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World Juniors 2025 Recap

Camila Rivero continues her dominance of World Juniors 21U, winning her third straight title. Photo via deportes de Bolviia

So, I’m a little behind on this one. World Juniors was in mid December in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and to be completely honest the timing of the event along with the timing of other events I cover, as well as a mid-December work trip and then mid-December holiday travel completely conspired against me having any shot of doing the massive amount of work required to enter the data for World Juniors, nor to recap it until now.

However, this is one of the most important events of the year to cover, because it’s often the first time we hear about top-level juniors coming from Bolivia and Mexico who might suddenly start getting wins in the pro tours. It’s also a great way to see how the other leading countries’ juniors are stacking up.

So, with that said, lets recap. We’ll list all the singles winners, then do some quick narrative discussion by division.

Here’s the “matrix reports” of Boys and Girls Junior Worlds champions historically:

– Boys: https://rball.pro/ff5caa

– Girls: https://rball.pro/t6e

Champions were crowned in Singles, Doubles, and Mixed Doubles in six age groups: 21U, 18U, 16U, 14U, 12U, and 10U, as well as a team competition, meaning that in essence this tournament actually held 30 separate competitions. All 30 competitions are now in the database; If you see any typos, or name corrections, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Reminder: as a practice, Pro Racquetball Stats does not capture full draws for any groups younger than 14yr olds; for the 12s, 10s, and younger we just capture the champions for historical reporting. Junior Doubles only has the gold medal match, not the full draws. If you’d like to see more data than this for juniors in the database, reach out and I’ll guide you on doing data entry.

Congratulations to your 2025 World Junior champions:

Boys Singles:

– Boys 21U: Jhonathan Flores, Bolivia

– Boys 18U: Marco Mamani Aguilar, Bolivia

– Boys 16U: Santiago Borja, Bolivia

– Boys 14U: Hanz Vega, Bolivia

– Boys 12U: Max Soto, Mexico

– Boys 10U: Damian Gracia Castro, Mexico

Summary: Bolivia takes 4 of the 6 Boys titles. Not one final included a player from outside Bolivia & Mexico. Furthermore, and even more shocking, there was just one player from outside Mexico/Bolivia to even make the SEMIS in any of these draws. The dominance in World Juniors of these two countries is unlike anything we’ve seen since the old days, when every final was a rematch of the USA Junior National finals.

Girls Singles:

– Girls 21U: Camila Rivero, Bolivia

– Girls 18U: Yanna Salazar, Mexico

– Girls 16U: Luciana Illanes Quenta, Bolivia

– Girls 14U: Larissa Faeth, Costa Rica

– Girls 12U: Mary Hinojosa Garcia, Bolivia

– Girls 10U: Briana Ampuero, Bolivia

Summary: Bolivia takes 4 of the 6 Girls Singles titles, and we get the first singles titlist from outside the big two countries.

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Boys Doubles:

– Boys 21U: Sebastian Hernandez/Jorge Gutierrez, Mexico

– Boys 18U: Eder Renteria/Diego Romano, Mexico

– Boys 16U: Santiago Borja/Sebastian Terrazas, Bolivia

– Boys 14U: Alejandro Robles Picon/Elias Medrano, Mexico

– Boys 12U: Max Soto/Hermann Gracia, Mexico

– Boys 10U: Juan Ignacio Morales/Benjamin Lino Daza, Bolivia

Summary: Mexico takes 4 of the 6 Boys doubles titles, while Bolivia takes the other two. There’s some penetration from other countries into the back ends of the doubles draws, but it continues to be Mexico/Bolivia dominated.

Girls Doubles:

– Girls 21U: Valeria Miranda Martinez / Rebecca Amaya Ardaya, Bolivia

– Girls 18U: Yanna Salazar/Mariafernanda Trujillo, Mexico

– Girls 16U: Larissa Faeth/Guliana Faeth, Costa Rica

– Girls 14U: Adriana Bazan / Valentina Villarroel Garzon, Bolivia

– Girls 12U: Sofia Rocabado / Mary Hinojosa Garcia, Bolivia

– Girls 10U: Montserrat Mercado / Briana Ampuero, Bolivia

Summary, as in 2025, Bolivia takes 4 of the 6 Girls doubles titles, while Larissa Faeth leads the charge for Costa Rica to break through the Bolivia/Mexico dominance.

Mixed Doubles:

– Mixed 21U: DJ Mendoza/Naomi Ros, USA

– Mixed 18U: Nicolas Galindo / Yanna Salazar, Mexico

– Mixed 16U: Santiago Borja/Suszel Andrea Pairo , Bolivia

– Mixed 14U: Gustavo Cordova / Valentina Villarroel Garzon, Bolivia

– Mixed 12U: Dylan Zambrana / Mary Hinojosa Garcia, Bolivia

– Mixed 10U: Benjamin Lino Daza / Briana Ampuero, Bolivia

Summary: Bolivia takes 4 of the 6 Mixed doubles titles, all of them the youngest of the six. Team USA gets its sole win of 2025, and Costa Rica’s Faeth is robbed of a triple crown by losing in the Mixed 16U final.

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Grand total of Titles won by Country:

– Bolivia: 18 of 30

– Mexico: 9 of 30

– Costa Rica: 2 of 30

– USA: 1 of 30

Bolivia has taken over Junior Racquetball in a strong way.

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Triple Crown Winners:

– Boys 16U: Santiago Borja, Bolivia

– Girls 18U: Yanna Salazar, Mexico

– Girls 12U: Mary Hinojosa Garcia, Bolivia

– Girls 10U: Briana Ampuero, Bolivia

Double Gold Winners:

– Boys 12U: Max Soto, Mexico; Singles and Boys Doubles

– Girls 14U: Larissa Faeth, Costa Rica: Singles and Girls Doubles

– Boys 10U: Benjamin Lino Daza, Bolivia: Boys and Mixed

– Girls 14U: Valentina Villarroel Garzon, Bolivia: Girls and Mixed

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Team Winners of the older competitions (16U and up)

– Boys Team: Bolivia 1, Mexico 2, USA 3, Costa Rica 4

– Girls Team: Bolivia 1, Mexico 2, USA 3, Guatemala 4

– Combined Team: Bolivia 1, Mexico 2, USA 3, Guatemala 4, just edging out Costa Rica by 6 points for 4th.

Team winners of the Esprit divisions (14U and down)

– Boys Esprit Cup: Bolivia 1, Mexico 2, USA 3

– Girls Espirit Cup: Bolivia 1, Mexico 2, USA 3

– Combined Espirit Cup: Bolivia 1, Mexico 2, USA 3. Ecuador was 4th in all three divisions.

A clean sweep of the Team Cups for Bolivia, to no real surprise.

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Every singles and doubles draw has a match report in the database that you can run: instead of repeating dozens of links we’ll give some examples here. Any Singles age group 14 and up will have the full RR and knockout draws, while any Singles age group 12U and below will just have the finals. All Doubles have just the finals.

