Landeryou & Saunders win Racquetball Canada National Team Selection Event

Tim Landeryou was a surprise winner Sunday at the second Racquetball Canada National Team Selection Event of the season in Grande Prairie, Alberta, as he upset Canadian #1 Mike Green, 12-15, 15-10, 11-5. In the semi-finals, Landeryou defeated Canadian #2 Samuel Murray, so he will move ahead of Murray in the rankings.

Green's now lost to both Landeryou and Murray, who won the first selection event in November by defeating Green in the final. If either player defeats Green at the Canadian National Championships, they would take the #1 ranking from Green, who has held it since 2011.

Saunders defeated Michèle Morissette, 15-7, 15-9, to win the Women's title. They were close early in both games, and Morissette held the lead early in game two. But after being tied at 5-5 in each game, Saunders took over, scoring five unanswered points to lead 10-5.

In game one after 10-5, Morissette never got closer than five points, although they were stuck on 12-7 for nine rallies before Saunders broke the deadlock and made it 13-7 by forcing Morissette into a forehand skip shot.

In game two, Morissette got within three at 11-8, and within four at 13-9, but not closer. Saunders got her first match point by rolling out a backhand, and then won it when Morissette skipped her backhand serve return pinch shot.

In the men's final, Green started well, leading 4-0 and 9-4 in game one. But Landeryou kept working, and tied the game at 10-10. Green re-took the lead at 13-10, and held on to win 15-12.

Landeryou had beaten Green previously - back in 2013, but it's never good to let the favourite get a lead, because coming back will be that much more difficult. Early in game two, it didn't seem like Landeryou would comeback, as Green took a 6-1 advantage.

But Landeryou took a timeout, and when play resumed he got the serve back with a backhand return and proceeded to score eight unanswered points to lead 9-6. Green came back to tie it at 9-9, but after four backhand winners by Landeryou the score was 13-10. The game ended with Green making two unforced errors on his backhand, forcing a tie-breaker.

In game three, they were close early, and Green led at 4-2. From there Landeryou scored eight points, six on pinch shots, to lead 10-4. Landeryou skipped a backhand pinch shot on his first match point, but he won it with a forehand pinch shot on his second match point.

With their wins, Landeryou and Saunders solidified the likelihood that they will be selected for Team Canada to compete at the 2016 Pan American Championships in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, March 18-26.

Racquetball Canada National Team Selection Event
February 5-7, 2016 - Grande Prairie, Albert

Men's Final

Tim Landeryou d. Mike Green, 12-15, 15-10, 11-5

3rd Place

Samuel Murray d. Pedro Castro, 15-6, 15-1

5th Place

Tommy Murray d. Nathaniel Husulak, 5-15, 15-5, 11-7

7th Place

Lee Connell d. Trevor Webb, 15-4, 15-1

9th Place

Nicolas Bousquet d. Mitch Brayley, 15-11, 15-11

Women's Final

Jennifer Saunders d. Michèle Morissette, 15-7, 15-9

3rd place

Valerie Fallu d. Christine Richardson, 15-5, 15-7

5th place

Alexis Iwaasa d. Danielle Drury, 13-15, 15-9, 11-9

Follow the bouncing ball….

Racquetball Canada National Team Selection Event - Semi-finals

They are down to the finals at the second Racquetball Canada National Team Selection Event of the season in Grande Prairie, Alberta. Mike Green and Tim Landeryou will playoff for the Men's title with Jennifer Saunders and Michèle Morissette vying or the Women's title.

Frédérique Lambert, the #1 ranked Canadian woman, is not in Grande Prairie, as she will likely qualify for the team because of her ranking on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT). She's currently #4, and needs to finish in the top 8 to qualify for Team Canada.

Saunders is Canada's #2 player, and was expected to be in the final. But Morissette, the current Canadian U18 Junior Girl's Champion, reached the final with narrow victories over Christine Richardson, 15-13, 15-13, and Danielle Drury, 15-11, 13-15, 12-10.

In Men's Singles, Canadian #1 Mike Green defeated 4th seed Pedro Castro, 15-0, 15-12, and Green was perhaps trying to make a statement in game one, as he and Castro went tie-breaker in November at the first National Team Selection Event of the season. Green likely felt it shouldn't have been that close, and wanted to prove that this time around.

In November, Green lost in the final to Samuel Murray, but he won't have a chance to avenge that loss Sunday, as Murray lost in a tie-breaker to veteran Tim Landeryou, 10-15, 15-12, 11-9. Landeryou won the tie-breaker with perhaps the shot of the tournament, as he dove forward and hit a backhand pinch shot that rolled out of the front left corner.

The results of this tournament will be used as part of the selection process for Team Canada that will compete at the 2016 Pan American Championships in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Players are also working towards being selected to represent Canada at the 2016 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Cali, Colombia in July.

