexico beat Argentina in the women’s final, 2-0. Montserrat Mejia defeated Valeria Centellas, 11-9, 8-11, 11-3, 11-8, and then Paola Longoria beat Maria Jose Vargas, 12-14, 11-7, 11-9, 11-4.

On the mens’s side, Canada took the first match of the final, as Samuel Murray defeated Jake Bredenbeck, 7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8. The United States levelled the match, 1-1, as Daniel De La Rosa beat Coby Iwaasa, 9-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-6. In the tie breaking third match, Sebastian Fernandez and Adam Manilla defeated Iwaasa and Murray, 12-10, 11-4, 6-11, 11-9, to win it for the USA.

The Mejia-Centellas match was odd, as Mejia didn’t play well. Centellas should have won the first game, and would if she hadn’t skipped more than a couple backhand shots that were unforced errors. Mejia survived and when she hit an ace for the game winning point, we thought, OK, she’s going to roll on from here.

Yet, she didn’t, as Centellas won game two. Mejia did win game three comfortably, but was then down in game four, 5-2. However, she managed to pull it together, tie the game 5-5, and go on to win it. Still it was anything but straight forward.

Vargas led for most of game one versus Longoria, yet Longoria had a chance to win it, when she was up 11-10. A Vargas forehand pinch shot prevented that, and she held on to win it 14-12.

However, from there Longoria was generally in control. Vargas only led once after game one: at 4-3 in game three. In game two, Longoria took a 7-1 lead, and despite calling a timeout at that point, Vargas didn’t get within three points, as Longoria won game two 11-7.

Game three was close until 5-5, and then Longoria got four straight points to lead 9-5. Vargas fought off two game points to get within one at 10-9, but a Longoria forehand winner ended it, 11-9.

Although they were close again early in game four, once Longoria had a lead late, Vargas’s energy seemed to sag, as if she was giving up. That’s a strange thing to say, but it seemed that way. Vargas skipped the last three points of the game with shots that she didn’t seem fully committed to. A sad ending, especially as it would have been fun to see a deciding doubles match.

In the first men’s match, Bredenbeck came out on fire, as he took a 6-1 lead. But Murray fought back, and got within one at 8-7 before Bredenbeck got the last few points to win it 11-7. Game two was the reverse, as Murray led from 3-2 on, and won 11-7. Murray carried over that momentum into game three, taking a 7-1 lead and going on to win 11-5.

They were close all the way in game four, with ties at 4-4, 5-5, and 8-8. But it was Murray who got the last few points to finish it. He hit a backhand from deep that got him to match point, and then won it with another backhand shot.

Although Iwaasa won the first game versus De La Rosa, it was the American who was in control after that, winning game two by a wide margin, and never being behind in games three or four.

That set up a doubles showdown. World Champions Iwaasa and Murray versus Adam Manilla and Sebastian Fernandez. Remember how we said that it’s difficult to win both the individual competition and the team competition? So it proved to be for the Canadians, as the Americans came out strong in game one.

The USA had a 6-1 lead in that game, but Canada caught up and tied it at 8-8 and they were back and forth from there. Canada had a chance to win at 10-9, but Iwaasa skipped a forehand shot that make it 10-10. Two skipped serve returns later and the USA had won game one, 12-10.

The USA had a big lead again in game two, and that time they didn’t give it up, winning 11-4.

In game three, they were close, and then the Canadians switched sides, when they were down 5-4. That seemed to refresh them, as they tied it at 5-5 and 6-6, and pushed on to win 11-6, keeping the match - and the final - alive.

In game four, the Americans again took an early lead at 5-2 and then 7-4. But Canada fought back and tied it at 8-8 and when they went ahead 9-8, the USA called a timeout.

When play resumed, Manilla hit a backhand pinch winner to tie it at 9-9. He followed that up with winners on the next two rallies to win the game, 11-9, and the final 2-1. That was a small part Manilla’s excellent play during the final, and he was clearly the man of the match.

If you missed any of the action from San Antonio - and there were many great matches - check out the IRF YouTube channel.

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

Men’s Team Competition - Final - Saturday

1) United States d. 6) Canada, 2-1

Match 1: Samuel Murray d. Jake Bredenbeck, 7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8
Match 2: Daniel De La Rosa d. Coby Iwaasa, 9-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-6
Match 3: Sebastian Fernandez & Adam Manilla d. Coby Iwaasa & Samuel Murray, 12-10, 11-4, 6-11, 11-9

Women’s Team Competition - Final - Saturday

1) Mexico d. 2) Argentina, 2-0

Match 1: Montserrat Mejia d. Valeria Centellas, 11-9, 8-11, 11-3, 11-8
Match 2: Paola Longoria d. Maria Jose Vargas, 12-14, 11-7, 11-9, 11-4

Follow the bouncing ball....

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....

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....

Longoria & Montoya win at Campeonato Nacional 2023

Rodrigo Montoya and Paola Longoria were the top seeds in Men’s and Women’s Singles on the weekend at the 2023 Campeonato Nacional Selectivo - the Mexican national team selection event - in Juarez, Mexico. In the Men’s final, Montoya defeated Eduardo Portillo, 9-11, 16-14, 11-6, 12-10, while in the Women’s final Longoria beat Montserrat Mejia, 11-2, 11-3, 11-8.

Montoya was a double winner as he also won Men’s Doubles with Javier Mar. They came back from down 2-1 to defeat Andree Parrilla and Eduardo Portillo, 13-11, 7-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, in the final. Alexandra Herrera and Mejia won Women’s Doubles by coming back from two games down in the final to defeat Longoria and Samantha Salas, 9-11, 6-11, 11-2, 12-10, 11-6.

Mexico used a double knockout format for the singles divisions in this event, so players who lost a match were put on the “B” side of the draw, regardless of when the loss occurred, and they played down for a chance to claim the second singles spot on the team.

Eduardo Portillo claimed the second men’s spot by defeating Andree Parrilla, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6, and Jessica Parrilla defeated Montserrat Mejia, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9, for the second women’s spot. Both results are a bit surprising, as Portillo is ahead of Andree Parrilla in the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) rankings, and Montserrat Mejia is ahead of Jessica Parrilla in the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) rankings.

The player who is surprisingly shut out of Team Mexico is veteran Samantha Salas. Salas and Longoria are the current International Racquetball Federation (IRF) Women’s Doubles World Champions, and are the three time defending gold medalists at the Pan American Games, but it seems they will not have a chance to defend those titles this year, as Herrera and Mejia have earned the right to represent Mexico in Women’s Doubles at the 2023 Pan Am Games in Chile in October.

Andree Parrilla must also be disappointed to not make the team. He’s a fine player, and a multiple winner on the IRT. But Parrilla has seldom played for Mexico, and it looks like he’ll have to wait another year for a chance to do so.

The next international event is the Pan American Championships in Guatemala in April.

CAMPEONATO NACIONAL FMR 2023
Juarez, Mexico - February 1-5, 2023

Women's Open Singles

Final

1) Paola Longoria d. 6) Montserrat Mejia, 11-2, 11-3, 11-8

2nd Place

5) Jessica Parrilla d. 6) Montserrat Mejia, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9

Semi-finals

1) Paola Longoria d. 5) Jessica Parrilla, 11-4, 11-2, 11-6
6) Montserrat Mejia d. 2) Alexandra Herrera, 9-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-8

Men's Open Singles

Final

1) Rodrigo Montoya d. 11) Eduardo Portillo, 9-11, 16-14, 11-6, 12-10

2nd Place

11) Eduardo Portillo d. 2) Andree Parrilla, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6

Semi-finals

1) Rodrigo Montoya d. 4) Javier Mar, 12-10, 11-13, 11-8, 13-11
11) Eduardo Portillo d. 2) Andree Parrilla, 14-12, 13-11, 12-10

Women's Open Doubles

Final

2) Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia d. 1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas Solis, 9-11, 6-11, 11-2, 12-10, 11-6

3rd Place

3) Jessica Parrilla & Ximena Gonzalez d. 4) Nancy Enriquez & Daniela Rico

Semi-finals

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas Solis d. 4) Nancy Enriquez & Daniela Rico, 11-3, 11-4, 4-11, 6-11, 11-13, 11-3
2) Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia d. 3) Jessica Parrilla & Ximena Gonzalez, 11-9, 12-10, 14-16, 11-5

Men's Open Doubles

Final

1) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya d. 6) Andree Parrilla & Eduardo Portillo, 13-11, 7-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9

3rd Place

4) Emir Martinez & Jose Carlos Ramos d. 2) Sebastian Hernandez & Erick Trujillo - forfeit

Semi-finals

1) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya d. 4) Emir Martinez & Jose Carlos Ramos, 11-6, 11-6, 11-7
6) Andree Parrilla & Eduardo Portillo d. 2) Sebastian Hernandez & Erick Trujillo, 13-11, 11-8, 11-7

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…..

