Mexico wins 1st Overall Team title at 18th IRF World Championships

Mexico won the Overall Team title for the first time in World Championships history at the 18th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Cali, Colombia on Saturday. Indeed, they almost swept the team competitions, which are a result of points awarded to the players based on their performances in the medal round. Mexico won the Women's Team competition, and was one point behind the USA in the Men's Team competition.

The USA had won all Overall Team competitions at Worlds except one, as Canada won the overall title in 2000, when the team competition was run as an actual competition with countries playing two singles matches and a doubles match against each other in men's and women's divisions. That format was changed in 2014 to the current one.

Mexico has won the Women's Team title three consecutive times now, while the USA has won the Men's Team title every year since 2002, when Canada won.

Tournament Thoughts

The IRF live streamed matches on the last three days of competition, so people outside of Cali could see the action. Those productions were generally good, and the IRF will be putting those videos on their YouTube channel in the coming days, so if you missed any of the action, or want to review it, check that out. Also on their YouTube channel, the IRF posted match videos from earlier in the competition, as well as interviews with various players and IRF people, and that was a welcome addition to the tournament.

Paola Longoria. Although it might be funny to say, it didn't seem to us that Paola Longoria played her best in the Women's Singles semi-finals and finals. Funny, because Longoria won both matches in two straight games and gave up only five points in three of those games. But Longoria's performance standards are very high, so it seemed she made more errors than she normally does. It's a testament to how good Longoria is that she can defeat players when she isn't playing her best.

And this slight reduction in quality could have contributed to Mexico's loss in the Women's Doubles final, as Mexico was up against a couple of wily veterans in Americans Aimee Ruiz and Janel Tisinger. Mexico needed Longoria and her partner Samantha Salas to be at their best to defeat the USA, but they weren't quite there. The Americans had a clear plan of what to do, and they were able to execute that. Mexico still almost won that final; they were only three points away from the gold, but being a little bit off can be the crucial difference between gold and silver.

Rocky Carson. The Racquetball Blog just passed its 8 year anniversary, and for that entire period Rocky Carson has been World Champion. It's an incredible record of excellence. He's 37 now, and was pressed for the win more this year than in any of his previous World Championships, as he needed three games to win both the semi-finals and finals. Previously, Carson had only played one tie-breaker in either the semis or the finals in winning his other World titles.

Can he win again in two years? It doesn't seem likely, but then it wouldn't have seemed likely that Carson would win five titles in a row back in 2008, so we aren't going to bet against it. However, Carson will be 39 in two years, and Father Time is undefeated, which could be a factor preventing Carson from extending his World Championship streak to six.

American Women. For some time now, we have suggested the state of American women's high performance racquetball has not been good, and their performance at Worlds this year was perhaps the worst ever, despite winning gold in Women's Doubles. Worst ever because for the first time no American woman was in the semi-finals at Worlds.

There had been Women's Singles finals with no American twice previously, as Canadian Christie Van Hees (now Christie Huczek) defeated Chilean Angela Grisar in the 2006 final, and Longoria beat Canadian Jennifer Saunders in the 2012 final. But in 2006, American Cheryl Gudinas was a semi-finalist and in 2012 both Gudinas and team-mate Rhonda Rajsich were in the semis.

The issue is the American women are generally older than their competition, and there aren't young American players coming along to takeover from the veterans. Team USA this year had two players over 30 (Rajsich, who'll be 38 in October, and Tisinger, 33) and one over 40 (Ruiz, 41), and their other player, Michelle Key, will be 28 next month. Rajsich and Key lost to players who will be 17 and 22, respectively, this year.

Moreover, looking at the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) rankings, outside of Rajsich and Key there are only three American players in the top 20: Da'monique Davis (18th), Adrienne Haynes (19th) and Sheryl Lotts (20th), and two of those are over 30 (both Davis & Haynes are 31; Lotts is 26).

Thus, the issue for the USA is that there are few younger American women playing high level racquetball, which doesn't bode well for the future. In their favour, Kelani Bailey, who's just graduated university this year, was on Team USA for the Pan American Championships this year, so she's a promising prospect.

But they need more than one.

IRF Rule Changes

The IRF will be changing a few rules, and those changes will be effective September 1. The three key ones are (1) that players will have only 3 appeals per game which is down from 5 a game (IRF matches can involve line judges, and a player may appeal to those line judges if the player believes the referee's call is incorrect; if the line judges both disagree with the call, then the call will be overturned), (2) players will be allowed only two minutes of rest time between game two and three, which is the same as between games one and two, and down from the current five minutes between games two and three. Finally, (3) the IRF will adopt the two serve rule, which reportedly was asked for by the players, rather than one serve that has been the rule for perhaps two decades.

