IRF 25th World Juniors - Medal Summary

Mexico's performance at the 25th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Junior Racquetball Championships in Sucre, Bolivia was its most dominant ever, as they pulled in 15 medals including 10 gold. But Mexico has been good for some time now, as they've won 11 or more medals every year since 2008.

Bolivia finished second in the medal total with 14, although only one of those was gold. But that was in the premier Boy's U18 singles division, as Conrado Moscoso defeated Mexican Rodrigo Garay in the final. That result made Moscoso front page news in Bolivia, and he's the first Bolivian to win the Boy's U18 World Junior title.

The USA, on the other hand, had a historically low total of three (yes, 3) medals: 1 silver and 2 bronze. That's down from 11 last year and 15 in 2010. The USA were missing two of their Junior Nationals Champions, so that could have made some difference, although it would still be a stretch to imagine them getting up to double digits. We don't think the USA has ever had fewer than 10 medalists at World Juniors.

Four countries - Guatemala, USA, Canada and Costa Rica - had three medals overall, but of them only Guatemala won a gold medal, along with two bronze medals. It's the first time Guatemala has won a gold medal in singles. Canada and Costa Rica both had three bronze medals.

Welcome additions and rumour of next year's site

For the first time, the IRF brought in 11 referees from other countries as well as 20 Bolivians so that all of the World Cup matches, including the group stage matches, were refereed by an adult, not a junior player. The refereeing varied, of course, as it's difficult to judge everything that happens in a racquetball game, but it was a welcome improvement to the event.

Also, the IRF has created software on tablet computers that was used in conjunction with monitors on six of the courts, so that spectators didn't need to wonder what the score was. They just needed to look at the monitor, and everything was there: the score, server, timeouts and appeals used. The link between tablet and monitor was occasionally lost but again it was a welcome addition to the event.

The site for the 2014 World Juniors has not been selected. Rumour was that Cali, Colombia might be the location. For those wondering why the event doesn't go back to the USA, the answer in part is that USA Racquetball would not financially support a local organizations bid for the event. As you can imagine, bringing in those officials as well as other aspects of the event are not cheap, so financial support from the National Sport Organization is important if not essential for hosting the event. That support is currently absent in the USA.

25th IRF World Junior Racquetball Championships
Sucre, Bolivia

BOY'S SINGLES

Boy's U18

GOLD - Conrado Moscoso (Bolivia)
SILVER - Rodrigo Garay (Mexico)
BRONZE - Diego Crespo (Bolivia) & Eduardo Garay (Mexico)

Boy's U16

GOLD - Andree Parrilla (Mexico)
SILVER - Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico)
BRONZE - Coby Iwaasa (Canada) & Marcelo Vargas (Bolivia)

Boy's U14

GOLD - Cristian Longoria (Mexico)
SILVER - Juan Loreto (Mexico)
BRONZE - Andres Avendaño (Bolivia) & Set Cubillos (Colombia)

BOY'S DOUBLES

Boy's U18

GOLD - Rodrigo Garay & Javier Mar (Mexico)
SILVER - Conrado Moscoso & Sebastian Julio Oña (Bolivia)
BRONZE - Sawyer Lloyd & Adam Manilla (USA) and Andres Aviles & Gabriel Garcia (Costa Rica)

Boy's U16

GOLD - Erik Garcia & Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico)
SILVER - Cristhian Mina & Marcelo Vargas (Bolivia)
BRONZE - Hansel Martinez & Juan Jose Salvatierra (Guatemala) and Nicolas Bousquet & Coby Iwaasa (Canada)

Boy's U14

GOLD - Cesar Barragan & Cristian Longoria (Mexico)
SILVER - Andres Avendaño & Rodrigo Mendoza (Bolivia)
BRONZE - Sergio Acuna & Andres Montero (Costa Rica)

Boy's Medal totals

Mexico - 8 Total = 5 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze
Bolivia - 7 = 1, 3, 3
Canada - 2 = 0, 0, 2
Costa Rica - 2 = 0, 0, 2
USA - 1 = 0, 0, 1
Guatemala - 1 = 0, 0, 1
Colombia - 1 = 0, 0, 1

GIRL'S SINGLES

Girl's U18

GOLD - Lucia Gonzalez (Mexico)
SILVER - Mariana Tobon (Venezuela)
BRONZE - Masiel Rivera (Bolivia) & Melania Sauma (Costa Rica)