Mexico men & women to play for Team gold Saturday

The Women’s and Men’s Team competitions began on Friday at the 2022 Pan American Racquetball Championships in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and Mexico has made it through to the finals of both divisions. In the semi-finals, the Mexican women defeated Bolivia, 2-0, and the Mexican men beat the USA, 2-0. In the other semis, the Argentine women needed three matches to defeat the USA, 2-1, and the Bolivian men beat Costa Rica, 2-0. The team competition is a best of three matches: two singles and one doubles with each game played to 11 points.

In the semi-finals of the Women’s Team event, Mexican Alexandra Herrera was involved in both of the match wins over Bolivia. She defeated Micaela Meneses, 11-10, 11-10, 9-11, 11-9, in singles, and then teamed up with Samantha Salas in doubles and won a close match versus Meneses and Yasmine Sabja, 11-10, 11-10, 9-11, 11-9.

Argentina will play Mexico in the final on Saturday after defeating the USA Friday. Erika Manilla and Rhonda Rajsich knocked off Natalia Mendez and Maria Jose Vargas - the Women's Doubles Pan Am Champions - in five games, 11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, but Mendez and Vargas won both the singles matches. Mendez defeated Kelani Lawrence, 8-11, 11-1, 11-3, 11-2, and Vargas held on to beat Rajsich, 11-4, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9.

Both Men’s Team semis were over in two matches. Bolivian Conrrado Moscoso - now the Pan American Champion in Men’s Singles - won twice to help his side defeat Costa Rica. He Andres Acuña, 11-5, 2-11, 11-2, 11-4, in what was a rematch of the Men’s Singles final from Thursday. Moscoso teamed up with Kadim Carrasco to defeat Andres Acuña and Felipe Camacho, 11-5, 2-11, 11-2, 11-4, in the doubles match.

Mexican Rodrigo Montoya did much of the heavy lifting to get Mexico past the USA in the other semi-final. He defeated Alejandro Landa, 11-3, 11-9, 3-11, 11-7, in singles, and then Montoya and Erick Trujillo beat Jake Bredenbeck and Sam Bredenbeck, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7.

Note that countries could change their line up for the team event. For example, Costa Rica had Acuña and Camacho playing doubles today, but earlier in the week, Acuña played doubles with Gabriel Garcia. Also, Montoya played Mixed Doubles with Salas with Trujillo playing Men’s Doubles with Elias Nieto.

Matches have been streamed by the International Racquetball Federation (IRF), so check out the IRF Facebook page or the IRF YouTube channel.

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

Women's Team

Quarterfinals - Friday

1) BOLIVIA d. 8) COLOMBIA
4) MEXICO d. 5) GUATEMALA

3) USA d. 6) CHILE
2) ARGENTINA d. 7) CANADA

Semi-finals - Friday

4) MEXICO d. 1) BOLIVIA
Alexandra Herrera d. Micaela Meneses, 11-10, 11-10, 9-11, 11-9
Alexandra Herrera & Samantha Salas d. Micaela Meneses & Yasmine Sabja, 11-10, 11-10, 9-11, 11-9

2) ARGENTINA d. 3) USA
Erika Manilla & Rhonda Rajsich (USA) d. Natalia Mendez & Maria Jose Vargas (Argentina), 11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9
Natalia Mendez (Argentina) d. Kelani Lawrence (USA), 8-11, 11-1, 11-3, 11-2
Maria Jose Vargas (Argentina) d. Rhonda Rajsich (USA), 11-4, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9

Final - Saturday

2) ARGENTINA v. 4) MEXICO

Men's Team

First Round - Friday

8) COLOMBIA d. 9) CHILE
10) GUATEMALA d. 7) ARGENTINA

Quarterfinals - Friday

1) BOLIVIA d. 8) COLOMBIA
4) COSTA RICA d. 5) CANADA

3) MEXICO d. 6) ECUADOR
2) USA d. 10) GUATEMALA

Semi-finals - Friday

1) BOLIVIA d. 4) COSTA RICA
Conrrado Moscoso d. Andres Acuña, 11-5, 2-11, 11-2, 11-4
Kadim Carrasco & Conrrado Moscoso d. Andres Acuña & Felipe Camacho, 11-5, 2-11, 11-2, 11-4

3) MEXICO d. 2) USA
Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico) d. Alejandro Landa (USA), 11-3, 11-9, 3-11, 11-7
Rodrigo Montoya & Erick Trujillo (Mexico) d. Jake Bredenbeck & Sam Bredenbeck (USA), 11-6, 11-8, 11-7

Final - Saturday

1) BOLIVIA v. 3) MEXICO

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….

Racquetball's top stories for 2021

When we last did a “Stories of the Year” piece we wrote: “2019 was an action packed year for racquetball, and we expect more of the same in 2020.” If ever there was a year that didn’t meet expectations, it was 2020. We didn’t even do a Stories of the Year for 2020, because COVID-19 was basically THE STORY. That changed somewhat in 2021, although COVID-19 is still around, and looks like it will continue to be around in 2022. Regardless, there were significant racquetball stories on court and off in 2021, and we’ve made a list of them for you.

Top Racquetball Stories of 2021

11) Racquetball sponsors We’d like to take a moment to acknowledge some of the companies and people who sponsor racquetball events, as they help to create elite level competitions that drive interest in the game. Many of them sponsor more than one event, and their generosity and support is greatly appreciated. They include (alphabetically): AGE Solutions, KWM Gutterman, Lewis Drug, Reaching Your Dream Foundation, Suivant Consulting, Team Root, UnitedHeathcare, Williams Accounting & Consulting and Zurek Construction. Truly an A to Z list. Many other sponsors help with individual events, and that’s great too. Elite level racquetball doesn’t happen without sponsors' support.

10) Erika Manilla. Manilla had a magical run at the US Open, going from the qualifying rounds to the semi-finals. She won Women’s Doubles at the USA Racquetball National Championships with Rhonda Rajsich, and the two of them were silver medalists at the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Guatemala. But Manilla is also involved in Manilla Athletics, which is a company put together with her brother Adam and David Horn to do on line racquetball coaching, as well as “Court Wars,” a pay per view racquetball competition. Both of those are interesting endeavours that could help to grow the sport.

9) Rodrigo Montoya. Montoya was the defending IRF World Champion in Men’s Singles, but lost to Jake Bredenbeck in the Round of 16 at Worlds in Guatemala this year. However, he and Javier Mar did win Men’s Doubles for Mexico in Guatemala, so Montoya is still a World Champion, and just the 3rd man to win both singles and doubles at Worlds (after American Todd O’Neill and Mexican Alvaro Beltran).

8) Gabriela Martinez. Martinez won her first Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) event in August, and was on the podium in Women's Doubles at Worlds (with Maria Renee Rodriguez) in her home country of Guatemala. She was the defending World Champion in Women’s Singles, but lost in the quarterfinals to Natalia Mendez of Argentina. Nonetheless, it was a great year for Martinez, who’s ranked 5th on the LPRT.