Surf to www.proracquetballstats.com, click on either Juniors or “Junior Doubles” database, then at the very top you can pull down a match report. You can also run a number of different reports for singles and doubles.

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Let’s run through the Singles draws and provide some commentary.

Boy’s 21U Singles: After a completely clean round-robin, with basically no upsets of any of the top 10-12 seeds, we got a relatively true knockout phase highlighted with the top four seeds from Bolivia and Mexico. The two team USA players fell in the quarters to the two top seeds. In the semis, the two Bolivian players Flores and Iglesias topped their Mexican rivals, ensuring an all-Bolivia u21 final and a rematch of the Bolivian U21 national championship. There Flores finished off the win, taking the U21 title in his first year of eligibility after winning the last two U18 titles, and doing it without dropping a game. It is Flores’ 5th Junior World title, and he seems set to run the U21 table for the next couple of years as well.

Boy’s 18U Singles: Marco Mamani Aguilar, the 16U world champ two years ago, returned to the top of the podium in his first year of 18U. He and fellow Bolivian Sebastian Terrazas (who won the 16U title last year) both were in the DR for this event, but Terrazas fell to Mexico’s Eder Renteria to prevent an all-Bolivia final. Aguilar finished off another solid World title with a 3-game sweep of Renteria in the final.

Boys 16U Singles: Costa Rica’s Alvaro Guillen became the first from outside Bolivia/Mexico to break through into the semis with an upset of #3 seed Mexican Axel Sanchez in the quarters, but Bolivia’s Alfredo Santiago Borja blew through the draw and took the 16U title after winning the last two 14U World Junior titles. He beat Mexica’s Santiago Castillo in the final, who got there by the skin of his teeth with a 16-14 Game 5 win in the semis over the Bolivia #2 Ruiz Michel.

Boys 14U: 14U and below played Olympic style brackets (Gold, Red, Blue, White) and did not limit participants to 2-per-country, meaning a massive gold draw with 4-5 participants from some countries. This also meant that top seeds gifted to players by virtue of their predecessors performance were exposed early. Both the #2 and #4 seeds from Costa Rica were ousted in the first round, as were the two USA entrants. By the time the semis rolled around, we were back to two Bolivia-Mexico matchups, as has been the pattern in the older boys divisions. Alejandro Robles Picon, American converted to represent Mexico and World 10U champ in 2021, was upset in the semis by Vega in five. The final was (presumably) a rematch of the Bolivian 14U final, taken by newcomer Hanz Vega over his countryman and #1 seed Gustavo Cordova, coming back from 2 games down to win 15-13 in the fifth, an amazing match.

In Boys 12U, it came down to the two top seeds and another Mexico-Bolivia battle. In the final, Mexico’s Max Soto got his first world junior title, beating Bolivian Santiago Cruz Arteaga in three. Arteaga was the 2023 10U world champion. 2024’s 10U world champion was inexplicably seeded 29th in the draw (Bolivia’s Vincent Riveros) and lost first round to Mexico’s Hermann Gracia (the 2022 10U champ). Definitely something to watch, having so many Junior World champs in one age bracket moving forward.

In Boys 10U, Mexico’s Damien Gracia Castro took out the #1 Bolivian Mateo Crespo, then another Bolivian along the way before beating his countryman Daniel Rodriguez in an all-Mexican final

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Girls 21U: Bolivia’s Camila Rivero blew through the draw and won her third straight U21 World Junior Title. Inexplicably, despite being the 2-time defending champ, she was only seeded 2nd in the draw. Make that one make sense. She beat USA’s reigning U21 and reigning National champ Naomi Ros in the quarters, topped the upstart Guatemalan Andrea Gabriela Reyes in the semis, then beat her countrywoman Rebecca Amaya Ardaya in the final to claim the title. She’s still got one year left in U21 and could go for an unprecedented 4-peat in 2026.

Girls 18U: Yanna Salazar repeated as Junior world 18U champ from the #3 seed spot thanks to her loss to Mariafernanda Trujillo in Mexican Junior Nationals last July. Nonetheless, she powered through both Bolivian entrants in the semis and finals to take the crown.

Girls 16U: newcomer Bolivian Luciana Illanes Quenta dominated the draw from start to finish, beating Mexico’s Andrea Perez-Picon in the final. Perez-Picon upset the top seed and favorite, Bolivian Nicol Abril Mansilla in the semis to break up the all-Bolivian final. Of note: Mansilla played in both 16U and 18U, losing in the semis of 16U and the finals of 18U.

Girls 14U: Costa Rican Larissa Faeth, who jsut got her first LPRT tour win at the Arizona Open a couple of weeks ago, repeated as World Junior 14U titleist. She beat Mexico’s best in the semis and Bolivia’s best in the final. For reasons inexplicable, she was only seeded 5th in the draw despite winning last year. Yes, I realize the seeds are done by country, and by last year’s country finish, but not having a repeating champion in the top spot tells me your seeding criteria is wrong. This has been a problem with IRF seeding for decades, nothing new.

Girls 12U: Bolivia’s Mary Hinojosa Garcia repeated as 12U world juniors champion, topping countrymate Sofia Rocabado in the final. All four semi-finalists in this draw were from Bolivia.

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Phew! Ok well if you’ve read this far, here’s some thoughts. Mexico still maintained control of the Junior categories last year for the most part, but Bolivia took a huge step forward this year. Meanwhile, former blue blood countries in the sport USA and Canada were generally nowhere to be found as the sport’s growth continues to concentrate south of the border.

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2026 LPRT Arizona Open Recap

Costa Rican junior phenom takes the Pro/Am Doubles and gets a win in the main draw. Photo via RG Deportes

Congrats to your Pro winners on the weekend:

– Singles: Maria Jose Vargas

– Doubles: Montse Mejia & Alexandra Herrera

– Pro/Am Doubles: Natalia Mendez & Larissa Faeth

TL/DR Executive Summary: Vargas wins again, in dominant fashion, never truly challenged in this event. She’s now won 5 of the last 6 LPRT events and is starting to truly take over on tour. See https://rball.pro/499ce2 for a list of all finals to see how dominant Vargas has been as of late.

Meanwhile, the Mejia/Herrera doubles team won their third straight doubles title, and should be near returning to the top. See https://rball.pro/4d751c for all LPRT doubles finals.

R2 Sports App home page for event: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=47436

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Let’s review the notable matches in the Singles draw.

Singles Match report in the PRS database: https://rball.pro/4d751c

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In the 32s

– Acosta played her second event of the season, her 28th on tour.

– Recently elected USAR hall of famer @rhonda rajsich played, beating NorCal’s Erica Williams in the first round before being relegated to referee duty in the 16s.

– Costa Rican’ junior phenom Larissa Faeth got a solid win over MRR before falling to Herrera. Faeth is the 2-time defending 14U junior world Champion and has also been representing CR in Adult events, and per insiders seems to really have what it takes to make a splash on tour, and soon.

– We got a rare appearance from Lucia Gonzalez, who won a slew of Junior World titles in her career (7 in total, plus all her Mexican junior titles), but whose pro career never materialized. She took out Stephanie Synhorst before falling to Gaby 12,4.

