XX Racquetball World Championships - 2021 - | |
Host | Guatemala City |
Dates | November 29-December 6, 2021 |
Men's singles | |
Gold | Alejandro Landa |
Silver | Andrés Acuña |
Bronze | Mario Mercado Conrrado Moscoso |
Women's singles | |
Gold | Paola Longoria |
Silver | Kelani Lawrence |
Bronze | Rhonda Rajsich Natalia Méndez |
Men's doubles | |
Gold | Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya |
Silver | Koko Keller & Conrrado Moscoso |
Bronze | Charlie Pratt & Alejandro Landa Mario Mercado & Andrés Gómez |
Women's doubles | |
Gold | Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas |
Silver | Rhonda Rajsich & Erika Manilla |
Bronze | María Renée Rodríguez & Gabriela Martínez Natalia Méndez & Valeria Centellas |
The International Racquetball Federation's 20th Racquetball World Championships was held in Guatemala City, Guatemala from November 29-December 6, 2021. [1] The event was to be held in the summer of 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic led to the postponement of the event.
The 2021 World Racquetball Championships were the racquetball qualifying event for the 2022 World Games.
The defending champions were Rodrigo Montoya of Mexico in Men's Singles, Gabriela Martínez of Guatemala in Women's Singles, Mexicans Álvaro Beltrán and Daniel de la Rosa in Men's Doubles, and Bolivians Valeria Centellas and Yasmine Sabja in Women's Doubles. Mexico swept the team standings, topping the Men's, [2] Women's [3] and Overall [4] standings.
The 2021 World Championships used a two-stage format to determine the World Champions. Initially, players competed in separate groups over three days. The results were used to seed players for an elimination round. Thus, there was no team competition. Team standings were based on points earned from the singles and doubles competitions.
* Host nation (Guatemala)
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mexico (MEX) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
2 | United States (USA) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
3 | Bolivia (BOL) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Costa Rica (CRC) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
5 | Colombia (COL) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
6 | Argentina (ARG) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Guatemala (GUA)* | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Totals (7 entries) | 4 | 4 | 6 | 14 |
Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Alejandro Landa | 3 | 15 | 11 | ||||||||||
Conrrado Moscoso | 15 | 8 | 6 | ||||||||||
Alejandro Landa [5] | 15 | 15 | |||||||||||
Andrés Acuña | 6 | 6 | |||||||||||
Mario Mercado | 15 | 12 | 9 | ||||||||||
Andrés Acuña | 12 | 15 | 11 |
Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Paola Longoria | 15 | 15 | |||||||||||
Natalia Méndez | 10 | 1 | |||||||||||
Paola Longoria [6] | 15 | 15 | |||||||||||
Kelani Lawrence | 6 | 1 | |||||||||||
Kelani Lawrence | 15 | 15 | |||||||||||
Rhonda Rajsich | 12 | 7 |
Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya | 15 | 15 | |||||||||||
Charlie Pratt & Alejandro Landa | 2 | 13 | |||||||||||
Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya [7] | 15 | 15 | |||||||||||
Koko Keller & Conrrado Moscoso | 10 | 9 | |||||||||||
Koko Keller & Conrrado Moscoso | 15 | 15 | |||||||||||
Mario Mercado & Andrés Gómez | 1 | 5 |
Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas | 15 | 15 | |||||||||||
María Renée Rodríguez & Ana Gabriela Martínez | 9 | 4 | |||||||||||
Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas [8] | 15 | 15 | |||||||||||
Rhonda Rajsich & Erika Manilla | 14 | 6 | |||||||||||
Rhonda Rajsich & Erika Manilla | 6 | 15 | 11 | ||||||||||
Natalia Méndez & Valeria Centellas | 15 | 9 | 8 |
Place | Country |
---|---|
1 | United States [9] |
2 | Mexico |
3 | Bolivia |
4 | Costa Rica |
Place | Country |
---|---|
1 | Mexico [9] |
2 | United States |
3 | Argentina |
4 | Guatemala |
Place | Country |
---|---|
1 | United States [9] |
2 | Mexico |
3 | Bolivia |
4 | Argentina |
Place | Player | Country |
---|---|---|
1 | Alejandro Landa | United States |
2 | Andres Acuña | Costa Rica |
3 | Mario Mercado | Colombia |
4 | Conrrado Moscoso | Bolivia |
5 | Jake Bredenbeck | United States |
6 | Andres Parrilla | Mexico |
7 | José Daniel Ugalde | Ecuador |
8 | Juan José Salvatierra | Guatemala |
9 | Rodrigo Montoya | Mexico |