7) Mario Mercado. Mercado won his first International Racquetball Tour (IRT) event this year, and also got on the podium in both singles and doubles at the IRT World Championships representing Colombia. He’s played the pro tour for several years now, and at 27, Mercado is putting the pieces together to be a threat at any event.

6) Conrado Moscoso. Moscoso won his 2nd career IRT event in 2021, and then was a double medalist at the World Championships in Guatemala, where the Bolivian got a bronze medal in Men’s Singles and a silver medal in Men’s Doubles with Roland Keller.

5) Alejandro Landa. Landa won Men’s Singles at the 2021 IRF World Championships in Guatemala. It was his 1st World Championship on his first time on Team USA after a falling out with the Mexico racquetball federation let him to turn his back on Mexico. He was also on the podium in Men’s Doubles in Guatemala with Charlie Pratt.

4) Sudsy Monchik. Throughout the pandemic, Monchik has been an enthusiastic voice for racquetball, helping to keep people engaged, and do his part to generate excitement and interest. This is a marked change from where Monchik was just a few years ago, when he was largely off the scene and not “match fit.” Since then he’s played on Team USA, and is actively coaching, and engaging on social media, including doing a racquetball podcast. It would be difficult to find a bigger champion for racquetball than Monchik.

3) Kane Waselenchuk. What to make of Waselenchuk now? He played very little in 2021, but entered the US Open, which he'd won 12 times in a row (15 times overall), and reached the semi-finals with relative ease. But then he withdrew, stating on social media that it was done in protest to how the IRT was treating him. It was a shocking decision that we still don’t understand and perhaps never will. We’re not sure where he’s at right now, and whether we’ll see more of him on tour. Clearly, he can still play at a high level, but at 40, Waselenchuk may feel that he’s had enough racquetball for this lifetime.

2) Daniel De La Rosa. De La Rosa won three IRT events in a row in 2021, including the US Open for the first time. He had a chance to win four in a row, but lost to Mercado in Arizona. No one but Waselenchuk had won three consecutive IRT events since 2014. Some will say De La Rosa’s US Open win is tainted by Waselenchuk’s withdrawal, but the consensus of The Racquetball Blog staff is that De La Rosa would have won the US Open regardless of who he faced. His form was that good.

1) Paola Longoria. For three years Longoria was not a World Champion. How that must have bugged her. She fixed that this year by winning both Women’s Singles and Women’s Doubles at Worlds, which was the third time she’d won both titles in the same year, and in doing so became the winningest player in IRF World Championship history. Oh, Longoria also won LPRT singles and doubles at the US Open, and continues to be the LPRT’s #1 player. Ho hum, just another year in the life of Paola Longoria.

Honorable mentions: Doug Ganim retired as the US Open tournament director after 25 editions of the largest racquetball event in the world. He leaves behind large shoes to fill. USA Racquetball believes they have someone to do the job, but it’s definitely the end of a great era in professional racquetball. Rhonda Rajsich won both singles and doubles at the USA Nationals and then got on the podium in both singles and doubles at the World Championships, which were her first medals at Worlds in seven years. Oh, and she turned 43 in October. What’d you do at 43? Samuel Murray won his 1st IRT title in Atlanta back in January and later swept singles and doubles at the Canadian National Championships. Montserrat Mejia won her first LPRT event in June and was runner up in doubles (with Alexandra Herrera) at the US Open.

If you enjoy The Racquetball Blog, please help spread the word through social media to all your friends, and follow us on Twitter (@racquetballblog) and on Facebook.

And now 2022 is here, and we have no expectations.

Follow the bouncing ball….

Mar & Montoya, Longoria & Salas win Mexican Doubles event & Carson won't be going to Worlds

The top seeds won both Mens’ and Womens’ Doubles on the weekend at the 2021 Campeonato Nacional Selectivo Dobles - the Mexican national team doubles selection event in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, with Javier Mar and Rodrigo Montoya winning Mens’ Doubles and Paola Longoria and Samantha Salas winning Womens’ Doubles, so they earn spots to represent Mexico at the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships later this year in Guatemala.

On the Mens’ side, Mar and Montoya needed a tie-breaker to defeat 2nd seeds Alvaro Beltran and Daniel De La Rosa, 15-8, 9-15, 11-4, in the final. In the semi-finals, Mar and Montoya squeaked by 4th seeds Sebastian Hernandez and Erick Trujillo, 15-10, 14-15, 11-10, while Beltran and De La Rosa beat 3rd seeds Jordy Alonso and Erick Cuevas Fernandez in two straight games, 15-3, 15-10.

Hernandez and Trujillo won the 3rd place match by defeating Alonso and Cuevas Fernandez, 15-7, 11-15, 11-3.

In the Womens’ draw, Longoria and Salas also needed a tie-breaker to win the final, coming back to defeat 3rd seeds Jessica Parrilla and Montserrat Perez, 6-15, 15-13, 11-6. In the semis, Longoria and Salas beat 4th seeds Ximena Martinez and Daniela Rico, 15-7, 15-5, while Parrilla and Perez upset 2nd seeds Diana Aguilar and Alexandra Herrera, 15-8, 15-12.

Aguilar and Herrera beat Martinez and Rico, 15-6, 15-6, to take 3rd place.

Mexico had a singles championship in June, when Montoya and Longoria also came out on top. In those finals, Montoya beat Andree Parrilla and Longoria defeated doubles partner Salas. Thus, it seems that Montoya and Longoria double qualified for Worlds, so they could play both singles and doubles in Guatemala. The same goes for Salas, as a winner in doubles and runner up in singles.

Furthermore, this could mean that Alvaro Beltran and Daniel De La Rosa do not go to Worlds. They are the reigning Mens’ Doubles World Champions, but it seems they won’t have a chance to defend that title. Also, De La Rosa, who seems like the best player on the International Racquetball Tour at the moment, won’t be at Worlds, which is surprising. Yet it highlights the depth of talent that Mexico has.

In years past, only the USA had such depth.

There were some notable absences from the weekend’s action. Specifically, Parrilla and Eduardo Portillo, who have often played doubles together - including at the last month’s US Open - as well as Alan Natera and, on the womens’ side, Montserrat Mejia.

Carson to miss Worlds

Rocky Carson announced on Facebook that he won’t be going to the IRF World Championships citing the possibility of contracting COVID-19, and the resulting quarantine needed before being allowed back into the USA. He’s been on Team USA at every World Championship since 2004, winning Mens’ Singles a record five times. Overall, Carson has gone to Worlds 10 times and made the podium every time.

At 42, this may have been Carson’s last chance to play at Worlds, although Ruben Gonzalez played at Worlds at age 50, so it’s possible Carson could make a future Worlds team, especially as the USA doesn’t have the depth of talent like it used to and Mexico has now.

Campeonato Nacional Selectivo Dobles 2021
San Luis Potosi, Mexico - October 27-31, 2021

Women's Open Doubles

Final

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas Solis d. 3) Jessica Parrilla & Montserrat Perez, 6-15, 15-13, 11-6

3rd Place

2) Diana Aguilar & Alexandra Herrera d. 4) Ximena Martinez & Daniela Rico, 15-6, 15-6

Semi-finals

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas Solis d. 4) Ximena Martinez & Daniela Rico, 15-7, 15-5
3) Jessica Parrilla & Montserrat Perez d. 2) Diana Aguilar & Alexandra Herrera, 15-8, 15-12

Men's Open Doubles

Final

1) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya d. 2) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa, 15-8, 9-15, 11-4

3rd Place

4) Sebastian Hernandez & Erick Trujillo d. 3) Jordy Alonso & Erick Cuevas Fernandez, 15-7, 11-15, 11-3

Semi-finals

1) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya d. 4) Sebastian Hernandez & Erick Trujillo, 15-10, 14-15, 11-10
2) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa d. 3) Jordy Alonso & Erick Cuevas Fernandez, 15-3, 15-10

Quarterfinals

1) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya d. 9) Alejandro Bear & Juan Carlos Castillo, 15-12, 15-8
4) Sebastian Hernandez & Erick Trujillo d. 5) Diego Gastelum & Guillermo Jesus Ortega Jr., 15-14, 15-3

3) Jordy Alonso & Erick Cuevas Fernandez d. 6) Emir Martinez & Carlos Alberto Ramierz, 15-5, 4-15, 11-6
2) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa d. 10) Oscar Elias Nieto Valadez & Elias Nieto, 11-15, 15-8, 11-2

Round of 16

1) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya - BYE
9) Alejandro Bear & Juan Carlos Castillo d. 8) Nicolas Galindo & Marco De La Cruz, 15-13, 15-12

5) Diego Gastelum & Guillermo Jesus Ortega Jr. - BYE
4) Sebastian Hernandez & Erick Trujillo - BYE

3) Jordy Alonso & Erick Cuevas Fernandez - BYE
6) Emir Martinez & Carlos Alberto Ramierz d. 11) Gerardo Huerta & Pedro Zesati, 15-6, 15-2

10) Oscar Elias Nieto Valadez & Elias Nieto d. 7) Carlos Bacmeister & Elias Nieto, 5-15, 15-7, 11-7
2) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa - BYE

Follow the bouncing ball….

