Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velocity and control. Unlike most racquet sports, such as tennis and badminton, there is no net to hit the ball over, and, unlike squash, no tin to hit the ball above. Also, the court's walls, floor, and ceiling are legal playing surfaces, with the exception of court-specific designated hinders being out-of-bounds. Racquetball is played between various players on a team who try to bounce the ball with the racquet onto the ground so it hits the wall, so that an opposing team’s player cannot bounce it back to the wall.
The World Racquetball Championships is the top international racquetball competition organized by the International Racquetball Federation (IRF).
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.
Álvaro Beltrán, is a Mexican professional racquetball player. Beltrán is the current International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champion in Men's Doubles with Daniel De La Rosa, winning the title in 2022 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. He was the second man to win both Men's Singles and Men's Doubles at the Racquetball World Championships. His six world titles tie him for 3rd most in IRF history. Beltran has been a top 10 player on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) for 18 seasons.
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.
Jose Rojas is a professional racquetball player. Rojas's highest ranking is #3 on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT), which he was at the end of the 2011–12 season. At the end of the 2014–15 season, Rojas was #6, which was his sixth time in the IRT top 10 at season's end. Rojas has represented the USA several times in international competition, and been a gold medalist three times.
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.
Daniel de la Rosa is a Mexican racquetball and pickleball player. De La Rosa is the current International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champion in Men's doubles, winning the title in 2022 in his home city of San Luis Potosí, Mexico. He's won seven times on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT), including the 2021 US Open. De La Rosa is the first Mexican player to win the US Open, and he was the second Mexican player to win an IRT Tier 1 event.
Carla Muñoz Montesinos is a Chilean professional racquetball player. She has won multiple medals, including the three consecutive gold medals in the USA Racquetball National Intercollegiate Championships in 2016, 2017, and 2018. In 2014, Munoz was awarded Best Racquetball Player of the Year by the Chilean Journalist Association. She plays for the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour and is currently ranked #10 in the world.
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.
Racquetball at the 2009 World Games.
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.
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.
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.
Ed Andrews (USA)
Martin Padilla (MEX)
Roger Harripersad (CAN)
Andrés Acuña (CRC)
Netherlands (NED)
Angela Grisar (CHI)
Cristina Amaya (COL)
Gabriela Martinez (GUA)
Angélica Barrios (BOL)