Month: September 2024

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2024 KWM Gutterman Inc. 3Wall Ball Outdoor Championships Preview

Florida’s Chris McDonald is the top seed in multiple pro draws this weekend in Vegas. Photo 2023 Outdoor Nats via Lara

Hello racquetball fans. Its time for the big daddy of outdoor tournaments, the 2024 14th annual 3WallBall championships. More than 375 participants are in Vegas for the weekend to play, watch, and socialize on the grounds of The STRAT Las Vegas hotel.

r2sports link: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=41864

Each year I publish a Media guide for this event; here’s a direct link to that guide for 2024. It has bios and pictures for nearly 100% of the players in pro draws, along with player profile information, career indoor accomplishments, and career outdoor achievements.

https://3wallball.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/3WallBall-2024-Broadcast-Binder-v1.0.docx

If anyone in the community has corrections or updates please DM me and I’ll make them at least on the electronic version for next time.

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Draw Previews: Here’s a quick run through of the pro draws. Disclosure: I helped the team with seeding this year, as we found that the WOR points system combined with the abnormally high number of non-regular outdoor players resulted in the need to do some manual seeding this year versus 100% depending on the points system.

Also notably this year; not enough players signed up for either singles divisions, so we’ll have no Pro 3Wall Singles champs in Vegas for 2024.

Here’s some quick thoughts on the pro draws:

– Men’s 3-Wall Pro Doubles: We’ll have a new champion this year, as last year’s champs are not defending their title. Two-time defending finalists Adam Manilla and @Nick Riffel are the #1 seeds, rightfully so after earning the final two years in a row as the underdogs. They’ll likely face a gauntlet of tough teams to get back to this year’s final, which could include Natera/Acuna in the quarters and the top doubles team in the world Mar/Montoya in the semis.

The bottom half features quite the dangerous team in @kaKane Waselenchuk and Chris MacDonald as the #2 seeds. McDonald made the finals in Vegas in 2019, the closest he’s come to a Men’s pro outdoor doubles title in his long career. Kane is coming off an Outdoor Nationals title. They’ll probably face grizzled SoCal vets Allin/Orosco in the quarters, and then will get a massive test from the winner of the 3/6 seeds Beltran/Lalo and Carson/Ustarroz, both teams of which are multi-pro champs in their history.

Prediction: Look for Manilla/Riffel to silence the doubters and beat Chris/Kane in the final.

– Women’s 3-Wall Pro Doubles: Munoz and Laime just won Outdoor Nationals, but are seeded 3rd here thanks to the two defending finalists returning intact and earning the #1 and #2 seeds. This will make for a heck of a semi on the bottom side, and I think they’ll take out #2 Scott/Lawrence here to get into the final. The top half semi should also be one for the ages, as Key/Longoria (who I think edge Tisinger/Roehler in a tantalizing quarterfinal) should take out the defending champs Herrera/Mejia to get to the final. We just saw in WTR a straight-forward win for Longoria/Key over Munoz/Laime and I think we see that again in the final

– Mixed 3-Wall Pro Doubles: This was one of the most difficult draws to seed. I could make a case for more than half the draw to be a top 4 seed. If you’re reading this and questioning why one team is seeded X and another Y and you think it should be the reverse, keep in mind we tried to make the eventual quarter finals as fair as possible. So it’s less about who’s (say) #7 and who is #2 versus what the matchup will be. I like #1 McDonald & Key to get to the semis with relative ease, topping whichever one-wall specialist team gets out of the round of 16 ahead of them, and I like McDonald/Key’s chances to top whichever indoor-heavy team comes out of the 4/5 quarter will be 50/50 at best; Longoria is a tough out in any format, but she’s alongside an outdoor newbie in Montoya. Meanwhile Mar has shown he’s nearly unbeatable in one wall, but less so in three wall. That’ll be an interesting quarter for sure. From the bottom half, I like Manilla/Laime’s chances to move on here to the final, but they have to get by Natera/Munoz first. I think whoever wins that gets past Lalo/Herrera in the bottom semi. McDonald/Key for the win.

(Caveat to one-wall brackets: these brackets and seedings may change from the brackets used for these predictions; if the brackets are changed prior to the start of the draws on Friday 9am PST, my apologies).

– Men’s One-Wall Pro Doubles: Javier Mar has two Beach Bash titles and is a dangerous #2 seed here, but they’ll have to play past William Rolon , owner of four 1-wall major titles to get to the final. The top-side features #1 Lalo/Acuna, but watch out for #5 @DJ Mendoza and Waselenchuk; Mendoza won Beach Bash singles and Kane’s game is tailor made for one-wall. I see DJ/Kane taking out #1 and then winning the title in a slug-fest over Mar/Montoya.