Racquetball News - Longoria part of Athlete Commission & 2021 World Games

Paola Longoria of Mexico was named to the Athlete Commission of the Pan American Games. The objective of the Athlete Commission is “To represent the voice of Pan American athletes in Panam [sic] Sports and ensure that all needs for their development are met.” For example, the Athlete Commission recently put out a statement supporting the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC’s) decision to postpone the 2020 Olympic Games.

It’s great for a racquetball athlete to be part of this commission, and Longoria is the only athlete from a Pan Am Games only sport to be part of the commission (the other members are from Olympic sports).

2021 World Games

With the change in dates for the 2020 Olympic Games from this year to 2021, we indicated that might effect the 2021 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, where racquetball will be on the program. Today comes word confirming this, as the dates for the Olympics now conflict with the World Games dates.

The new Olympic dates are July 23 to August 8, 2021, and the World Games dates were July 15-25, 2021. Not a large overlap, but still enough for the World Games to “urgently review alternative options.” The World Games and International Olympic Committee (IOC) have been in “close contact” with the IOC pledging to help the World Games overcome the challenges created by this change in dates.

The possibilities that the World Games are considering are changing “to similar dates in 2022 or to slightly earlier dates in 2021.”

Hopefully, this can be worked out, and racquetball players can participate in a multi-sport event in the USA for the first time ever.

Follow the bouncing ball….

Longoria wins twice and men split titles at Mexican National Team Selection Event

Paola Longoria won twice Saturday at the 2020 Mexican National Team Selection Event in Tijuana, as she captured both the Women’s Singles and Women’s Doubles titles. She was 2nd seed in singles, as Longoria lost the final last year to Montserrat Mejia. But Longoria wasn’t to be denied this year, as she defeated 9th seed Jessica Parrilla, 15-14, 15-4, in the final. Parrilla was a surprise finalist, and beat Mejia in the quarterfinals en route to the final.

In the doubles final, Longoria and long time partner Samantha Salas Solis defeated Mejia and Alexandra Herrera, 15-7, 15-13. The win will give Longoria and Salas Solis a chance at a 4th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) Women’s Doubles World Championship, which is a title they haven’t won since 2014. The 2020 IRF World Championships will be in San Luis Potosi, Mexico in August.

In men’s play, the spoils were shared, as the finalists in Men’s Singles - Alvaro Beltran and Daniel De La Rosa lost the Men’s Doubles final to Javier Mar and Rodrigo Montoya. In singles, De La Rosa, the 2nd seed, defeated Beltran, the 1st seed, 15-14, 15-11. De La Rosa has been playing some of the best racquetball of his career, including winning his 4th International Racquetball Tour (IRT) title in January, so it’s no surprise he won this weekend.

The win puts De La Rosa - a 3 time Pan American Champion and World Champion two years ago in Men’s Doubles with Beltran - back on Team Mexico after a year off it.

De La Rosa had a chance to win both singles and doubles, as he and Beltran were in the Men’s Doubles final against Mar and Montoya. However, Mar and Montoya were able to eke out the victory in three games, winning 15-10, 7-15, 11-9.

In winning, Mar and Montoya successfully defended the title they won last year. Also, they will have the opportunity to win a third consecutive Men’s Doubles title for Mexico at Worlds in August. Mar and Montoya won Men’s Doubles last year at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

Campeonato Nacional Selectivo FMR
Tijuana, Mexico - February 25-29, 2020

Women's Open

Final

2) Paola Longoria d. 9) Jessica Parrilla, 15-14, 15-4

3rd Place

3) Samantha Salas Solis d. 12) Lucia Gonzalez, 15-8, 15-9

Women's Open Doubles

Final

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas Solis d. 2) Alexandra Herrera & Monserrat Mejia, 15-7, 15-13

3rd Place

6) Maria Gutierrez & Angela Veronica Ortega Sabido d. 4) Erin Rivera & Jessica Parrilla, forfeit

Men's Open Singles

Final

2) Daniel De La Rosa d. 1) Alvaro Beltran, 15-14, 15-11

3rd Place

11) Sebastian Fernandez d. 4) Javier Mar, forfeit

Men's Open Doubles

Final

1) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya d. 2) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa, 15-10, 7-15, 11-9

3rd Place

6) Andree Parrilla & Eduardo Portillo d. 4) Javier Estrada & Alan Natera, 15-3, 15-7

Follow the bouncing ball….

Semi-finals at Mexican National Selection Team Event

Rodrigo Montoya - the current International Racquetball Federation (IRF) Men's Singles World Champion and Pan American Games Men’s Singles Champion — lost in the Round of 16 to Eduardo Portillo, 15-9, 15-11, at the 2020 Mexican National Team Selection Event in Tijuana. The loss means Montoya won’t be able to defend his World Championship at the 2020 IRF World Championships in August.

Ouch.

How Montoya and Portillo - the 11th and 9th players on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) - were seeded 7th and 10th in this event may be puzzling, but in this event last year, Montoya was only a quarterfinalist and Portillo lost in the Round of 32.

The Men’s Singles final will be #1 versus #2, as veteran Alvaro Beltran will take on Daniel De La Rosa in the final Saturday. In Friday’s semi-finals, Beltran needed a tie-breaker to defeat 4th seed Javier Mar, 15-8, 1-15, 11-9, while De La Rosa defeated a surprise semi-finalist in 11th seed Sebastian Fernandez, 15-10, 15-11. Also, De La Rosa ousted Portillo in the quarterfinals, 15-12, 14-15, 11-2.

In women’s play, the top half of the draw has been full of surprises. Ninth seed Jessica Parrilla upset top seed Monserrat Mejia, 15-9, 15-11, in the quarterfinals. Mejia won this event last year by upsetting Paola Longoria in the final.

This year Parrilla will play Longoria in the final Saturday, as Parrilla defeated 12th seed Lucia Gonzalez, 15-12, 15-10, in one semi-final, and Longoria beat 3rd seed Samantha Salas Solis, 15-14, 15-9, in the other.

Gonzalez got to the semis with two upset wins. She beat 5th seed Nancy Enriquez in the Round of 16, 15-2, 15-11, and then outlasted 4th seed Alexandra Herrera, 15-11, 8-15, 11-2, in the quarterfinals.

