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Nationality | Colombian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Cali, Colombia | October 28, 1988|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Racquetball | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Highest world ranking | 5th | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Cristina Amaya (born October 28, 1988) is a Colombian racquetball player. Amaya finished the 2017-18 Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) season as the 8th ranked player, which was her eighth consecutive season in the top 10 (first was the 2010-11 season). She was the third South American player to be in the women's pro top 10 after Angela Grisar and Veronica Sotomayor.
Amaya has been playing the women's pro tour since 2009. [1] She has reached the finals twice. First, Amaya was in the final of the 2013 Abierto Mexicano de Racquetas tournament, where she lost to Paola Longoria, and most recently, she was a finalist in the 2017 New Jersey Open, [2] when she again lost to Longoria. Amaya's career high ranking was 3rd in December 2013. She was named Most Improved LPRT player for 2013. [3]
Amaya and Adriana Riveros were finalists in Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour Doubles at the 2017 US Open Racquetball Championships, losing to Paola Longoria and Gabriela Martinez, 15-5, 15-8. [4]
In 2017, Amaya won Women's Singles at the 2017 Bolivarian Games in Santa Marta, Colombia, and her performance helped Colombia get bronze in the team event. Four years earlier, Amaya was a bronze medalist in Women's Singles, as well as silver medalist in Women's Doubles - with Carolina Gomez - and Women's Team at the 2013 Bolivarian Games in Trujillo, Peru.
Amaya plays for Colombia and was a silver medalist at the 2013 World Games, losing in a tie-breaker to Paola Longoria in the final.
She has earned three bronze medals at the Pan American Championships. Her first was in 2014 Pan Am Championships in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where she lost in the semi-finals to Susana Acosta, 15-10, 14-15, 11-7. [5] In 2015, Amaya was a semi-finalist in both Women's Singles, losing to Veronica Sotomayor of Ecuador, 15-3, 15-8, [6] and Woman's Doubles with Vivian Gomez, losing to Mexicans Longoria and Samantha Salas, 15-6, 15-3. [6]
The Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour is the latest name for the women's professional racquetball tour. It features the world's best players and several events each season - running from September to May - that are mostly played in the USA.
Cheryl Gudinas is an American retired racquetball player. Gudinas won three [www.internationalracquetball.com International Racquetball Federation] (IRF) World Championships in Women’s Singles, and was the #1 player on the women's pro racquetball tour from 2000-2004, finishing in the top 10 on tour a record 21 seasons.
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 Singles and the Team event, winning both divisions at the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) 2024 World Championships in San Antonio, Texas. 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.
Jennifer "Jen" Saunders is a Canadian retired racquetball player from Winnipeg, Manitoba. In her last Canadian Championships in 2019, Saunders won both Women's Singles, for a record extending 11th time, and Women's Doubles, for a 13th time. Her 11 Canadian Women's Singles Championships and 24 combined Canadian Women's Singles and Doubles Championships are Canadian women's records. Saunders was the 2009 Manitoba Female Athlete of the Year as voted by the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. Saunders announced her retirement from competition in December 2019, as she accepted the position of Administrator of High Performance and Sport Development with Racquetball Canada. In July 2020, Saunders was named as one of the 2020 inductees into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.
Samantha Salas Solís is a Mexican racquetball player. Salas is the current World Champion in both Women's Doubles - winning that title for a fifth time with Paola Longoria at the 2022 World Championships in San Luis Potosí, Mexico - and Mixed Doubles with Rodrigo Montoya. She is also the current Pan American Games Champion in Women's Doubles, winning that title with Longoria for a third consecutive time in 2019 in Lima. Salas was the second Mexican woman to finish in the top 10 rankings on the women's pro tour, doing so at the end of the 2006–07 season. Salas was ranked 3rd at the end of the 2019-20 Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) season, which was her tenth season in the top 10.
Angela Grisar is a Chilean retired racquetball player. She was the first South American woman's racquetball player to finish in the top 10 on the women's pro tour, doing so six straight seasons. She won numerous medals for Chile in international competitions, including at four International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships and three Pan American Games.
Susana Acosta is a Mexican racquetball player. A left handed player, Acosta has won several gold medals for Mexico, including at the 2003 Pan American Games. She's also played on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) and been ranked as high as 4th.
María José Vargas is a Bolivian-born Argentine racquetball player. She is the current Pan American Champion in Women's Singles, Women's Doubles, as well as the Women's Team event. Vargas is also the current South American Racquetball Champion in Women's Singles and Doubles. Vargas has ten wins on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT), and was the LPRT's #1 player in 2023-24.
Frédérique Lambert is a Canadian racquetball player. Lambert is the current Canadian Champion in Women's Singles and Women's Doubles, and has won eleven Canadian Championships: six in Women's Singles and five in Women's Doubles. She has been a member of the Canadian National Team since 2008, and has won several medals in international competitions, including a silver medal in Mixed Doubles at the 2022 World Championships. Lambert was the #2 ranked player in back to back Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) seasons: 2016-17 and 2017-18.
Michelle Key is an American racquetball player. Key is the current Pan American Champion in Mixed Doubles. She also has two medals from the Pan American Games. She earned silver in the Women's Team event in Toronto in 2015 and bronze in the Women's Team event in Santiago in 2023. Key was ranked 7th at the end of the 2014-15 Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) season.
This topic lists the racquetball events for 2017.
This topic lists the racquetball events for 2018.
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 the current Pan American Champion in Women's Doubles and the Women's Team event, winning those titles with Maria Jose Vargas. Mendez has also medaled at the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships as well as the Pan American Games.
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.
Montserrat Mejía is a Mexican racquetball player. Mejía is the current World Champion in Women's Doubles, and helped Mexico win gold in the Women's Team event at the 2024 World Championships in San Antonio, Texas. She finished #1 on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour in 2022–23, becoming the second Mexican to do so after Paola Longoria.
Alexandra Herrera is a Mexican racquetball player. She is the current World Champion in Women's Doubles. A left-handed player, Herrera was the #2 player on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour in 2020-21 and again in 2021–22, two of her nine seasons in the LPRT top 10.
Erika Manilla is an American racquetball player. Manilla is the current Pan American Games Champion in Mixed Doubles, winning gold with her brother Adam at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. She also won doubles at the 2022 US Open Racquetball Championships with Natalia Mendez, and has won six USA Racquetball (USAR) National titles.