– Manilla continued her comeback efforts, blasting Mexican veteran Nancy Enriquez before falling to #2 Mejia.

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In the 16s:

– Annie Sanchez got her best career win, and her first pro quarterfinal, topping Colombian turned Italian Cristina Amaya.

– Carla Munoz, who has slipped in the rankings after taking a few events off mid 2025, got a solid win over #5 Mendez to push back towards the top 10

– York pushed Centellas in the 7/10 match before ultimately falling 10,12

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In the Quarters, seeds took over, as all top four seeds won. Longoria had the hardest go of it, having to face her former vanquisher Herrera, who’s on the downslope from her peak a few years ago. Gaby was pushed to double digits in one game, otherwise the top four seeds advanced without opponents reaching 10 in any game.

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In the Semis:

– Vargas crunched Martinez 6,9. Vargas has really taken over on tour.

– Longoria-Mejia needed nearly 2 hours, and needed to go to 10-10 in the breaker before a winner was determined. The two split games, then were neck and neck in the breaker before a mini-run from Mejia gave her match point at 10-7. Longoria saved it, then ground out 3 points to put it at 10-10 … where Mejia got a gutsy side-out on a fly-ball kill shot. Longoria wasn’t out of her own bag of tricks, crushing a cross court to get back match point on her racquet, which she took with a well-struck deep court forehand kill for the win. Someone had to lose, and it was Mejia.

In the Finals, anticlimactic after the semis, as Vargas won her 3rd in a row, and 4th of the season, crushing Longoria 4,5 to leave no doubt. She’s won 5 of the last 6 events (making the final in the other), and has opened a massive lead atop the standings.

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Points Implications of results

Here’s a link to my LPRT Rolling 2year Calendar XLS, which I use to approximate the points after each event. It may not exactly match the LPRT’s standings, but should be close enough to gauge post-event results in the immediate.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16o0aE4YophvlQdezlMVj_dqPRUoDQqwE5-LtsLbOncg/edit?usp=sharing

Vargas, on the strength of 3 in a row and 5 of the last 6, has opened a massive lead atop the standings. She’s up by more than 500 points now to 2nd place (Longoria, who overtakes Mejia with the head to head win). But, Vargas will need to have something catastrophic happen to be caught this season at this point.

Other notable movement: Sanchez should enter the top 10 for the first time, and Munoz should be right on the cusp at #11. Lawrence, who seems to have quit the tour lately, will drop to #15.

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Doubles review

Match report in the PRS database: https://rball.pro/fd24f8

Mejia and Herrera beat Vargas & Centellas for the title for the 3rd straight event running, but they had to work for it. They squeaked by Manilla/Key in the quarters, then had to outlast the solid new-look team of Longoria/GAby in the semis to make it there.

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Other Notable Draws:

– The LPRT ran a super-fun looking event called the “Pro/Am Doubles,” where pros teamed up with “Open players,” which usually means low-end/younger pros, for a fun pro/am division. It was taken by Mendez & Faeth, who took out Mejia and Mexican junior Yanna Salazar. Great idea, hope to see more of this in the future.

– The Men’s Open was not complete as of this writing, but is headlined by top-10 IRT pro Alan Natera, in town supporting his wife Carla Munoz. I may regret writing this, but its hard to imagine him losing this draw.

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Thanks for all the streaming on the weekend, especially from broadcasters Timothy Baghurst, Jerry J Josey Jr., JTRball, and Tj Baumbaugh

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Next up?

Per our handy master racquetball calendar …

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1V6OTid6rZ356voXVkoV2sN7KMMbIP9SZd0MssH_nPGU/edit?usp=sharing

Next week is an IRT satellite event at the long-running Carl Myers event in Kansas, then the week after that is the annual Lewis Drug pro-am in Sioux Falls, the long-running event that’s a huge favorite of players on tour.

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tags

@LPRT

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LPRT 2026 Arizona Open Preview

Rhonda Rajsich continues her comeback tour. Photo 202 USAR Doubles by Kevin Savory

The pro first event of the 2026 season us, as the ladies head to Tempe for a long-running event in the Arizona Open. Legendary coach Jim Winterton has organized the event once again and has a solid draw of ladies pros in town.

R2 Sports App link: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=47436

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I’m going to do the preview a little different this time, since to me there’s now a very clear-cut line between the top 4-5 players on tour and the rest of the draw. I’m going to call out some storylines to watch instead of playing out the entire draw.

– Mexican junior Mariafernanda Trujillo is set for just her second ever LPRT appearance after a long junior career; she’s still 21U eligible.

– Former top junior and a constant dark-horse when she plays Lucia Gonzalez is here, and she has a relatively winnable first round to get to the 16s.

– Newly elected Hall of Famer Rhonda Rajsich is playing in her home town; she says she’s playing the tour full time this season; can she get back to the top 10?

– Costa Rican phenom Larissa Faeth is here with a good shot at getting into the 16s.

– Erika Manilla is here, but runs into the #2 seed in the 16s. Coming back from zero points is super tough.

– Semis: hard not to predict the top 4 to the semis in Vargas, Longoria, Mejia, and Gaby.

– Vargas has won three straight, and I think she’s winning here again.

– Longoria is #3, but I like her for the final.

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Doubles review

There’s interesting teams here: Longoria no longer has her long-time partner Salas to depend on here, so she’s partnered with Gaby and they’re just the #4 seed. Watch out for that pair. Manilla & Key are seeded dead last but would probably cruise to the US national title right now. Munoz and Rajsich are the #6 seed; i’d be deathly afraid of this team in Outdoor; can they make it happen in indoor?

prediction: Herrera/Mejia over Longoria/Gaby in the final

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Look for Streaming in the regular places; follow the LPRT on Facebook and sign up to get notifications when they go Live.

Look for Timothy Baghurst, Sandy Rios, Jerry J Josey Jr., and Tj Baumbaugh on the mike, calling the shots!

Reminder to Players! Please like and follow this page so that when I tag you, you see it. Facebook will only retain tags of people that like/follow a page, which means lots of you are not getting the notoriety of getting tagged and noticed on Facebook. If your name is here and it isn’t tagged … it probably means I attempted to tag you but Facebook stripped it.

Associations

@lprt

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6th Annual Average Joes tournament Recap

Joe Kelley with the double on the weekend on his home court. Photo via Ken fife

Last weekend the Kelley Brothers invited out some of the best talent on the East Coast to their home #4 court for the 6th Annual Average Joe’s Tournament. Here’s a quick recap of the action.

I have to admit, I didn’t even know this was going on this year, despite posting recaps on it every year since its inception. I’m lucky to have seen some of the live streams pop up from players I’m friend with on FB.

Singles recap:

The top 8 seeds went (in order): Jeremy Dixon, Cole Sendrey, Ezekiel Subieta, Victor Migliore, Joe Kelley, Dylan Pruitt, Jose Flores, and Sam Kelley. There was a full round of 16 and play-ins to there, meaning there were nearly two dozen players hanging out on the Kelley property this weekend.