Campeonato Nacional Selectivo FMR
Tijuana, Mexico - February 25-29, 2020

Women's Open - Final - Saturday

2) Paola Longoria v. 9) Jessica Parrilla - 2 PM

3rd Place - Saturday

2) Samantha Salas Solis d. 12) Lucia Gonzalez - Noon

Semi-finals

9) Jessica Parrilla d. 12) Lucia Gonzalez, 15-12, 15-10
2) Paola Longoria d. 3) Samantha Salas Solis, 15-14, 15-9

Quarterfinals

9) Jessica Parrilla d. 1) Monserrat Mejia, 15-9, 15-11
12) Lucia Gonzalez d. 4) Alexandra Herrera, 15-11, 8-15, 11-2

3) Samantha Salas Solis d. 6) Susana Acosta, 15-4, 15-9
2) Paola Longoria d. 10) Erin Rivera, 15-0, 15-3

Round of 16

1) Monserrat Mejia - BYE
9) Jessica Parrilla d. 8) Ximena Martinez, 15-10, 15-0

12) Lucia Gonzalez d. 5) Nancy Enriquez, 15-2, 15-11
4) Alexandra Herrera d. 13) Angela Veronica Ortega Sabido, 15-3, 15-5

3) Samantha Salas Solis d. 14) Abril Sacristán, 15-2, 15-0
6) Susana Acosta d. 11) Karime Estrella, 15-6, 15-10

10) Erin Rivera d. 7) Maria Gutierrez, 15-9, 15-12
2) Paola Longoria d. 15) Alejandra Zuniga, 15-1, 15-1

Women's Open Doubles

Final - Saturday

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas Solis v. 2) Alexandra Herrera & Monserrat Mejia - 5 PM

Semi-finals - Friday

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas Solis d. 4) Erin Rivera & Jessica Parrilla, 15-9, 15-10
2) Alexandra Herrera & Monserrat Mejia d. 6) Maria Gutierrez & Angela Veronica Ortega Sabido, 15-3, 15-4

Quarterfinals

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas Solis d. 8) Cythia Gutierrez & Naomi Ros, 15-3, 15-0
4) Erin Rivera & Jessica Parrilla d. 5) Nancy Enriquez & Daniela Rios, 15-3, 15-9

6) Maria Gutierrez & Angela Veronica Ortega Sabido d. 3) Susana Acosta & Abril Sacristán, 15-1, 9-15, 11-7
2) Alexandra Herrera & Monserrat Mejia d. 7) Ximena Martinez & Alejandra Zuñiga, 15-7, 15-5

Men's Open Singles

Final - Saturday

1) Alvaro Beltran v. 2) Daniel De La Rosa - 1 PM

3rd Place - Saturday

4) Javier Mar v. 11) Sebastian Fernandez - 11 AM

Semi-finals

1) Alvaro Beltran d. 4) Javier Mar, 15-8, 1-15, 11-9
2) Daniel De La Rosa d. 11) Sebastian Fernandez, 15-10, 15-11

Quarterfinals

1) Alvaro Beltran d. 8) Christian Longoria, 12-15, 15-12, 11-3
4) Javier Mar d. 5) Gerardo Franco, 15-12, 15-5

11) Sebastian Fernandez d. 3) Alan Natera, 15-11, 15-11
2) Daniel De La Rosa d. 10) Eduardo Portillo, 15-12, 14-15, 11-2

Round of 16

1) Alvaro Beltran d. 17) Erick Cuevas Fernandez, 15-0, 15-13
8) Christian Longoria d. 9) Andree Parrilla, 15-6, 11-15, 11-4

5) Gerardo Franco d. 12) Javier Estrada, 15-6, 13-15, 11-7
4) Javier Mar d. 20) Manuel Moncada, 15-5, 15-8

3) Alan Natera d. 19) Sebastian Longoria, 15-10, 15-1
11) Sebastian Fernandez d. 6) Alejandro Cardona, 15-8, 15-8

10) Eduardo Portillo d. 7) Rodrigo Montoya, 15-9, 15-11
2) Daniel De La Rosa d. 18) Homar Prieto, 15-6, 15-5

Round of 32

1) Alvaro Beltran - BYE
17) Erick Cuevas Fernandez d. 16) Kevin Alejandro Rios Hernandez, 15-2, 15-3

9) Andree Parrilla d. 24) Miguel Rodriguez Jr., 15-6, 15-13
8) Christian Longoria d. 25) Andres Ruelas Jr., 15-5, 15-7

5) Gerardo Franco - BYE
12) Javier Estrada d. 21) Felipe Muñoz, 15-6, 15-4

20) Manuel Moncada d. 13) Daniel Rodriguez, 15-7, 15-10
4) Javier Mar - BYE

3) Alan Natera - BYE
19) Sebastian Longoria d. 14) Guillermo Jesus Ortega Jr., 15-9, 15-5

11) Sebastian Fernandez d. 22) Erick Trujillo, 15-11, 15-12
6) Alejandro Cardona - BYE

7) Rodrigo Montoya d. 26) Cesar Barragan, 15-5, 15-5
10) Eduardo Portillo d. 23) Juan Loreto, 15-2, 15-11

18) Homar Prieto d. 15) Fernando Gutiérrez, 15-2, 15-2
2) Daniel De La Rosa - BYE

Men's Open Doubles

Final - Saturday

1) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya v. 2) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa - 4 PM

Semi-finals

1) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya d. 4) Javier Estrada & Alan Natera, 15-4, 15-14
2) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa d. 6) Andree Parrilla & Eduardo Portillo, 8-15, 15-7, 11-10

Quarterfinals

1) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya d. 9) Manuel Moncada & Guillermo Jesus Ortega Jr., 15-8, 15-2
4) Javier Estrada & Alan Natera d. 5) Sebastian Fernandez & Miguel Rodriguez Jr., 15-13, 15-12

6) Andree Parrilla & Eduardo Portillo d. 3) Sebastian Longoria & Erick Trujillo, 15-6, 15-5
2) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa d. 10) Cesar Barragan & Christian Longoria, 15-14, 15-11

Round of 16

1) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya - BYE
9) Manuel Moncada & Guillermo Jesus Ortega Jr. d. 8) Omar Gastelum & Cristhian Sanchez, 15-9, 15-10

5) Sebastian Fernandez & Miguel Rodriguez Jr. d. 12) Alejandro Cardona & Gerardo Franco, 5-15, 15-7, 11-8
4) Javier Estrada & Alan Natera d. 13) Armando Cota & Javier Gonzalez Motta, 15-4, 15-5

3) Sebastian Longoria & Erick Trujillo - BYE
6) Andree Parrilla & Eduardo Portillo d. 11) Erick Cuevas Fernandez & Juan Loreto, 15-8, 15-7

10) Cesar Barragan & Christian Longoria d. 10) Homar Prieto & Sebastian Hernandez, 15-5, 15-10
2) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa - BYE

Follow the bouncing ball….

Montoya & Muñoz win on the weekend & Landa switches countries

Rodrigo Montoya and Carla Muñoz had Open Division wins on the weekend. Montoya won Men’s Open at the 42nd Lewis Drug Pro-Am in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Muñoz won Women’s Open at the Sweet Caroline Pro-Am in Greenville, South Carolina.

In Sioux Falls, Montoya defeated Gerardo Franco, 15-10, 15-11, in the final. He reached the final with a win over Mario Mercado, 15-5, 15-9, in one semi-final, while Franco beat Andres Acuña in the other semi, 15-11, 15-6.

In Greenville, Muñoz needed three games to take the title, as she lost the first game to Kelani Bailey Lawrence, but came back to win, 8-15, 15-4, 11-2. In the semi-finals, Muñoz beat Cristina Amaya, 15-9, 15-5, while Bailey Lawrence defeated Valeria Centellas, 15-9, 15-4.

Landa switches countries

The big off court news from the weekend was Alejandro Landa switching country affiliation from Mexico to the USA. He’s registered to play in next month’s USA Racquetball National Doubles Championships in Tempe, Arizona, where he’ll play doubles with Sudsy Monchik. Landa’s also registered to play US Team Qualifying Singles.

That’s a huge change. Landa was the 2017 Pan American Champion in both Men’s Singles and Men’s Doubles (with Polo Gutierrez), as well as 2016 Pan Am Champion in Men’s Doubles with Javier Moreno. He’s also won four titles on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT), and is the IRT’s #2 ranked player.

Someone who is a proven winner changing countries is a major deal.