Those first two rule changes seem reasonable, but we are not in agreement on players having two serves. Part of the rationale was to be consistent with the professional tours, which use the two serve rule. The pro tours also use the win by two points rule in each game, which the IRF does not use, and there's no indication the IRF are going to adopt that rule, although we'd be in favour of them doing so.

The common thought is that allowing players to have two serves will encourage them to drive serve more, which is an exciting part of racquetball. But we feel that allowing two serves hurts players with good drive serves more, as their opponents will be able to just wale on the ball in an attempt to get a lucky serve, comforted by the knowledge that if their serve is a fault, they will get a second opportunity to put the ball into play.

Good drive servers, like Paola Longoria or Mike Green, don't need two serves to be effective drive serving. But poorer drive servers will be more effective with two serves, because they are being freed up to drive serve on first serve, when they might not have done so with a one serve rule.

Moreover, poorer drive servers are likely less effective because their technique is not good. With two serves, they will likely drive serve more, and over the course of a long tournament, like the World Championships, which lasts over a week, these players could be more susceptible to injury, because they are trying to produce maximum force with poor technique.

So, for these reasons we aren't in favour of the change to two serves, but no one asked us.

18th IRF World Championships
July 15-23, 2016
Cali, Colombia

Overall Team

1st: Mexico
2nd: USA
3rd: Bolivia
4th: Canada
5th: Ecuador

Men's Team

1st: USA
2nd: Mexico
3rd: Bolivia
4th: Canada
5th: Ecuador

Women's Team

1st: Mexico
2nd: USA
3rd: Guatemala
4th: Canada
5th: Bolivia

Men's Singles

GOLD: Rocky Carson (USA)
SILVER: Daniel De La Rosa (Mexico)
BRONZE: Conrrado Moscoso (Bolivia), Samuel Murray (Canada)

Men's Doubles

GOLD: Alvaro Beltran & Javier Moreno (Mexico)
SILVER: Jake Bredenbeck & Jose Diaz (USA)
BRONZE: Alejandro Herrera & Sebastian Franco (Colombia), Kadim Carrasco & Carlos Keller (Bolivia)

Women's Singles

GOLD: Paola Longoria (Mexico)
SILVER: Gabriela Martinez (Guatemala)
BRONZE: Maria Jose Vargas (Argentina), Samantha Salas (Mexico)

Women's Doubles

GOLD: Aimee Ruiz & Janel Tisinger (USA)
SILVER: Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas Solis (Mexico)
BRONZE: Frédérique Lambert & Jennifer Saunders (Canada), Jenny Daza & Adriana Riveros (Bolivia)

Follow the bouncing ball....

USA & Mexico split doubles titles at 18th IRF World Championships

The USA and Mexico split the doubles finals at the 18th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Cali, Colombia, as Americans Aimee Ruiz and Janel Tisinger won the Women’s Doubles final and Alvaro Beltran and Javier Moreno won the Men’s Doubles final.

Ruiz and Tisinger’s title was the surprising one, as they upset three time defending Women’s Doubles champions Mexicans Paola Longoria and Samantha Salas. Two years ago Longoria and Salas beat Ruiz and Tisinger in the final. This year it was the Americans turn, as they won 15-11, 9-15, 11-8.

Afterwards, Tisinger said “I didn’t expect to be crying so much,” but it is her first World Championship. But it’s not Ruiz’s, as she won for the third time, although with the third different partner. The left-handed Ruiz has been on Team USA for the last six World Championships, and is now 3-3 in them, including playing in five finals.

Ruiz said she didn’t “have the words” to describe how she felt, but it was “nice to beat them.” Asked about the tie-breaker, Tisinger said there was “a bit of panic” as the Mexicans were coming back, but she tried to stay calm and was confident that they could win it.

And they did.

But it did not look like they would early in the match, as Mexico went up 7-1 in game one. But a timeout led to a sideout, and that produced five points, cutting the deficit to one at 7-6. The Americans then caught up to the Mexicans at 9-9, then went ahead 10-9. Mexico tied it at 10-10, but the USA got them out of the service box, and regained the lead, and maintained it, winning 15-11 when Longoria skipped a backhand shot.

Game two played out similarly early on, as Mexico led 5-1, and then USA again drew within one at 7-6. However, Mexico then took a timeout, and scored five straight points when play resumed to lead 12-6, and closed it out from there at 15-9.

Mexico got the first point of the breaker, but the USA led the rest of the way. Taking leads at 5-2, 7-3 and 10-4. However, it was a nervy finish, as Mexico fought off the first match point, then scored a few points to make it 10-7. USA got the serve back, but they couldn’t score, which led to another Mexico point and a 10-8 scoreline. USA called timeout.