In the quarters, top seed Dixon held off the host Sam Kelley, the 2023 champion, enabling Sam to work on hospitality the rest of the way. Host Joe Kelley and 2021 champ upset Ohio-native Migliore, who is a two-time finalist here exiting early. Bolivian U21 star Ezekiel Subieta took out his former Maryland-neighbor Dylan Pruitt, and lastly 2024 champ Sendrey, fresh off a trip to World Juniors last month, took out top NE player Jose Flores to move on.

In the semis, Joe Kelley kept up the upset run, taking out Dixon with a dominant show of drive serving. From the bottom half, Cole took out Subieta to get back to the final. In the final though, Kelley was on fire, bombing more drive serves against his young Texas rival and took the title 10,4. He wins the title on his home court for the second time.

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Doubles recap

Joe Kelley teamed up with Ezequiel Subiata to make it a double on the weekend. From the #3 seed, they upset Jeremy Dizon & Jose Flores in the semis, then took out the top seeds Dylan Pruitt & Cole Sendrey 14,13.

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These champions join the following honor roll of past champs in this event:

Singles:

– 1st Annual 2021: Joe Kelley over Austin Cunningham

– 2nd Annual 2022: Kyle Ulliman over Victor Migliore

– 3rd Annual 2023: Sam Kelley over Victor Migliore

– 4th Annual 2024: Cole Sendrey over Kyle Ulliman

– 5th Annual 2025: Jake Bredenbeck over Sebastian Franco

– 6th Annual 2026: Joe Kelley over Cole Sendrey

Doubles:

– 2021: (no doubles event)

– 2022: (no doubles event)

– 2023: Pruitt/Bleyer

– 2024: Pruitt/Cunningham

– 2025: Bredenbeck/Bredenbeck

– 2026: J.Kelly/Subieta

That’s it for the 2026 Average Joe’s/Kelley Invitational.

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2025 Year in Review for the LPRT and the Ladies Pro Game

Longoria won her 14th title mid 2025. Photo via Fran Davis Racquetball

After last week’s IRT post, here’s the same for the LPRT. I’ll list the original text as I captured it in real-time, then in some cases add my 2 cents.

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– 1/15/25: Former LPRT #1 Christie (Van Hees) Huczek has been elected to the USA Racquetball Hall of Fame. Its the first Ladies pro player elected since Gudinas was selected as part of the class of 2019, and she’s just the 9th ladies pro ever elected to the Hall.

Additional thoughts: She’s also just the second non-US player after Heather McKay to be elected to the USAR Hall of Fame, having grown up in Canada before moving to the US, where she’s lived for 20 years after marrying fellow racquetball Pro Jack Huczek. Her career is an interesting “what-if” case; she was ranked in the top 3 in 2000, then abruptly retired at the age of 24 (the tour decided to completely omit her from the year end rankings for reasons inexplicable). She came back two years later and finished #2 on tour in her first full season back. Then, after winning the year end title for the 2004-5 season, she won the first 3 events of the next season, then summarily stopped playing again (still finishing 3rd that season on the strength of those wins). She had eight top-10 seasons … but it feels like she left a ton on the table.

This is an ironic book-end to the year, since the final news item below is the announcement that we’ve also elected another LPRT legend to the Hall, namely Rhonda Rajsich.

– 1/19/25: Paola Longoria officially regains the #1 ranking spot on tour heading into the January Arizona Open. This sets up a dog-fight for the top spot for the rest of the season, as Longoria, Mejia, and Vargas trade blows all spring. Some thought Longoria may have been “done” after two seasons being supplanted at the top of the tour and taking some losses as her live and career shifted, but she has made it back to the top.

– 6/16/25: Thanks to the results at the Northern Virginia Invitational, Paola Longoria has an insurmountable lead in the 2024-25 tour race and has officially

secured her 14th Pro title. She returns to the summit of the sport after two years away.

– 8/14/25: At the 2025 World Games, while leading 9-7 in the 5th game over Longoria, Angelica Barrios badly injures her knee and has to retire. This

knocks Bolivia out of the Mixed competition as well, and Barrios reportedly needs surgery to repair the damage, which could cost her half a season or more.

Update as of this writing, Barrios has still not returned to action.

– 10/12/25 with a win over Longoria in the final of Golden State, Vargas takes back over #1 on tour. She’s won the last three events (also the first three events of the new season), and is now poised to dominate the LPRT for the time being.

Narrative: Vargas has opened the 2025-26 season with three wins and a final. Longoria is trying to keep pace (she was the losing finalist to all three of Vargas’ wins so far).

– 11/7/25: Former top 4 player Erika Manilla plays her first LPRT pro event since Dec 2024, and just her second pro event since her hip injury in Feb 2024, at her home-town event, where she’s also the tournament director. She wins her round of 32 but loses to the top seed.

Comments: It has taken Erika far, far longer to get back into playing shape than anyone thought. She finished the 2022-23 season ranked #4 and had a couple of finals under her belt, and she had a triple crown at the 2023 USAR Nationals, but now faces a huge up-hill battle to get back to the same lofty heights.

– 11/7/25: #2 Longoria is forced to miss the Denver Open due to her new legislative duties, which will severely hamper her chances of winning the year end title this season. There’s just too few events and Vargas is playing too well to miss out on any chances.

Commentary: For those who don’t know, Longoria was selected by her party to represent her district in the Mexican congress back in Sept 2024. We had not seen these duties interfere with her racquetball career, until now. I don’t believe this absence in and among itself will cost her the title, not with Vargas stepping her game up so much, but it can’t help.

– 11/19/25: LPRT loses access to its Facebook page for unknown reasons, likely inadvertent music copyright issues on a video of a match being played

at a club with ambient music playing. This is a huge dagger for the social media pursuits of the organization, and now a decade of videos and content is gone.

This is a shame really. No two ways about it. Facebook isn’t exactly the easiest tech support organization to deal with either.

– 12/7/25: Some player participation observations at the halfway point of the season: long-time top 10 player Kelani Lawrence has quietly skipped the entire first half of the 2025-26 LPRT season, possibly indicating the decision to step away from active touring (I asked her directly and didn’t get a response). Furthermore, after 3 full seasons away, Rhonda Rajsich is back and intends to play nearly a full slate of events this season. Other former regulars now absent for more than half a season: Angela Barrios (bad injury), Hollie Scott, and Michelle Key.

Thoughts: we’ve suddenly seen a slew of USA players … mostly dropping off the tour. Manilla just getting back, Key hasn’t played since September, same with reigning US National champ Ros (who, to be fair, may be prioritizing school right now), and Hollie seems to be as done with rball as her beau DLR. This has dampened the draw sizes for LPRT events this year unfortunately.

– 12/9/25: Squash and Racquetball legend Heather McKay to be officially inducted into the PSA Squash Hall of Fame in March 2026 in Brisbane.