Landa has lived in the USA since he was a teenager, so he must be a dual citizen to make this change. The change probably stems from Mexico not selecting Landa to play in last year’s Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

He had won their National Team Selection Event last spring, defeating Alvaro Beltran in the final. However, at the 2019 Pan American Championships, Landa lost in the quarterfinals to Andres Acuña, while Beltran made the semi-finals. That led Mexico to choose Beltran and Rodrigo Montoya - who was only a quarterfinalist in the Mexican selection event, but was part of their Pan Am Games Men’s Doubles team (with Javier Mar) - to play Men’s Singles in Lima.

Montoya and Beltran were the finalists in Lima with Montoya defeating Beltran for the gold medal, so it’s difficult to say that Mexico didn’t select two good players. Yet the process seems to have treated Landa unfairly, and he was understandably upset about being passed over.

Thus, we understand that Landa petitioned the Mexican racquetball federation to release him so he could play for another country: the USA. From a competitive perspective, the depth of talent currently in the USA is shallower than in Mexico, where it only seems to be getting deeper, especially with a young player like Eduardo Portillo getting to his first IRT final on the weekend.

So Landa’s switch could benefit both his chances and the USA’s chances to medal at future international events, including the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships this summer. Those who might be unhappy about this change are the players who were US Team hopefuls, which might include players who have been on the team once or were hoping to get on the team for the first time in the near future.

The addendum to Landa’s switch is that he picked up an injury to his right arm - his racquet arm - in Sioux Falls on the weekend that led him to default his quarterfinal match against Samuel Murray in the middle of game two. Landa and Murray were scheduled to play a semi-final doubles match after their singles match, but they chose not to play that match at all due to Landa’s injury.

Landa is registered for this weekend’s IRT event in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and the USAR National Doubles are the following weekend. But his injury jeopardizes his participation in both tournaments.

Coming up

As mentioned above, the IRT will play the 3rd of back to back to back events this weekend, when they gather in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin for the Lou Bradley Memorial tournament. The Lou - as it’s affectionately called - is a long running event, and has been an IRT event for several years. But this is the first year the Lou is a Tier 1 event. A field of 35 players are registered to compete, including the top 13 ranked players, so it should be a great event.

Next weekend the USA Racquetball National Doubles Championships happens in Tempe, Arizona, and the 2nd Racquetball Canada National Team Selection Event will take place as part of the 46th Annual Keystone Classic in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

2020 Lewis Drug Pro-Am, January 23-26, 2020
Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Final

3) Rodrigo Montoya d. 4) Gerardo Franco, 15-10, 15-11

Semi-finals

4) Gerardo Franco d. 1) Andres Acuña, 15-11, 15-6
3) Rodrigo Montoya d. 2) Mario Mercado, 15-5, 15-9

Men’s Open - Quarterfinals

1) Andres Acuña d. 9) Anthony Martin, 15-11, 15-3
4) Gerardo Franco d. 5) Tim Landeryou, 4-15, 15-3, 11-4

3) Rodrigo Montoya d. 11) Lee Connell, 15-10, 15-9
2) Mario Mercado d. 10) Andrés Gómez, 15-9, 15-3

2020 Sweet Caroline Pro-Am, January 24-26, 2020
Greenville, South Carolina

Final

4) Carla Muñoz d. 2) Kelani Bailey Lawrence, 8-15, 15-4, 11-2

Semi-finals

4) Carla Muñoz d. 1) Cristina Amaya, 15-9, 15-5
2) Kelani Bailey Lawrence d. 3) Valeria Centellas, 15-9, 15-4

Women’s Open - Quarterfinals

1) Cristina Amaya d. 8) Angelica Barrios, 15-3, 15-9
4) Carla Muñoz d. 5) Sheryl Lotts, 15-13, 15-7

3) Valeria Centellas d. 6) Susana Acosta, 15-9, 15-7
2) Kelani Bailey Lawrence d. 7) Maria Renee Rodriguez, 15-1, 15-6

Follow the bouncing ball….

Susana Acosta - Trailblazer

Question: which woman has played the most US Open Championships and reached at least the semi-finals? If you said “Cheryl Gudinas,” you’d be partially correct, but only because Gudinas played this year. Prior to this month, the answer was actually Susana Acosta.

Acosta first played in the US Open in 1998. Gabriela Martinez - current International Racquetball Federation (IRF) Women's Singles World Champion - wasn’t even born then. Neither was Montserrat Mejia, who won the US Open Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) doubles title with Alexandra Herrera this year. Paola Longoria was 9 in ’98.

After 1998, Acosta played in every US Open until this year: 21 years. That’s a longer streak than any other woman, and is only surpassed by Rocky Carson, who’s played every US Open since 1998. Rhonda Rajsich could tie Acosta next year.

Acosta reached the US Open semi-finals in 1999, her 2nd US Open. She was in the semis again in 2013, and that 14 years is the longest stretch between semi-final berths of any woman except Rajsich. Remarkably, those are the only two times Acosta has been in the US Open semis.

She was the first Mexican player to crack the top 10 of the women’s pro tour, when she finished 5th in 1999-2000. Acosta was 6th the following season, and 10th in 2002-03. But over the next seven seasons, she played fewer than half the events, so Acosta didn’t return to the top 10 until 2010-11, when she played all the events and was 6th once again. Her career high came two seasons later in 2012-13, when she finished 4th.

For all her pro tournaments, Acosta never played a final, and was only in 9 semi-finals over 141 tournaments. But it was in doubles that Acosta excelled.

A left-handed player, Acosta was part of the Mexican doubles team (with Rosy Torres) who won Mexico’s first women's gold medal at a major competition, when they defeated the USA team of Jackie Paraiso and Kim Russell in the Women’s Doubles final of the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She also medaled in Women’s Doubles at the IRF World Championships twice with Torres as her partner. They were bronze medalists in 2002 and silver medalists in 2004, when they lost to final to Paraiso and Russell in Korea.

Acosta also won four gold medals at the Pan American Championships, in 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2014. The first two wins were with Torres while the last two were with Samantha Salas.

Acosta has been a trail blazing player for Mexican racquetball. She’ll be 43 in December, and ending her US Open streak suggests she’s close to the end of her career. However, Acosta played in the 1st LPRT event of the season, so she’s not done yet.

Follow the bouncing ball….

Mexico sweeps gold at 2019 Pan American Games

Mexico has swept gold in the racquetball competitions at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, winning both Men’s and Women’s Singles and both Men’s and Women’s Doubles. Paola Longoria and Rodrigo Montoya are doubles gold medalists, winning both singles and doubles. In the Women’s Singles final, Longoria defeated Maria José Vargas of Argentina, 15-7, 15-9, while Montoya beat team-mate Alvaro Beltran in the Men’s Singles final, 9-15, 15-6, 11-0. Montoya's win makes him the 3rd men's player to be both Pan Am Games gold medalist while also being International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champion in Men's Singles after the USA's Jack Huczek and Rocky Carson.

In the doubles finals, Longoria and Samantha Salas needed a tie-breaker to defeat Guatemalans Gabriela Martinez and Maria Rodriguez, 15-5, 11-15, 11-5, to win a 3rd consecutive Pan Am Games gold medal in Women’s Doubles. Their three gold medals is the most for a Women's Doubles team at the Pan Am Games, breaking a tie they had with Joy Mackenzie and Jackie Paraiso of the USA. Montoya teamed up with Javier Mar to defeat Bolivians Roland Keller and Conrrado Moscoso, 15-10, 15-1, in the Men’s Doubles final. Keller and Moscoso were also silver medalists in Men’s Doubles four years ago in Toronto.

The 2019 Pan Am Games racquetball competition continues Wednesday afternoon, when the team competition begins with each country fielding two singles players and a doubles team in a best of three matches against each other. The finals of the team competition will be Saturday.