10 | Diego Garcia | Argentina |
11 | Felipe Camacho | Costa Rica |
12 | Shai Manzuri | Argentina |
13 | Kim Mingyu | South Korea |
14 | Ken Cottrell | Ireland |
15 | Lee Gunhee | South Korea |
16 | Eóin Tynan | Ireland |
Place | Player | Country |
---|---|---|
1 | Paola Longoria | Mexico |
2 | Kelani Lawrence | United States |
3 | Rhonda Rajsich | United States |
4 | Natalia Mendez | Argentina |
5 | Angélica Barrios | Bolivia |
6 | Gabriela Martínez | Guatemala |
7 | Samantha Salas | Mexico |
8 | Maria Renee Rodriguez | Guatemala |
9 | Carla Muñoz | Chile |
10 | Maria Jose Vargas | Argentina |
11 | Cristina Amaya | Colombia |
12 | Michèle Morissette | Canada |
13 | Sumin Lee | South Korea |
14 | Aisling Hickey | Ireland |
15 | Majella Haverty | Ireland |
16 | Ayako Hanashi | Japan |
Rhonda Rajsich is an American racquetball player. She has been World Champion in Women's Singles twice, and Pan American Champion 6 times, as well as US Open champion four times. Rajsich was the #1 player on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour season ending rankings four times – three straight seasons from 2005–06 to 2007-08 and then again in 2010–11. She is of Serbian descent.
Paola Michelle Longoria López is a Mexican racquetball player. She is the current Women's World Champion in both Singles and Doubles, winning both divisions at the 2022 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in San Luis Potosi. Longoria is the winningest player in IRF World Championship history, and she is the only woman to win both singles and doubles at Worlds. Longoria is also the #1 player on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) tour, and was the first Mexican woman to attain the #1 pro ranking, doing so at the end of the 2008–09 season. She repeated the feat at the end of 2009–2010 season, and has been #1 for ten consecutive seasons. Longoria's style is characterized by a semi-western grip of the racquet, which is unusual for racquetball; Longoria is the only pro player using this grip style.
The Pan American Racquetball Championships are held annually in the spring with play ending on the day before Easter. Originally called the Tournament of the Americas, the Pan American Championships are hosted by the Pan American Racquetball Confederation.
María José Vargas is a Bolivian-born Argentine racquetball player. She is the current Pan American Champion in Women's Doubles, as well as part of the Women's Team Pan Am Champions and the current South American Racquetball Champion in Women's Singles and Doubles. Vargas has five wins on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT), and has finished in the top 10 seven times - five of those were within the top three with her career best coming in 2014-15, when she finished #2.
The International Racquetball Federation's 17th Racquetball World Championships were held in Burlington, Ontario, Canada from June 14 to 21, 2014. This was the second time Worlds were in Canada. Previously, they were in Montreal in 1992.
Sebastian Franco is a Colombian racquetball player. Franco is a former International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champion in Men's Doubles, winning the title in 2014 with Alejandro Herrera. In 2018, Franco became the first South American to win a tournament on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT), when he won the March Madness event in San Antonio. He finished the IRT's Top 10 four straight seasons – from 2015–16 to 2018–19 – with a career high ranking of 6th in 2017–18.
The International Racquetball Federation's 19th Racquetball World Championships were held in San José, Costa Rica from August 10–18, 2018. Originally, the event was to be held in Haining, China, but on March 17, 2018, the IRT announced via its Facebook page that the venue will be changed due to complications. Cali, Colombia was the first alternative choice, but there were complications there as well, so on June 16, 2018, the IRF announced via Facebook that San José, Costa Rica will host Worlds.
The 2019 Pan American Racquetball Championships took place in Barranquilla, Colombia from April 12–20 at the Parque de Racquetas La Castellana, which was used for the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games. Bolivia won both Men's Singles and Doubles for the 1st time in tournament history, while Mexico won both Women's Singles and Doubles for the 5th time.