Heather McKay to be Inducted into PSA Hall of Fame in Brisbane

Thoughts: for anyone who thinks that Kane or Paola were “dominant” in their careers, just check out this link to McKay’s squash career. She went 18 years without losing professionally, and she once won the British Open final with a triple donut (9-0, 9-0, 9-0).

– 12/31/25: 4-time LPRT champion and 20-year legend Rhonda Rajsich is elected to the USA Racquetball hall of Fame. Rajsich’s exploits on the pro game,

in the Amateur game, and in the Outdoor game uniquely qualifier her for the hall across the entire landscape of the sport.

Rajsich became eligible coincidentally after a 3-year pause of playing pro events, which made her seem “retired” as far as Hall of Fame eligibility is concerned. She continues to mount a comeback and intends to play a full slate of pro events this season.

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I may have missed some notable events for the Ladies; feel free to remind me in the comments.

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2025: The Year in Review for the IRT and the Men’s Pro Game

Happy New Year from Pro Racquetball Stats and Todd Boss. It ahs been a tumultuous year for the Men’s Pro tour and the sport in general. Here’s a quick run through the seminal events to this observer of the 2025 year, along with some commentary/Retrospective after the fact.

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– 1/21/25: The World Team Racquetball concept debuted at the 2024 3WB event is officially pulled underneath the IRT umbrella, with the blessing of Mike

Coulter. Mike Kinkin will become the president of the WTR. The group plans WTR events at each of the three outdoor majors in addition to other 2025 spots.

In retrospect, this announcement didn’t have the impact we thought it might at the time. WTR did run an event at the 2025 Warhawk Open, but it was mostly Amateur teams (albeit with fantastic names). That event was overshadowed by fixture congestion that badly impacted the attendance of both the Warhawk Open and the Beach Bash outdoor major, which led to bruised egos amongst the various event directors involved. This problem, coincidentally, returns again in 2026, as the two events will conflict again and will overlap with the first weekend of the Pan Am games. We just have to figure out how to stop this from happening year after year.

– 1/21/25: the new IRT commissioner Dave Negrete wants to revert back to some of the tour rules that were the norm during his time. Most notably, he wants

to return to protected top 8 seeds into the round of 16 and to go back to a fall-to-spring multi-year season. This may end up meaning that the 2025 “season”

is just six months long, comprising just those events that are held between the beginning of the year and the August World Singles and Doubles event.

In retrospect, we have not seen the “top 8 get byes into the 16s” but we have seen the conversion of the schedule to a fall-to-spring. Instead of giving a 2025 half-season champ, they decided to have a super-sized 18-month season to determine the 2025-26 champion this coming June.

– 2/28/25: Dan Jaskier, owner and President of the Glass Door Swim & Fitness club in Lombard, Illinois, announces that the club is closing after 48 years.

The 3/16/25 tournament will be the last major pro stop at the club, ending a decades-long association with both pro tours.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/208962609136484/permalink/10076808775685102

Update: there was a Nov 2025 post on the Glassdoor Facebook page intimating that the club was possibly re-opening. I have no idea if they’ve remodeled the inside, who’s involved, or if there’s the possibility of the return of the Geoff Peters legacy event that was one of the most popular stops on tour. IRT commissioner Negrete lives in the Chicago area, so i’m sure he’s on top of it.

-3/6/25: The IRT introduces the “IRT Club,” a monthly subscription service that gives access to a 2nd stream plus other benefits. https://irttour.com/irt-club/

Notes: this is one of the new ideas from the new IRT ownership group, and is spearheaded by Adam Manilla. They offer fantasy racquetball and a new podcast series hosted by yours truly alongside Brian Pineda. It’s $15/month and also gives access to alternate streaming at IRT events.

– 3/21/25: Months after Swain’s 10/4/24 announcement, the USAR officially announces the 2026 US Open return in June to Missouri State University.

https://www.usaracquetball.com/news/2025/march/21/US-OPEN-Racquetball-Championships-To-Return-in-2026

Notes: in the months since, we’ve seen a couple of updates from the organizers, and all organizations are working as if this event is happening. So, make plans to visit Missouri in June 2026.

– 3/23/25: Cliff Swain and Jeff Collins release a new video on the US Open. They’ve confirmed dates (June 10-14th 2026). Details include:

– Portable court is to be used, will be at the Springfield Expo center

– 12 courts at Missouri state University

– all within 5mins of each other; hotel, university, showcourt

– Richard Eisemann onboard as tourney coordinator, Tillbury hospitality/vip liaisons.

– Straight draw; no qualifiers in pros

– going to old-school scoring 3/5 to 11

– Dedicated referee staff on showcase on court; 5 officials planned

– winners ref on amateur side.

– Looking to raise $300k. Gives breakdown of what that revenue goes for: $40k IRT, $40k LPRT purses, $80k court, $50k facility rental

US Open 2026 – New Information Released March 22, 2025

Notes: the transparency and advance planning is refreshing. Putting out these numbers in plain sight for those who have consistently questioned why the portable court isn’t constantly in use should resolve criticism of event planners. It costs a ton to transport, install, configure, tear-down, store, and insure the court.

– 4/18/25: Mike Coulter of 3WB publicly announces that the 3WallBall in Las Vegas has to be “paused” in 2025 due to the drastic rise in costs that the economy has seen in the early parts of 2025. They’re looking for a site in Southern California to host the 2025 version of the event on courts that can be rented, not built.

https://www.facebook.com/3WallBall/posts/pfbid02mdHC24G9neVP32zSt5zpp8yzxbvp1ZLwB8tBNLsL7CGE9VMFoESpm78EbmxczdyPl

Retrospect: the writing was on the wall for this announcement for a while; costs and inflation have crushed the country, attendance has dwindled at 3WB for a bit, and it stopped being a viable tournament for Coulter to host. My big worry with something like this is, once Mike loses the spot on the schedule with the hotel, it’s going to be doubly difficult to ever get it back. I hope we haven’t seen the last of 3WB in Vegas, but don’t have high hopes.

– 5/3/25: #5 Alan Natera has a knee operation. Per Natera, he had knee arthroscopy, ACL, and meniscus reconstruction. He had been playing with pain for months and it was time to do it before it got worse. No word on recovery time or how long he’ll be out, but the next scheduled event isn’t until September. Update: Alan plays in the early September 2025 World Singles & Doubles.

This injury/surgery was well timed for Natera, who didn’t miss a ton of events and still is maintaining his top 10 status. He’s taken some tough losses as he’s stuck in the 8/9 seed spot right now, part of which may still be due to him testing out the knee. I’ve had multiple knee operations, and in one case it took me two years to return to the court.

– 5/8/25: Mike Coulter/3WB announces that 2025’s Outdoor Nationals will join forces with 3WB for 2025.

https://www.facebook.com/3WallBall/posts/pfbid0jKqYSy9SREynx8jDgkndwmEaQ1WMx3fXADvMhZVnxs7KRfKF4Xzxccy8Ve32uq64l

This collaboration made sense, as 3WB was already heavily involved in Beach Bash and it can only help with sponsors and splitting the workload.