2019 Pan American Games - Lima, Peru

MEDAL ROUNDS

Men’s Singles - Final

3) Rodrigo MONTOYA (Mexico) d. 1) Alvaro BELTRAN (Mexico), 9-15, 15-6, 11-0

Women’s Singles - Final

2) Paola LONGORIA (Mexico) d. 1) Maria José VARGAS (Argentina), 15-7, 15-9

Men’s Doubles - Final

4) Javier MAR & Rodrigo MONTOYA (Mexico) d. 2) Roland KELLER & Conrrado MOSCOSO (Bolivia), 15-10, 15-1

Women’s Doubles - Final

1) Paola LONGORIA & Samantha SALAS (Mexico) d. 3) Gabriela MARTINEZ & Maria RODRIGUEZ (Guatemala), 15-5, 11-15, 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….

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….

Longoria & Keller Singles Champions at 2019 Pan American Championships

Paola Longoria of Mexico won her 8th Pan American Championship in Women’s Singles Saturday at the 2019 Pan American Championships in Barranquilla, Colombia, where she defeated Argentina’s Maria Jose Vargas in the final, 15-7, 15-2. Longoria last won this title in 2016, but was runner up the past two years to the USA’s Rhonda Rajsich. She was not going to finish 2nd a third time.

Carlos Keller of Bolivia successfully defended his Men’s Singles Pan American Championship by defeating the USA’s Charlie Pratt, 15-2, 8-15, 11-5. Keller is the first South American player to win multiple Men’s Singles titles and the first man to successfully defend the title since Mexican Alvaro Beltran did so in 2009 (that was the last year of three consecutive titles for Beltran).

In the women’s final, Longoria took leads of 8-1 and 11-2 in game one, and won by a comfortable margin. But Vargas did score some points late in the game, so seemed to build some momentum for game two. However, any momentum Vargas built was quickly snuffed out by Longoria in the second game, as she jumped out to a 6-0 lead. The Vargas got stuck in at the point, and there were nine rallies producing only one point, which was in Vargas’s favour. But she still trailed 6-1.

Longoria seemed to go into cruise control from there, and Vargas looked like she gave up the fight. Vargas only served three times from 6-1 to the end, and made a few bad errors. Also, she didn’t call a timeout in game two. The last rally was indicative of the match, as Longoria on a second serve hit a lob to the left side that kissed off the side wall. Vargas swung at the ball, but completely missed it. A sad ending.

But in the match Longoria took care of business, and she could be a double winner Saturday, as she’s in the Women’s Doubles final also with partner Samantha Salas. Her eight Women’s Singles Pan American Championships are a record, and twice as many as the women with the 2nd most. Americans Rajsich, Michelle Gould and Cheryl Gudinas all won Women’s Singles four times at Pan Am Championships.

In the men’s final, Keller cruised through game one only yielding two points to Pratt. But Pratt had dropped the first game of both his quarterfinal and semi-final matches, so he was in a familiar position.

Pratt took the early lead in game two at 3-0, but Keller came back and took over the lead at 7-3. Once again Pratt came back, and tied the game at 8-8. He scored seven unanswered points from there, while holding Keller at 8, to win game two, 15-8. Keller made some bad skips late in game two, which didn’t bode well for the tie-breaker.

Yet in the breaker, Keller took the early lead with three winners on the first three rallies to lead 3-0. They exchanged seven sideouts at that point, and there was the sense that the player who broke that stalemate would win the match. Pratt broke it, getting his first point of the breaker when Keller skipped a backhand serve return off a lob serve to the left that came off the side wall. Keller made that mistake a few times in the match, but Pratt never used that serve as his first serve.

However, after scoring his first point, Pratt was unable to follow it up, as Keller hit a good ceiling ball that went deep into the back left corner and flummoxed Pratt, who was unable to keep the rally going. That led to Keller going out to a 9-1 lead. Pratt called both his timeouts in that stretch, but to no avail.

Pratt did get a few points to make the score 9-4, and it seemed like a comeback could be on order. Then Keller got point 10 with a great backhand down the line shot. Still Pratt didn’t give up, and fought off Keller’s first match point with a backhand cross court winner.

Back in the service box, Pratt scored a point to make it 10-5. But Keller took the serve back with backhand cross court that cracked out on the right wall. However, match point number two went by as Pratt forced Keller to hit the ball into the back wall, and it didn’t make the front wall.

Keller regained the serve with a solid backhand shot, and then won it with another backhand winner.

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 Singles - Final - Saturday

3) Paola Longoria (Mexico) d. 12) María José Vargas (Argentina), 15-7, 15-2

Men's Singles - Final - Saturday

7) Carlos Keller (Bolivia) d. 4) Charles Pratt (USA), 15-2, 8-15, 11-5

Follow the bouncing ball….

Upsets at 2019 Mexican National Team Selection Event

There were big upsets at the 2019 Mexican National Team Selection Event in Chihuahua on the weekend, as no #1 seed won any of the four top divisions: Men's or Women's Singles or Doubles. Perhaps the biggest upset was in Women's Singles, as 6th seed Monserrat Mejia defeated 1st seed Paola Longoria in the Women’s Open final, 15-8, 15-14. Then in Men's Singles, 12th seed Alejandro Landa beat 14th seed Alvaro Beltran, 15-10, 15-8, in the Men’s Open final.

Landa and Beltran are top seeds on the International Racquebtall Tour (IRT), so it wasn't surprising they were in the final, but it's notable that the top 2 seeds lost before the final. Top seed Daniel De La Rosa lost to Landa in the semi-finals, 15-11, 15-10, and 2nd seed Rodrigo Montoya - who is also the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) Men's Singles World Champion - lost to 10th seed Alan Natera, 15-9, 15-9, in the quarterfinals.

In doubles, Mejia and Alexandra Herrera were the top seeds, as they won this event last year, but this year 2nd seeds Longoria and Samantha Salas Solis defeated them, 15-13, 15-5, in the Women’s Open Doubles final. In Men’s Open Doubles, 2nd seeds Javiar Mar and Rodrigo Montoya needed three games to win the title over 4th seeds Landa and Alejandro Cardona, 14-15, 15-8, 11-0. De La Rosa amd Beltran were the top seeds, but lost in the semi-finals to Cardona and Landa, 15-7, 15-10.

Thus, De La Rosa didn’t reach the final in either singles or doubles, and that could rule him out of the Mexican team for Pan American Championships next month in Colombia, and perhaps Pan American Games in Lima, Peru in August.

Of significance in women’s play, Jessica Parrilla made her return to competition for the first time in almost a year, as she’d been out with a leg injury. She lost in singles to Alexandra Herrera, 15-13, 11-15, 11-0, and teamed with Nancy Enriquez in doubles, where they lost in the semi-finals to Herrera and Mejia, 15-11, 15-12.

Campeonato Nacional Selectivo FMR
Chihuahua, Mexico - February 27-March 3, 2019

Women's Open - Round of 32

1) Paola Longoria - BYE
17) Denisse Maldonado d. 16) Alejandra Zuniga, 15-7, 15-5

9) Ana Laura Flores - BYE
8) Erin Rivera - BYE

5) Jessica Parrilla - BYE
12) Alexandra Herrera - BYE

13) Montserrat Perez - BYE
4) Diana Aguilar - BYE

3) Nancy Enriquez - BYE
19) Abril Sacristán d. 14) Beatriz Hernandez, 15-10, 15-7

11) Maria Gutierrez - BYE
6) Monserrat Mejia - BYE

7) Susana Acosta - BYE
10) Daniela Rico - BYE

18) Ximena Martinez d. 15) Andrea Ibarra, 3-15, 15-7, 11-7
2) Samantha Salas Solis - BYE

Round of 16

1) Paola Longoria d. 17) Denisse Maldonado, 15-2, 15-2
9) Ana Laura Flores d. 8) Erin Rivera, 15-11, 15-3

12) Alexandra Herrera d. 5) Jessica Parrilla, 15-13, 11-15, 11-0
13) Montserrat Perez d. 4) Diana Aguilar, 15-10, 15-3

3) Nancy Enriquez d. 19) Abril Sacristán, 15-7, 15-12
6) Monserrat Mejia d. 11) Maria Gutierrez, 15-1, 15-2