Gabriela Martinez is a Guatemalan racquetball player. Martinez is the current Pan American Games Champion in women's doubles. She is a former International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champion in the women's singles, winning the title at the 2018 World Championships. Martinez has competed on the Guatemala National Team at international tournaments since 2012, garnering many medals across her career.
Natalia Mendez is a Bolivian-born Argentine racquetball player. She is the current South American Champion in Women's Doubles and was the 2022 Pan American Champion in Women's Doubles, winning both titles with Maria Jose Vargas. Mendez has medaled at the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships as well as the Pan American Games.
Conrrado Moscoso is a Bolivian racquetball player. He is the current International Racquetball Federation (IRF) Men's Singles World Champion, which he won at the 2022 Racquetball World Championships in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Moscoso is the first Bolivian and first South American man to win an IRF World Championship in singles. Moscoso is also the current two time Pan American Champion in Men's Singles as well as the Pan American Champion in Mixed Doubles. Moscoso has won multiple medals for Bolivia, including several gold medals, including gold in the Men's Team event at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. That was the first gold medal won by Bolivia in any sport at the Pan American Games. Moscoso has also won multiple times on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT), and cracked the IRT top 10 in 2019–20.
Carlos Keller is a Bolivian racquetball player. Keller was on the Bolivian Men's Team that won back to back gold medals at the Pan American Games in 2019 and 2023. Their first gold medal at the 2019 games in Lima, Peru was Bolivia's first racquetball gold medal at the Pan Am Games, and they successfully defended that gold at the 2023 Games in Santiago, Chile. He was also part of the Bolivian men's team that won gold at the 2022 Pan American Racquetball Championships, which was Keller's third gold medal at Pan Am Championships to go with his two Men's Singles titles, won in 2018 and 2019.
Mario Mercado is a Bolivian-born Colombian racquetball player. He has won several medals for Colombia, highlighted by a silver medal at the 2019 Pan American Games in the men's team event. He has also won on the International Racquetball Tour.
The International Racquetball Federation's 20th Racquetball World Championships were held in Guatemala City, Guatemala from November 26 to December 6. This is the first time Worlds have been in Guatemala, and the second consecutive time a Central American country has hosted the event after Costa Rica in 2018.
The International Racquetball Federation's 20th Racquetball World Championships were held in Guatemala City, Guatemala from November 26 to December 6. This is the first time Worlds have been in Guatemala, and the second consecutive time a Central American country has hosted the event after Costa Rica in 2018.
Rodrigo Montoya is a Mexican racquetball player. He is the current International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champion in both the Men's Team competition and Mixed Doubles, winning those titles at the 2022 Championships in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. That was his 4th IRF World Championship, as he won the 2018 Men's Singles in Costa Rica and the 2021 Men's Doubles with Javier Mar in Guatemala City, so Montoya is the first player to win singles, doubles and mixed doubles at Worlds. He is also the current Pan American Games champion in both Men's Singles and Doubles with Mar, winning those events at the 2019 Pan Am Games in Lima. Montoya is the current Pan American Champion in Men's Doubles, winning that title with Eduardo Portillo at the 2023 Pan American Racquetball Championships in Guatemala City.
Angélica Barrios is a Bolivian racquetball player. Barrios is the current Pan American Champion in Mixed Doubles, winning the title at the 2023 Pan American Racquetball Championships in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and a former Pan Am Champion in Women's Singles. She is also the first Bolivian to win a medal at the World Games, as she won bronze at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama.
The International Racquetball Federation's 21st Racquetball World Championships were held at the La Loma Centro Deportivo in San Luis Potosí, Mexico from August 20–27, 2022.
Montserrat Mejía is a Mexican racquetball player. She finished #1 on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour in 2022–23, becoming the second Mexican to do so after Paola Longoria. Mejía is the current Pan American Champion in both Women's Singles and Doubles.
Andrés Acuña is a Costa Rican racquetball player. He is the current World Games champion in racquetball, winning gold at the 2022 World Games, in Birmingham, Alabama. Acuña was runner up at the 2021 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) 2021 World Championships in Men's Singles in Guatemala.