Girl's U16

GOLD - Diana Aguilar (Mexico)
SILVER - Natalia Mendez (Bolivia)
BRONZE - Luisa Santillan Lahud (Mexico) & Hawira Rojas (Bolivia)

Girl's U14

GOLD - Ana Gabriela Martinez (Guatemala)
SILVER - Erin Rivera (Mexico)
BRONZE - Wanda Carvajal (Bolivia) & Jordan Cooperrider (USA)

GIRL'S DOUBLES

Girl's U18

GOLD - Alexandra Herrera & Ximena Gonzalez (Mexico)
SILVER - Paola Cossio & Masiel Rivera (Bolivia)
BRONZE - Ana Gabriela Martinez & Maria Renee Rodriguez (Guatemala)

Girl's U16

GOLD - Diana Aguilar & Montserrat Perez (Mexico)
SILVER - Natalia Mendez & Iriana Avendaño (Bolivia)
BRONZE - Danielle Drury & Michelle Morissette (Canada)

Girl's U14

GOLD - Monserrat Meija & Andrea Ramierez (Mexico)
SILVER - Erika Manilla & Jordan Cooperrider (USA)
BRONZE - Wanda Carvajal & Adriana Homsi (Bolivia)

Girl's Medal totals

Mexico - 7 Total = 5 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze
Bolivia - 7 = 0, 3, 4
Guatemala - 2 = 1, 0, 1
USA - 2 = 0, 1, 1
Canada - 1 = 0, 0, 1
Costa Rica - 1 = 0, 0, 1
Venezuela - 1 = 0, 1, 0

Overall Medal Totals

Mexico - 15 Total = 10 Gold, 3 Silver, 2 Bronze
Bolivia - 14 = 1, 6, 7
Guatemala - 3 = 1, 0, 2
USA - 3 = 0, 1, 2
Canada - 3 = 0, 0, 3
Costa Rica - 3 = 0, 0, 3
Venezuela - 1 = 0, 1, 0
Colombia - 1 = 0, 0, 1

Follow the bouncing ball....

IRF 25th World Juniors - Mexico sweeps Boy's Doubles

Mexico completed a sweep in boy's doubles with wins in both Boy's U18 and U16 finals at the 25th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Junior Racquetball Championships in Sucre, Bolivia. The Mexicans defeated Bolivians in both finals.

In U18, Mexicans Rodrigo Garay and Javier Mar defeated Bolivians Conrado Moscoso and Sebastian Julio Oña, 15-8, 15-14, while in U16 Erik Garcia and Rodrigo Montoya beat Cristhian Mina and Marcelo Vargas, 15-3, 15-8.

Earlier, Mexicans Cesar Barragan and Cristian Longoria went undefeated in Boy's U14 Doubles, finishing ahead of Bolivians Andres Avendaño and Rodrigo Mendoza in second and Costa Ricans Sergio Acuna and Andres Montero in third.

25th IRF World Junior Racquetball Championships
Sucre, Bolivia

Boy's U18 Doubles (with seedings)

Final

1. Rodrigo Garay & Javier Mar (Mexico) d. 2. Conrado Moscoso & Sebastian Julio Oña (Bolivia), 15-8, 15-14

Boy's U16 Doubles (with seedings)

Final

1. Erik Garcia & Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico) d. 2. Cristhian Mina & Marcelo Vargas (Bolivia), 15-3, 15-8

Medalists

Boy's U18 Doubles

GOLD - Rodrigo Garay & Javier Mar (Mexico)
SILVER - Conrado Moscoso & Sebastian Julio Oña (Bolivia)
BRONZE - Sawyer Lloyd & Adam Manilla (USA) and Andres Aviles & Gabriel Garcia (Costa Rica)

Boy's U16 Doubles

GOLD - Erik Garcia & Rodrigo Montoya (Mexico)
SILVER - Cristhian Mina & Marcelo Vargas (Bolivia)
BRONZE - Hansel Martinez & Juan Jose Salvatierra (Guatemala) and Nicolas Bousquet & Coby Iwaasa (Canada)

Boy's U14 Doubles

GOLD - Cesar Barragan & Cristian Longoria (Mexico)
SILVER - Andres Avendaño & Rodrigo Mendoza (Bolivia)
BRONZE - Sergio Acuna & Andres Montero (Costa Rica)
4th - Juan Francisco Cueva & Jorge Ochoa (Ecuador)
5th - Set Cubillos & Arturo Gonzalez (Colombia)
6th - Justus Benson & Evan Wargo (USA)

Follow the bouncing ball....