– Women’s One-Wall Pro Doubles: Phew; there’s 8 teams here and I think 5-6 are thinking right now that they’re winning this thing. #1 Munoz/Laime won this in Vegas last year, but they’ll have to get past 2023 beach bash champs Scott/Lawrence in the semis to repeat. Key won beach bash this year with Katie Neils; they’ll face each other in the quarters on opposite teams as Key picks up Longoria. I think Key/Longoria will get past Tisinger/Roehler in the semi and will tak out Laime/Munoz in the final.

– Mixed One-Wall Pro Doubles: Sostre/Lawrence were your 2024 Beach Bash champs and will be tough to beat as the #2 seeds here; on and off-the court partners Lalo & Herrera will give a challenge in the semis … that is if they can get past NY one wall giants Goldenberg & Roehler in the quarters. From the top-side, McDonald is less known for his one-wall exploits, but he’s paired with Key and have a decent path into the semis. They’ll face a pair of touring pros with solid one-wall experience there, likely the husband-wife pair of Natera & Munoz. Look for an upset in the semis but for the Beach Bash mixed one-wall champs Sostre/Lawrence to get the 2024 one-wall pro double.

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– CPRT 40+ is nearly as deep as the Men’s Pro draw, with a high likelihood of a pro semis rematch to occur in the semis here between Waslenechuk/McDonald and Carson/Ustarroz to play for the title. #1 Beltran/Koll likely faces the lefty/righty legends Orosco/Solis in the semis to play for the title. I predict the winner of the bottom semi wins the title.

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Streaming: the @LPRT streaming team is in Vegas and is leading the way. Follow LPRT, sign up for live feed notifications, subscribe to their YouTube channel.

Thanks to the Tourney Directors @Peggine Tellez , @Mike Coulter and Jen O’Meara for putting this event on! Thanks to our main sponsors @KWM Gutterman Inc. , ProKennex Racquetball , @Team DOVETAIL , Abel Perez, LPL Financial and others I may have forgotten here . It goes without saying that without you and your support, we don’t have a sport.

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

@USA Racquetball

WOR – World Outdoor Racquetball

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World Team Racquetball 2024 Recap

2024 Champions, team Dovetail. Photo via WTR

The first annual World Team Racquetball (WTR) exhibition was held over the last couple of days on the 3Wall Ball courts of Las Vegas, on the grounds of The STRAT hotel, and here’s a quick recap of the action.

As they say in sports, “that’s why they play the games.” My predictions were 100% wrong, and the outdoor specialists really came to play and dominate the early rounds of the competition.

To get replays, go to Youtube.com and the LPRT channel for all the videos, as the FB streaming had technical issues on Tuesday.

Match rules: the two teams played Mens, Women’s, and Mixed doubles matches. Each match was two games to 11, each win by one. The team winner is determined on total aggregate of all six games. Free substitutions were allowed throughout the matches for the Men, who had 3 guys on each team.

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Semi #1: Team Eve Genesis vs Team KWM Gutterman Inc. Kingz.

– Women’s Doubles: Team KWM started off super strong and took the Women’s tie 11-5, 11-7. Key and Longoria are a super-strong team and should be favorites this weekend in the pro division, and really took it to Munoz & Laime.

– Men’s Doubles: Team Eve surprised the KWM men by winning 11-7, 11-7. Adam Manilla was super solid on the right, Beltran turned back the clock a bit, while McDonald’s super aggressive approach left Waselenchuk trying to do too much from the back court.

– Mixed Doubles: heading into the tie, KWM led the match by just two points, so it all came down to Mixed. Team Eve shocked Team KWM 11-4 in the first game, meaning that KWM need to win game two AND win it by enough points to take the overall title. It wasn’t to be; Team Eve held on for an 11-9 win that was sewn up once they got to point 7 in the game.

Final score: Team Eve Geneis wins 55-49

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Semi #2: Team DOVETAIL vs Team ProKennex Racquetball

– Women’s Doubles: the match was split, each team winning a game. Dovetail’s pair of top indoor pros Mejia & Herrera raced away to a game one win 11-6, but PK’s top outdoor pairing of Scott & Lawrence salvaged an 11-9 game two win to put the point deficit at just 3 points heading into the Men’s tie.

– Men’s Doubles: Team Dovetail came to play in uniforms that look like they were designed to camouflage its players in Jurassic Park, while PK’s players were dressed like extras in the Barbie movie. Something had to give in the battle of distractions. Surprisingly to this observer, it was the Carson/Lalo pairing that really took it to DLR/Mar, with the Dovetail men crushing the PK men 11-4, 11-6 to give Dovetail a commanding 15 point lead.

– In Mixed, the Aces had their work cut out for them. They had to make up a 15 point deficit, which meant two heavy wins (a scoreline of 11-3, 11-4 would be needed just to tie). It wasn’t meant to be. Dovetail edged PK in the opener 11-10 to guarantee a win, leaving the last game as a “dead rubber” game that PK salvaged some pride in, with an 11-8 win.