Racquetball Canada National Team Selection Event
February 5-7, 2016 - Grande Prairie, Albert

Men's Final

Mike Green v. Tim Landeryou

Semi-finals

Mike Green d. Pedro Castro, 15-0, 15-12
Tim Landeryou d. Samuel Murray, 10-15, 15-12, 11-9

Quarterfinals

Mike Green d. Tommy Murray, 15-2, 15-0
Pedro Castro d. Trevor Webb, 15-8, 15-0

Tim Landeryou d. Nathaniel Husulak, 16-14, 15-12
Samuel Murray d. Lee Connell, 15-7, 15-1

Round of 16

Mike Green d. Jeff Buller, 15-6, 15-0
Tommy Murray d. Nicolas Bousquet, 15-5, 15-12

Trevor Webb d. James Landeryou, 15-5, 15-8
Pedro Castro d. Tanner Prentice, 15-7, 15-11

Tim Landeryou d. Mitch Brayley, 15-9, 15-11
Nathaniel Husulak d. Michael Leduc, 15-8, 15-4

Lee Connell d. Tanner Mattson, 15-4, 15-4
Samuel Murray d. Barret Husulak, 15-7, 15-5

First Round

Jeff Buller d. Graham Frattinger, 15-5, 15-9
Mitch Brayley d. Devin Halko, 15-0, 15-5
Barret Husulak d. Paul Albert, 15-11, 15-6

Women's Final

Jennifer Saunders v. Michèle Morissette

3rd place

Christine Richardson v. Valerie Fallu

5th place

Danielle Drury v. Alexis Iwaasa

Group play

Group 1

Jennifer Saunders d. Valerie Fallu, 16-14, 15-1
Valerie Fallu d. Alexis Iwaasa, 15-8, 15-10
Jennifer Saunders d. Alexis Iwaasa, 15-3, 15-9

Group 2

Michèle Morissette d. Christine Richardson, 15-13, 15-13
Danielle Drury d. Cassie Prentice, 15-5, 15-2

Michèle Morissette d. Cassie Prentice, 15-1, 15-5
Christine Richardson d. Danielle Drury, 15-8, 15-10

Christine Richardson d. Cassie Prentice, 15-1, 15-2
Michèle Morissette d. Danielle Drury, 15-11, 13-15, 12-10

Follow the bouncing ball….

Weekend Round Up - Jackson, Mercado, Cullen & Varadarajan win

Sharon Jackson won Women’s Open at the 2016 Mercedes-Benz of Cincinnati Pro-Am in Cincinnati, Ohio on the weekend by defeating Carla Muñoz, 15-7, 3-15, 11-9, in the final. In the semi-finals, Jackson defeated Adriana Riveros, and Muñoz beat Lucia Gonzalez, 15-13, 10-15, 11-9.

Also in Cincinnati, Mario Mercado won the Men’s Open division with a win over Mauricio Zelada, 15-10, 15-9, in the final. In the semi-finals, Mercado beat Christian Longoria, 15-10, 15-2, and Zelada defeated Troy Warigon, 15-12, 15-2.

In Brandon, Manitoba, Kurtis Cullen won Grumpy Garry’s Racquetball Extravaganza 2 - Still Grumpy, which is a Tier 5 International Racquetball Tour (IRT) event - by defeating Lee Connell, 12-10, 11-5, 11-9, in the final. Cameron Wachs finished 3rd with a win over Samuel Morrissette, 12-10, 11-8, 11-9, and Pat Madill was 5th, defeating Jay Cadman, 11-4, 11-5, 5-11, 11-5.

A shout out to the 37 players in the Lanco Hills India Open Racquetball Championships in Hyderabad, India. Rajiv Varadarajan won the Men’s Open / Team Qualifying division by going undefeated through a five player round robin. Arun Baskaran narrowly came second by defeating Pavan Kumar Kora, 11-15, 15-10, 11-10 to finish with a 3-1 record with Kora at 2-2.

Upcoming events

Coming up this week is Racquetball Canada’s National Team Selection Event in Grande Prairie, Alberta. Then next week the 2016 USA Racquetball National Doubles Championships happen in Tempe, Arizona, and the Campeonato Nacional Mexicano de Racquetbol Selectivo 2016 happens in Chihuahua, Mexico for the selection of the Mexican National Team.

The next professional racquetball events are the LPRT 2016 Winter Classic in Overland Park, Kansas, February 19-21. The next IRT Tier 1 event is the Shamrock Shootout Pro/Am in Lombard, Illinois, March 10-13. The World Racquetball Tour (WRT) will be in action February 18-21 at the Mt Rainier Open in Seattle.

2016 Mercedes-Benz of Cincinnati Pro-Am, January 29-31
Cincinnati, Ohio

Women’s Open Final

Sharon Jackson d. Carla Muñoz, 15-7, 3-15, 11-9

Semi-finals

Sharon Jackson d. Adriana Riveros
Carla Muñoz d. Lucia Gonzalez, 15-13, 10-15, 11-9

Quarterfinals

Sharon Jackson d. Natalie Domelle, 15-7, 15-4
Adriana Riveros Maria Renee Rodriguez, 15-3, 15-11

Carla Muñoz d. Andrea Martinez Gonzalez, 15-6, 15-6
Lucia Gonzalez d. Sofia Soley, 4-15, 15-13, 11-1

Men’s Open Final

Mario Mercado d. Mauricio Zelada, 15-10, 15-9

Semi-finals

Mauricio Zelada d. Troy Warigon, 15-12, 15-2
Mario Mercado d. Christian Longoria, 15-10, 15-2

Grumpy Garry’s Racquetball Extravaganza 2: Still Grumpy - IRT Tier 5
Brandon, Manitoba - January 29-31, 2016

1st Place - Kurtis Cullen d. Lee Connell, 12-10, 11-5, 11-9
3rd Place - Cameron Wachs d. Samuel Morrissette, 12-10, 11-8, 11-9
5th Place - Pat Madill d. Jay Cadman, 11-4, 11-5, 5-11, 11-5

Lanco Hills India Open Racquetball Championships
Hyderabad, India - January 29-31, 2016

Men’s Open / Team Qualifying

1st - Rajiv Varadarajan
2nd - Arun Baskaran
3rd - Pavan Kumar Kora
4th - Srikaran Kandadai
5th - Joshua Fonseca

Follow the bouncing ball….