– 6/3/25: Jeff Collins, Cliff Swain, and others hold a press conference in Springfield, MO to discuss the 2026 US Open.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/golf/springfield-will-host-us-open-racquetball-championships-in-2026/ar-AA1GsOgZ?ocid=BingNewsVerp

– 6/23/25: Pan Am Games organizers officially release the 2027 slate of sports, and Racquetball has been cut.

Panam Sports define 36 deportes para Lima 2027

Commentary: for a few weeks this looked like a dagger for the sport’s reputation … but read on for an update in early August.

– 8/7/25: IRT releases its fall/spring slate of events and its massive: there’s nearly 20 full stops and satellites planned, a return to Mexico, and a return to a number of old stops that have lost their sponsors over the years. Great news.

https://www.facebook.com/racquetballtour/posts/pfbid02mjnYZapeydi4j4nua5iFpGXxmywF4uM6dsvGAiik8HyWARDjn4fU5cxbNaV4JbvBl

In the months since, the slate has been pared a bit, but there’s still been a ton of IRT-350 satellite events held and the Tier 1 slate is bigger and better than it has been in years. The new ownership group is having a major impact on the tour.

– 8/7/25: Racquetball gets back into the 2027 Pan Am Games! Despite not being included in the original slate of games IRF President Osvaldo Maggi had been working with Pan Am behind the scenes and secured a return of the sport today.

BOWLING AND RACQUETBALL ENTER THE LIMA 2027 SPORTS PROGRAM

Commentary: initially, the loss of racquetball from the Pan Am games had been predicted for years by insiders, and it would have been a real disappointment for the sport. Peru took over as host from Colombia , and when Lima hosted these same games in 2019 they had Racquetball … but for some reason chose to initially eliminate it this time around. All due credit to Maggi for politicking behind the scenes and making this happen.

This is one of those seminal events that has outsized impact; if we’re out of the Pan Am Games, we as a sport may lose accreditation with our own USOPC, which cuts funding and reduces our legitimacy as a sport. I think we’re well past any pursuit of getting into the Olympics at this point in the sport’s history (and, lets be honest, when the sport was ignored for the 1984 Olympics in LA, and again in 1996 in Atlanta … both big-time racquetball towns and at the absolute height of our sport’s popularity and participation, we should have realized there was never a shot), but the Pan Am games still remained the highest honor we had internationally, and we hold onto participation for one more cycle.

– 8/8/25: Bobby Horn, who attempted a comeback last season, undergoes shoulder surgery

https://www.facebook.com/david.horn.792/posts/pfbid0qBRa6zJ8zM17Sbhb89oyUT7uSwTPGwkbzBeYpNcRd8bajJj7d73pMZUkg3SxHq7Tl

You hate to see these long-term injuries, which rob players of months at a time.

– 9/2/25: New president Dave Negrete releases an “Update” on the new season, naming the new official IRT staff.

Keith Minor – Owner

Dave Negrete – President

Adam Manilla – Vice President

Pablo Fajre – Director of Media and Commissioner

Jared Harding – Chief Marketing Officer (Fractional)

plus key sponsors:

KWM Gutterman

Black and White Energy Drink

Frank Hotels

PapaNicholas Coffee

Gearbox Sports

My Pillow

Update on the 2025-26 IRT Season

Note: Negrete’s re-involvement brings back a ton of connections he maintained from 20 years ago, and the group is adding new major sponsors like the Black & White and Frank Hotels.

– 10/21/25: Pro Kennex announces that they’re reuniting with long-time PK player Kane Waselenchuk.

https://www.facebook.com/ProkennexNorthAmerica/posts/pfbid0c86LgpyfW5fACNtA4dyG5YDaBRoVL4DUomb1LcYCS4FxPNWrZbjdKA3qp1oRJj8Zl

Notes: The two parted ways in Sept 2021 when a Pandemic-

afflicted company and Waselenchuk couldn’t come to an agreement on outstanding payments as the tours cancelled events for nearly a year. It bad at the time, but the two sides buried the hatchet and are working together again. Kane was reportedly using a blacked-out Gearbox to compete and now gets his trusty old sticks back.

– 10/29/25: 3-time champ Daniel De la Rosa reportedly has his PPA contract terminated for lack of performance. Will he return to Racquetball?

Notes: this was an ill-kept secret in the pickleball world, but as of this writing we haven’t seen DLR return to any known racquetball stuff. And, in the most recent post on his page he had a ton of hashtags for MLP, so maybe DLR has negotiated his way back to a pay as you go contract with the PPA instead of the salary based one. Either way, he hasn’t played a pro event since Jan 2024, but is the reigning US National singles champion. Will DLR defend his title? Well, there is a PPA event the same weekend as USAR Nationals, so he’d have to skip it … but if he’s not under contract it won’t matter. We’ll see what happens.

– 12/7/25: Erick Trujillo has missed every event for the past 6 months; is he officially stepping back? He’s now a 5.5 DUPR rated pickleball competitive player; could he be making a push towards pro pickleball instead?

comments: Trujillo’s DUPR rating is on the rise, but I don’t see him traveling to any US-based events thus far. It’s also possible that he’s made the very rational decision that losing in the 16s at IRT events isn’t worth the money it takes to get there.

– 12/20/25: Mike Kinkin is named the President of FormulaFlow Racquetball. He joins forces with Mauricio Zelada’s budding racquet manufacturer

https://formulaflow.com/blogs/news/mike-kinkin-president-of-formulaflow-north-america

Notes: this is an interesting move; FormulaFlow is now one of 3-4 remaining manufacturers in the space. I haven’t had a chance to catch up with Kinkin about the move or what they plan, but it is good to see a brand pushing further into the sport rather than walking away from it.

– 12/29/25: IRT announces that the new ball of the tour is the Formula Flow Blue. This replaces the thicker, slower Gearbox ball.

Notes: no word yet on how the FF ball plays; is it faster, slower, thicker, bouncier? No idea.

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Phew; that’s it. Did I miss any major events worth noting?

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LPRT 33rd Annual Xmas Classic Recap

Vargas wins again Photo US Open 2019 Kevin Savory

Congrats to your Pro winners on the weekend:

– Singles: Maria Jose Vargas

– Doubles: Montse Mejia & Alexandra Herrera

TL/DR Executive Summary: Vargas extends her lead atop the LPRT rankings with a solid win in singles, while the world’s top doubles team wins another.

R2 Sports App home page for event: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=51202

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Let’s review the notable matches in the Singles draw.

Singles Match report in the PRS database: https://rball.pro/3f08be

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In the 32s, just a handful of matches as just 19 ladies entered this event. The tour was definitely missing some of its younger competitors, away at Junior Worlds, but the tour is also missing several touring regulars from the recent years past who seem to have either stepped away due to injury or priorities.

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In the 16s:

– In the 8/9, Lotts pressed Centellas but fell.

– Laime crushed Munoz 2,5 in the 6/11 matchup

– Herrera held on against veteran Parrilla, winning 9,12

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In the Quarters

– The big s hock was Mendez taking out Gaby Martinez 13,11; that’s a solid win for Mendez.

