Last weekend, there was as small non-sanctioned event in Juarez that featured a number of top Mexican players held in honor of the retiring Alejandro Landa and the current #2 @Rodrigo Montoya Racquetball Here’s a recap of the top divisions.
r2sports site: https://www.r2sports.com/tourney/home.asp?TID=45146
The top six seeds are regulars on the pro tour. The 8/9 match was between two top Mexican juniors in Sebastian Hernandez (who just won Mexican 21U junior nationals) and @Eder Renteria (who made the finals of 16U Junior worlds last November and the semis of Mexican 18U last month). Hernandez handled Renteria as expected to face off against #1 Montoya.
In the quarters:
– Montoya needed to go breaker to take down the Mexican 21U champ Hernandez but moved on.
– Long-time top Mexican player @Javier Mar, who’s been bedeviled with injuries the last couple of years, taking out Guatemala’s #1 Juan Salvatierra
– #3 @Jaime Martell topped Guatemalan veteran Edwin Galicia in two.
– #2 Alan Natera topped Mexican open player Mario Zamora .
In the semis, an upset. Mar took out his long-time doubles partner Montoya in two relatively easy games 5,12, while Natera eased past Martell 11,2.
In the final, Mar continued his run and topped Natera 12,12 for the title.
Side note: Natera recently converted to represent Chile, eligible by virtue of his marriage to long-time Chilean representative Carla Munoz , and recently claimed the Chilean national title and secured a berth at Worlds in San Antonio later this month.
There was a 3-team doubles competition that came down to the two top seeds for the final. There, #1 Montoya/Mar topped Chihuahua-based team of Natera/Hernandez 9,(13),5.
Congrats Mar for the double on the weekend, and for Montoya for winning his namesake event.
ps: thanks to Natera for giving me the results … the r2 site never got the singles final nor the doubles knockouts updated online but Alan provided the data.