When play resumed, the Americans got the serve back, as Salas framed a ball that was coming off the right side glass wall. It didn’t seem like a difficult shot, but it was coming into her body and she was taking it high. With the serve back, Ruiz again hit a lob to Longoria, as she had been doing all match. On the ensuing rally, Ruiz got a ball to hit in centre court and she hit a winning pass down the left side that ended a great match.

The Men’s Doubles final was not as dramatic, as Beltran and Moreno defeated Americans Jake Bredenbeck and Jose Diaz in two straight games, 15-12, 15-9. In game one, the Mexicans took 8-1 lead only to see the Americans come back and tie it 9-9. Then the Americans took the lead at 12-9. But the veteran Mexican team, who had two World Doubles title together previously, held the young Americans at 12, as they came back to take game one 15-12 with the winning shot by Beltran that ended one of the numerous long rallies in the match.

Game two was similar, as Mexico took an early, but not large, lead, with the USA tying it at 6-6. But that was as close as the USA got, as Mexico went out to a 11-6 advantage. The Americans did get within two at 11-9, but they seemed to be just delaying the inevitable, as Beltran again hit the game winning shot.

The win is Moreno’s fourth Men’s Doubles Championship, which is the most for a men’s player. He first won back in 2000 with Luis Bustilos, which was the first non-USA team to win the title. Moreno’s other two title have been with Beltran: in 2006 and 2012.

The IRF will be posting the video of the finals, as well as earlier matches, on their YouTube channel in the coming days, so if you missed seeing them live, you can check them out there.

18th IRF World Championships
July 15-23, 2016
Cali, Colombia

Women's Doubles - Final

2) Aimee Ruiz & Janel Tisinger (USA) d. 1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas (Mexico), 15-11, 9-15, 11-8

Men's Doubles - Final

2) Alvaro Beltran & Javier Moreno (Mexico) d. 1) Jake Bredenbeck & Jose Diaz (USA), 15-12, 15-9

Follow the bouncing ball....

Carson & Longoria are IRF World Champions

Repetition is often key in sports, and there was repetition in the singles finals at the 18th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Cali, Colombia, as both defending champions won again. Women’s Singles Champion Paola Longoria of Mexico won for the third time in a row, and Men’s Singles Champion Rocky Carson won his fifth consecutive title. Carson’s win extended his record number of championships, while Longoria’s three title tie her with Americans Michelle Gould and Cheryl Gudinas.

In the women’s final, Longoria defeated Ana Gabriela Martinez of Guatemala, who at only 17 years old, was a surprise finalist, 15-12, 15-5. Longoria and Martinez also played in the group stage of the tournament, which Longoria won comfortably. But the final was so comfortable, as Martinez was close with Longoria in game one.

They were tied at 5-5, but then Longoria went ahead to 10-6. However, Martinez didn’t quit, as she drew within two at 12-10 and 13-11 before Longoria closed it out at 15-12. Unusually, on the game point Longoria lob served, and hit a forehand winner on the third shot of the rally. That was unusual, because Longoria generally drive serves on every serve, and that was her strategy for most of the match, but not on that game point.

In game two, Longoria got an early lead at 3-0 and 6-2, and Martinez was never closer than four points after that, as Longoria won her third Women’s Singles World Championship in two straight games.

Carson defeated Mexican Daniel De La Rosa, 15-12, 5-15, 11-5, in the Men’s Singles final. Carson led throughout game one, although De La Rosa drew within two down 13-11. Game two started slowly, as they were still tied 4-4 after 27 rallies.

But then De La Rosa won the next seven rallies to lead 11-4. Carson took a timeout at 7-4, but to no avail. De La Rosa went on to take game two comfortably at 15-5. His strategy seemed to be to make Carson do a lot of work, as De La Rosa hit a lot of ceiling balls. Usually, it’s Carson being patient versus an opponent, but the tables seemed to be turned in game two.

In the breaker, De La Rosa got the early lead at 2-0, but after they were tied at 3-3, Carson went out to an 8-4 lead, and he didn’t look back from there. There were some calls that went Carson’s way, but when the difference is six points, it’s difficult to say that those calls were the difference. Carson got the match point on an forehand overhead cross court shot that De La Rosa couldn’t retrieve.

Thus, over 18 IRF World Championships, Rocky Carson has won 5 Men’s Singles titles, or almost a third of them. It’s an incredible record.

The IRF will be posting match videos to their YouTube channel, so if you missed the final, you’ll be able to watch it there.

18th IRF World Championships
July 15-23, 2016
Cali, Colombia

Women's Singles - Final

1) Paola Longoria (Mexico) d. 15) Ana Gabriela Martinez (Guatemala), 15-12, 15-5

Men’s Singles - Final

1) Rocky Carson (USA) d. 10) Daniel De La Rosa (Mexico), 15-11, 5-15, 11-5

Follow the bouncing ball....