7) Susana Acosta d. 10) Daniela Rico, 15-5, 15-3
2) Samantha Salas Solis d. 18) Ximena Martinez, 15-4, 15-4

Quarterfinals

1) Paola Longoria d. 9) Ana Laura Flores, 15-7, 15-2
12) Alexandra Herrera d. 13) Montserrat Perez, 15-11, 15-5

6) Monserrat Mejia d. 3) Nancy Enriquez, 10-15, 15-4, 11-6
2) Samantha Salas Solis d. 7) Susana Acosta, 15-7, 15-2

Semi-finals

1) Paola Longoria d. 12) Alexandra Herrera, 15-4, 15-3
6) Monserrat Mejia d. 2) Samantha Salas Solis, 15-11, 15-4

Final

6) Monserrat Mejia d. 1) Paola Longoria, 15-8, 15-14

3rd Place

2) Samantha Salas Solis d. 12) Alexandra Herrera, 15-4, 5-15, 11–5

Women's Open Doubles - Quarterfinals

1) Alexandra Herrera & Monserrat Mejia - BYE
4) Nancy Enriquez & Jessica Parrilla d. 5) Diana Aguilar & Denisse Maldonado, 15-1, 15-13

3) Montserrat Perez & Erin Rivera d. 6) Andrea Ibarra & Daniela Rico, 15-14, 15-8
2) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas Solis d. 7) Susana Acosta & Abril Sacristán, 15-6, 15-10

Semi-finals

1) Alexandra Herrera & Monserrat Mejia d. 4) Nancy Enriquez & Jessica Parrilla, 15-11, 15-12
2) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas Solis d. 3) Montserrat Perez & Erin Rivera, 15-5, 11-15, 11-1

Final

2) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas Solis d. 1) Alexandra Herrera & Monserrat Mejia, 15-13, 15-5

3rd place

4) Nancy Enriquez & Jessica Parrilla d. 3) Montserrat Perez & Erin Rivera, 15-10, 15-9

Men's Open Singles

Round of 64

1) Daniel De La Rosa - BYE
32) Juan Loreto d. 33) Diego Gastelum, 15-4, 15-8

17) Rodolfo Esparza - BYE
16) Rogelio Castillo - BYE

9) Alejandro Cardona - BYE
24) Alan Palomino - BYE

25) Alejandro Prieto - BYE
8) Sebastian Fernandez - BYE

5) Christian Longoria - BYE
28) Sebastian Hernandez - BYE

21) Jose Ramos - BYE
12) Alejandro Landa - BYE

13) Eduardo Portillo - BYE
20) Jaime Martell - BYE

29) Alejandro Mendoza - BYE
4) Javier Mar - BYE

3) Andree Parrilla - BYE
30) Humberto Natera - BYE

19) Polo Gutierrez - BYE
14) Alvaro Beltran - BYE

11) Ernesto Ochoa - BYE
22) Gerardo Franco - BYE

27) Elias Nieto - BYE
6) Javier Estrada - BYE

7) Edson Martinez - BYE
26) Omar Garay - BYE

23) Erick Trujillo - BYE
10) Alan Natera - BYE

15) Erick Cuevas Fernandez - BYE
18) Javier Moreno - BYE

34) Daniel Mariñelarena d. 31) Homar Prieto, 10-15, 15-6, 11-3
2) Rodrigo Montoya - BYE

Round of 32

1) Daniel De La Rosa d. 32) Juan Loreto, 15-3, 15-13
17) Rodolfo Esparza d. 16) Rogelio Castillo, 15-9, 15-11

9) Alejandro Cardona d. 24) Alan Palomino, 15-11, 15-10
8) Sebastian Fernandez d. 25) Alejandro Prieto, 15-0, 15-3

5) Christian Longoria d. 28) Sebastian Hernandez, forfeit
12) Alejandro Landa d. 21) Jose Ramos, 15-10, 15-7

20) Jaime Martell d. 13) Eduardo Portillo, 15-10, 15-7
4) Javier Mar d. 29) Alejandro Mendoza, 15-5, 15-3

3) Andree Parrilla d. 30) Humberto Natera, 15-7, 15-9
14) Alvaro Beltran d. 19) Polo Gutierrez, 15-4, 15-13

22) Gerardo Franco d. 11) Ernesto Ochoa, 15-13, 15-10
6) Javier Estrada d. 27) Elias Nieto, 15-11, 15-9

7) Edson Martinez d. 26) Omar Garay, 15-2, 15-3
10) Alan Natera d. 23) Erick Trujillo, 15-4, 15-3

18) Javier Moreno d. 15) Erick Cuevas Fernandez, 15-4, 15-10
2) Rodrigo Montoya d. 34) Daniel Mariñelarena. 15-3, 15-4

Round of 16

1) Daniel De La Rosa d. 17) Rodolfo Esparza, 15-12, 15-8
9) Alejandro Cardona d. 8) Sebastian Fernandez, 15-6, 15-4

12) Alejandro Landa d. 5) Christian Longoria, 15-9, 15-6
4) Javier Mar d. 20) Jaime Martell, 15-2, 14-15, 11-7

14) Alvaro Beltran d. 3) Andree Parrilla, 15-8, 15-13
22) Gerardo Franco d. 6) Javier Estrada, 15-12, 7-15, 11-10

10) Alan Natera d. 7) Edson Martinez, 9-15, 15-14, 11-6
2) Rodrigo Montoya d. 18) Javier Moreno, 15-3, 15-4

Quarterfinals

1) Daniel De La Rosa d. 9) Alejandro Cardona, 15-12, 13-15, 11-3
12) Alejandro Landa d. 4) Javier Mar, 15-8, 15-12

14) Alvaro Beltran d. 22) Gerardo Franco, 15-8, 15-13
10) Alan Natera d. 2) Rodrigo Montoya, 15-9, 15-9

Semi-finals

12) Alejandro Landa d. 1) Daniel De La Rosa, 15-11, 15-10
14) Alvaro Beltran d. 10) Alan Natera, 15-4, 15-11

Final

12) Alejandro Landa d. 14) Alvaro Beltran, 15-10, 15-8

3rd Place

1) Daniel De La Rosa d. 10) Alan Natera, 15-12, 15-6

Men's Open Doubles

Round of 16

1) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa - BYE
8) Sebastian Longoria & Erick Trujillo d. 9) Cesar Barragan & Alan Palomino, 15-8, 15-13

5) Jaime Martell & Alan Natera d. 12) Mauricio Delgadillo & Erick Cuevas Fernandez, 15-6, 15-13
4) Alejandro Cardona & Alejandro Landa d. 13) Sebastian Fernandez & Gerardo Franco, 15-12, 10-15, 11-8

3) Edson Martinez & Andree Parrilla d. 14) Carlos Esparza & Rodolfo Esparza, 15-0, 15-9
11) Elias Nieto & Eduardo Portillo d. 6) Rogelio Castillo, 15-14, 15-13

10) Javier Estrada & Ernesto Ochoa d. 7) Alejandro Mendoza & Ivan Sanchez, 15-5, 15-4
2) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya d. 15) Manuel Hernandez & Sebastian Hernandez, 15-2, 15-4

Quarterfinals

1) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa d. 8) Sebastian Longoria & Erick Trujillo, 15-11, 15-5
4) Alejandro Cardona & Alejandro Landa d. 5) Jaime Martell & Alan Natera, 15-13, 15-4

3) Edson Martinez & Andree Parrilla d. 11) Elias Nieto & Eduardo Portillo, 10-15, 15-13, 11-10
2) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya d. 10) Javier Estrada & Ernesto Ochoa, 15-10, 15-13

Semi-finals

4) Alejandro Cardona & Alejandro Landa d. 1) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa, 15-7, 15-10
2) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya d. 3) Edson Martinez & Andree Parrilla, 15-10, 15-13

Final

2) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya d. 4) Alejandro Cardona & Alejandro Landa, 14-15, 15-8, 11-0

3rd place

1) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa d. 3) Edson Martinez & Andree Parrilla, forfeit

Follow the bouncing ball….