– Vargas was pressed by her Argentine teammate Centellas but won 11,11

– Mejia had to go breaker to beat her doubles partner Herrera.

– Longoria cruised past Laime 1,6, perhaps looking to make a statement against a player who’s beaten her in the past.

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In the Semis

– Vargas took out Mendez , but not before dropping the first game 15-2 in a crazy scoreline.

– Longoria got some revenge against Mejia from the last event, winning 7,9.

In the Finals, Vargas won with relative ease 6,12 to claim her 14th career LPRT title. She’s now in 10th place all time.

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Points Implications of results

Despite making the finals over Mejia, Montse leapfrogged Paola for #2 on tour for the time being, as points expiration from last year conspired against the GOAT. No other major movement in the top 10 other than Kelani Lawrence continuing to fall; she’s apparently quiet retired.

Here’s a link to my LPRT Rolling 2year Calendar XLS, which I use to approximate the points after each event. It is not exact but it’s usually close enough to the actual rankings, which @Ryan Rodgers does with @R2 Sports App on behalf of the tour after each event, to allow some quick post-event analysis before the rankings post.

women

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16o0aE4YophvlQdezlMVj_dqPRUoDQqwE5-LtsLbOncg/edit?usp=sharing

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Doubles review

Match report in the PRS database: https://rball.pro/38e8b2

Mejia and Herrera held serve against Manilla &* Longoria in the opener and then went on to win it, to claim their 15th pro doubles title together.

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Open Singles, other notable draws

– Lotts beat Sanchez for the Women’s Open RR title.

– Ohio’s Victor Migliore took the Men’s Open singles title.

– The Open Doubles was taken by two Maryland locals Ben Bleyer / Christopher Ruano

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Next up?

Per our handy master racquetball calendar …

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1V6OTid6rZ356voXVkoV2sN7KMMbIP9SZd0MssH_nPGU/edit?usp=sharing

We have World Juniors going on as we speak; we’ll cover the knockouts and the results next week. Then that’s a wrap for 2025.

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tags

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IRT 2025 SoCal Open Recap

A double for Moscoso, and a win over kane. Photo unk from Bolivian IRIS

Congrats to your Pro winners on the weekend:

– Singles: @Conrrado Moscoso

– Doubles: Moscoso & @Kadim Carrasco

TL/DR Executive summary: Moscoso gets a big win over King Kane, then finishes off the event for his 11th career singles title, then gets the upset win over top seeds Montoya/Mar for the double in Fullerton.

R2 Sports App home page for event: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=50749

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Let’s review the notable matches in the Singles draw.

Singles Match report in the PRS database: https://rball.pro/8322db

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In the 32s, no real upsets. We had a couple closer games from Gatica and Bear, but otherwise the seeds held.

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In the 16s, a couple of notable results:

– #9 Portillo topped #8 Natera in two closer games; not an upset for me necessarily, as Portillo’s ranking is more about his limited schedule than his talent.

– #7 Mar crushed Alonso 6,5 for another statement win defining the top 8 versus the next 8.

– Biggest match of the round: Thomas Carter gets a career best win over Montoya i11-9 in the breaker.

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In the Quarters

– Waselenchuk was pressed by Lalo in game one, then cruised to win 10,1

– Moscoso destroyed the elated to be there Carter 5,2

– Parrilla dominated Jake 7,4 to move into the semis; this was a pretty solid win for Andree, something he followed up on in the next round, and is part of a pattern for the SLP product of having spurts of success on tour.

– the best match of the round was Mar-Acuna, which was back and forth and featured some really fun rallies especially at the end, as Acuna pulled it out 11-9 to move on.

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In the Semis

– The match of the event was Kane vs Conrrado, and the Bolivian put on a show. He ran of 12-straight points unanswered in game one, with 4 service winners and another 6 3-point rally kill shots wherein he missed just one first serve. Kane had no answers, either getting handcuffed on the serves or flailing them to the ceiling defensively. Kane did a better job in game two and looked to be pushing towards a breaker, but Moscoso held firm, and got a come from behind win 15-14 to advance. It’s awfully hard to beat someone who’s hitting 160mph bullet first serves on concrete without ever missing, and that’s what we saw all weekend from Conrrado.

– Parrilla improved to 5-2 lifetime against Acuna on tour to move into the final.

In the Finals, Conrrado picked up where he left off, giving Andree a rare finals donut in game one before taking the title with ease.

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Points Implications of results

With the win, Conrrado moves into #2 on tour. Other top players will move down a spot, while Montoya’s early loss dumps him to #6. No other real movement of import amongst the top 16, even given all the missing junior players here.

Here’s a link to my IRT Rolling 2year Calendar XLS, which I use to approximate the points after each event. It is not exact but it’s usually close enough to the actual rankings, which @Ryan Rodgers does with @R2 Sports App on behalf of the tour after each event, to allow some quick post-event analysis before the rankings post.

men

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1z6eg6NJT6fjGMfRRyKTNLShAiDoz0TzzmQCt1_SbNBo/edit?usp=sharing

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Doubles review

Match report in the PRS database: https://rball.pro/5542be

It’s been a minute since we had a real Pro doubles draw; not since March in Lombard has the tour done one, mostly because all the events in the interim have been combined events where the prize money that would have gone to doubles ended up going to the ladies, or to Mixed pro.

Moscoso, clearly feeling his oats this weekend, carried partner Carrasco over the top seeds Montoya & Mar to claim the title.

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Open Singles, other notable draws

– Diego Gastelum topped fellow round of 32 loser Gatica for the Open title, taking the big RR event.

– Bear & Alonso took out top SoCal outdoor team Myers & St. Clair for the Open Doubles title.

– Arizona’s Damien Zamora took the 35-50+

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Fantasy Racquetball Competition Wrap-up

We don’t know the results of the IRT Club Fantasy FastBreak competition this past wekeend, but yours truly (who was in 2nd place) definitely took Moscoso to win, so i’m expecting big things.

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Thanks for all the streaming on the weekend, Thanks to the tourney sponsors, and thanks to the players for supporting tournament racquetball.

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Next up?

Per our handy master racquetball calendar …

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1V6OTid6rZ356voXVkoV2sN7KMMbIP9SZd0MssH_nPGU/edit?usp=sharing

We have a break to the Sioux Falls Lewis Drug next year, but we may have a satellite event in January.

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tags

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2025 LPRT 33rd Annual Christmas Classic Preview

Manilla is back, but for how long? Photo 2021 US Open via Kevin Savory

As the Men are playing on one coast, the ladies are clear across the country, about as far away as one can get from Fullerton, visiting Severna Park, Maryland for the 33rd annual Christmas Classic. This event is being held at the venerable Severna Park Racquet club, one the last old-school hold out venues anywhere. The championship court is sunken and features stadium seating, there remains at least 6 functional courts (at least there were the last time I attended an event there), and this 33rd annual event is now one of (if not THE) longest running pro events in the sport.