IRF 25th World Juniors - Mexico sweeps Girl's Doubles

Mexico swept the gold medals in girl's doubles at the 25th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Junior Racquetball Championships in Sucre, Bolivia. We've earlier explained how that came about in the U18 and U16 divisions, but the last round of the Girl's U14 competition happened on Saturday, and Americans Erika Manilla and Jordan Cooperrider had a chance to prevent the Mexican sweep.

The American team were 5-0 playing their last match against the Mexican team of Monserrat Meija and Andrea Ramierez, who were 4-1 going into Saturday's last round of matches. A USA win would have given them the gold.

But the Mexicans beat the Americans 15-13, 15-11 (we had the score as 15-14, 15-12; but it's 13, 11 on the IRF site), which gave the gold to Mexico.

In the match, Mexico started strongly, as they took a 6-0 lead in game one and extended that to 11-3. However, the Americans then fought back, as they scored nine straight points to take the lead 12-11.

We have it that the Americans got to 14-12, but couldn't get that last point, which could have gotten them the gold, as there was going to be a three way tie with Mexico and Bolivia, who also finished 5-1 after beating the Puerto Rican team of Frances Vasquez Souchet and Charleen Tono, 15-3, 15-2, in the last round of play.

But with the tie-breaker rule, the USA needed only one game to come out ahead of Mexico and Bolivia, even if they lost to Mexico in a tie-breaker.

But Mexico came back and beat the USA in game one "15-13" (sic). In game two, it was the USA that took the early lead, as they were up 6-4 and then 10-7, so again it looked like the gold was within their grasp.

But Mexico came back and tied the game at 10, and they went back and forth, tying at 11 and at 12, and then Mexico pushed on to win "15-11" (sic). The last shot was a set up off the back wall that Meija killed with her backhand straight to the front wall.

Meija was clearly the better player of the two Mexicans, and if the Americans had kept the ball away from her, they maybe have won the match. Meija's not a power player, but has excellent control on the court.

Also, Ivana Sepertegui and Maria Jose Munoz of Ecuador defeated Valentina Valor and Lilian Zea of Venezuela in the last round, 15-8, 15-7, to finish fourth and Venezuela sixth. Canada was fifth and Puerto Rico seventh.

25th IRF World Junior Racquetball Championships
Sucre, Bolivia

Girl's U18 Doubles

GOLD - Mexico - Alexandra Herrera & Ximena Gonzalez
SILVER - Bolivia - Paola Cossio & Masiel Rivera
BRONZE - Guatemala - Ana Gabriela Martinez & Maria Renee Rodriguez

Girl's U16 Doubles

GOLD - Mexico - Diana Aguilar & Montserrat Perez
SILVER - Bolivia - Natalia Mendez & Iriana Avendaño
BRONZE - Canada - Danielle Drury & Michelle Morissette
4th - Dominican Republic - Maria Cespedes & Merinanllely Delgado
5th - USA - Hollie Scott & Kaitlin Simmons

Girl's U14 Doubles

Round 7 - Saturday

Monserrat Meija & Andrea Ramierez (Mexico) d. Erika Manilla & Jordan Cooperrider (USA), 15-13, 15-11 (sic)
Wanda Carvajal & Adriana Homsi (Bolivia) d. Frances Vasquez Souchet & Charleen Tono (Puerto Rico), 15-3, 15-2
Ivana Sepertegui & Maria Jose Munoz (Ecuador) d. Valentina Valor & Lilian Zea (Venezuela), 15-8, 15-7

Standings

1. Mexico - 5-1
2. USA - 5-1
3. Bolivia - 5-1
4. Ecuador - 3-3
5. Canada - 2-4
6. Venezuela - 1-5
7. Puerto Rico - 0-6

Medals

GOLD - Mexico - Monserrat Meija & Andrea Ramierez
SILVER - USA - Erika Manilla & Jordan Cooperrider
BRONZE - Bolivia - Wanda Carvajal & Adriana Homsi
4th - Ecuador - Ivana Sepertegui & Maria Jose Munoz
5th - Canada - Annie Fisher & Alexis Iwaasa
6th - Venezuela - Valentina Valor & Lilian Zea
7th - Puerto Rico - Frances Vasquez Souchet & Charleen Tono

Follow the bouncing ball....