R2 Sports App link:https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=51202

9 of the top 10 ladies are here, and most of the rest of the top 20 is present as well. We’re missing a couple of veteran regulars, which will give us some interesting doubles teams, but more on that in a moment.

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Let’s preview the draw. Here’s some notable qualifying matches that i’m looking forward to:

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In the 32s,

– Erika Manilla returns; the former top 4 player has struggled to get back to form since her hip issue; she faces the Canadian #2 Parent in the opener.

– Synhorts faces the ageless Brandt in the play-in to #2 Mejia.

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round of 16:

– Manilla plays into #1 Vargas: normally this would be a semis-quality match. Vargas holds the career lead 5-1 and seems the favorite to make it 6-1.

– @sheryl Lotts celebrates her career high ranking with a juicy matchup against #8 Centellas: great “show-me” match for Lotts to see if she can make the quarters.

– 5/12 Mendez-York could be upset city.

– Gaby has to play her doubles partner MRR in the opener; hate it when that happens. I once entered an out-of-town event with my partner and roommate at the time @Ben Hale; we both played open singles and open doubles. I called for start times; they forgot to put us in. So the TD gives me a start time … I ask him who i’m playing and he slowly says… Ben Hale. I’m like, “absolutely not. You forgot to put us both in and now have us playing each other in some play-in to a top seed; make the draw right, and make us play someone else.” This is TD 101; never, never have out-of-town doubles partners playing each other in the singles first round. Of course, in teh Pros … its all by points, and this happens all the time.

– Munoz-Laime is a great match in 6/11: both players play classical drive and shoot ball.

– Herrera-Parrilla is a frequently seen matchup both home and abroad

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Projected Qtrs:

– Vargas vs Centellas; doubles partners and Argentina team mates face off. Vargas should cruise here.

– Gaby-Mendez: the Guatemalan shouldn’t have any issues advancing.

– Longoria-Laime: there’s danger here for the GOAT, as Laime has put losses on her in the past. Laime is Jeckyl & Hyde: you just never know if you’re getting someone who can cruise into the finals without breaking a sweat, or a one-and-done loser.

– Mejia-Herrera: more doubles partner action, though Mejia has taken a step forward in this singles rivalry over hte past few years.

Semis: Vargas over Gaby, Longoria over Mejia.

Finals; Vargas over Longoria, though honestly these days on tour any one of the top three ladies can and will win events. If Mejia gets hot, forget it. If Longoria is “on” this weekend, she can’t be stopped.

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Doubles review

Longoria is missing Salas here, so she picked up Manilla, who has no points, and they’re seeded 7th out of 8. Taht means we get Longoria/Manilla vs Mejia/Herrera in the first round. wow. I’ll say it now; whoever wins this, wins the event.

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Look for Streaming in the regular places; follow the LPRT on Facebook and sign up to get notifications when they go Live.

Look for Timothy Baghurst, Sandy Rios, Jerry J Josey Jr., and Tj Baumbaugh on the mike, calling the shots!

Associations

@lprt

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IRT SoCal Open Preview

Can Javier Mar make a deep run? Photo Kevin Savory 2019 US Open

The International Racquetball Tour is back in action, hosting its first full Tier 1 stop since last month’s Mile High Open, with the 2025 SoCal Open. The tour returns to Fullerton for the first time since the 2019 Los Compadres open, and returns to what used to be the Meridian Sports Club and one of the largest (if not the largest) clubs in terms of functional racquetball courts. As of 2023 there were still 24 courts operating at this facility, though the club went under, was taken over by new management, and has apparently repurposed some in the time since we last got information.

We’ll know soon enough, as the tour returns to one of its premier locations, which used to host national events and major pro events in the early 2010s.

R2 Sports App link: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=50749

draw size, observations; the top 11 on tour are here, but a decent chunk of the 11-20 guys are missing due to this event’s proximity to World Juniors, which kicks off this coming Saturday in the Dominican Republic.

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Let’s preview the draw. Here’s some notable qualifying matches that i’m looking forward to:

In the round of 32, there’s only 5 matches because of the smaller draw, but a couple of interesting ones:

– #12 @Thomas Carter is the highest seed that has to do an early round; he goes against relative unknown Mexican Javier Gonzalez , a 16U Junior player from Chihuahua. Sometimes these juniors come out of nowhere and shock regular tour players.

– #14 @Kadim Carrasco has to deal with @Alejandro Bear, who has a few results on tour over the past 5-6 years.

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round of 16:

– The 8/9 is brutal: @Eduardo Portillo versus Alan Natera. Tough draw here; Portillo has been much better than a 9-seed over the past couple of years, while Natera continues to work his way back from a knee issue earlier in 2025.

– In the 6/11: Parrilla vs Manilla. these guys met in the quarters last month, an 11-9 win for Andree. Can Adam flip the script here?

– 7/10: Mar vs Alonso: a great match for the neutrals, two classy tactical players who rely on shot-making versus power. They’ve played twice already this year, both Mar wins, including an 8,0 beatdown in Highland Ranch in August.

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Projected Qtrs:

– #1 Kane Waselenchuk likely faces off against Lalo Portillo, who played Kane pretty tough in the semis back in early September. Lalo was also on the court with Kane when he blew out his Achilles tendon in sept 2022.

– #4/#5 Moscoso vs Montoya: I love this matchup. Power, athleticism. It’s always close; they’ve played twice this fall already, both 3-game Moscoso wins. But early in their careers, Rodrigo owned him.

– 3/6 Bredenbeck vs Parrilla: it looked for a while in 2022-23 like Jake had really taken the reigns on this h2h matchup, but then Andree beat him for the Boston title in Dec 2023. Jake won their last meeting in Chicago in March, but these two always play tight.

– 2/7; Acuna vs Mar: Mar leads this matchup 4-3 in their careers, but Andres has the last two, including a dominant 9,5 win back at World Singles & Doubles. Can Mar get back the upper hand here? My upset pick is Mar winning here.

Semis:

– Kane over Moscoso: what can Conrrado do to make adjustments and get a win here? He’s got one thing going for him: the qtrs and semis are both on Saturday, so he may be able to get a tired Kane and take advantage from an athleticism perspective. Still, Kane’s the favorite.

– This could go several ways: Acuna and Jake haven’t met in years. Jake and Mar just met in Eugene, a straightforward 10,9 win for Mr. Minnesota. I’m going with jake.

Finals; Kane over Jake. Jake does have two legit h2h win over Kane in his career, bu t has to be playing well to do so. If he gets here, he’ll have been playing well.

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Doubles review; draws not published as of this writing.

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Look for Streaming in the regular places; follow the IRT on Facebook and sign up to get notifications when they go Live.

Look for Favio Soto, Samuel Schulze, Pablo Fajre and the IRTLive crew all weekend on the mike, calling the shots!

IRT Club Fantasy: If you’re in the IRT Club, sign up to play Fantasy Racquetball along with myself, Brian Pineda, and other club members. Also, be sure to tune into our Fantasy Fast Break podcast, which we do before and after every IRT Tier 1 event!

Associations

International Racquetball Tour