Final score: Team Dovetail wins 58-48

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Bronze: KWM vs PK.

In the consolation match, KWM’s ladies destroyed PK’s 11-0 in less than 7 minutes (including timeouts) to open the match, then hung on for an 11-10 win to open a big KWM lead heading into the Men’s match. In the Men’s we got the big DLR-Kane matchup I thought would be the final. KWM came out with Kane & Jake instead of using Mcdonald curiously: Chris barely played as his team lost 6,7. This really tightened the match heading into the Mixed tie, so there was still all to play for. In Mixed, it was almost entirely DLR and Kane as the male partners, going primarily against Scott and Key as the female partners (though Paola did start for KWM) and it was KWM that came out on top 7,6 to win the tie. Final score 57-45

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Final: Eve vs Dovetail

– Women’s Dbls: Team DT’s top indoor doubles team of Mejia/Herrera went on a mid-match tear, breaking open an early close game one to win it 11-6, then blasting out to a massive 10-1 lead in game two that threatened to put the entire final out of reach early, but credit to Munoz & Laime for clawing the match back into reaching distance with a big run. Dovetail’s ladies win 11-6, 11-7 to open a 9-point lead to start.

– Men’s Doubles: It was “sun’s out, gun’s out” for team Dovetail, Rocky/Lalo and their sleeveless camo shirts. They came out firing against the all-blacks of Team Eve, cruising to an 11-5 game one win. Dovetail looked like they’d make the mixed tie unnecessary for a while, racing to a big game two lead before Eve’s pair of Beltran/Manilla turned the tide and won game two to give their team a chance.

– Mixed. Heading into Mixed, team DT had an 11 point lead and Eve needed a massive win to get back into things. It wasn’t to be: Carson/Mejia blew open a close first game to win 11-4 and essentially seal the match for DoveTail. The “second stringers” got to play in the second match and they played a fun 11-10 barn burner.

Final score: DT trounces Eve 62-43 for the gold medal and first place.

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Wrap-up: we got some interesting results, the on-site fans really got into it, and the first ever WTR looked like a success.

I missed who won the “MVP” of the event, but hopefully someone can fill me in to update this post after publishing.

Next up; the main 3WallBall event kicks off on Thursday! Look for a preview soon.

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World Team Racquetball 2024 Preview

The 2024 3WallBall championships in Las Vegas will feature a new style of competition never before tried within the pro ranks of the sport: Team Racquetball.

Four teams have been formed by a quartet of the leading sponsors of the sport, and they’ll descend on the signature powder blue courts of 3WallBall to compete for the first ever World Team Racquetball Title.

The teams are:

The KWM Gutterman Kingz

  • Men: Kane Waselenchuk, Chris McDonald, Jake Bredenbeck
  • Women: Michelle Key, Paola Longoria
  • Owner: Keith Minor
  • Coach: Jim Winterton

Team Eve Genesis:

  • Men: Alvaro Beltran, Adam Manilla, Alan Natera
  • Women: Carla Munoz, Brenda Laime
  • Owner: Abel Perez
  • Coach: Aimee Roehler

Team ProKennex Aces:

  • Men: Daniel De La Rosa, Javier Mar, Robert Sostre
  • Women: Kelani Lawrence, Hollie Scott
  • Owner: Mike Martinez
  • Coach: Kadim Carrasco

Team Dovetail Thunderbolts

  • Men: Rocky Carson, Lalo Portillo, Andres Acuna
  • Women: Montse Mejia, Alexandra Herrera
  • Owner: Mike Kinkin
  • Coach: Fran Davis

Each team is comprised of players who have strong ties to their respective owners. For example, the ProKennex Aces with owner Mike Martinez features all ProKennex sponsored players. Mike Kinkin’s team Dovetail features players who have been on Team Dovetail in some cases since the beginning of his involvement in the sport. Keith Minor’s KWM Gutterman team features players who have been personally sponsored by Keith over the years, and lastly Abel Perez’s Team Eve Genesis features players and staff with ties to Abel’s hometown and home country.

We’ve created one-page Stat sheets for each team, downloadable/viewable for your pleasure here:

– Dovetail: https://www.proracquetballstats.com/wtr/WTR%202024%20Team%20Dovetail%20Stats%20Info%20sheet.pdf

– Eve: https://www.proracquetballstats.com/wtr/WTR%202024%20Team%20Eve%20Genesis%20Stats%20Info%20sheet.pdf

– KWM: https://www.proracquetballstats.com/wtr/WTR%202024%20Team%20KWM%20Kingz%20Stats%20Info%20sheet.pdf

– ProKennex:

https://www.proracquetballstats.com/wtr/WTR%202024%20Team%20ProKennex%20Aces%20Stats%20Info%20sheet.pdf

Team Scouting Reports.

Here’s a quick preview of each team:

– Team KWM Gutterman is stacked, featuring the dual GOATs of the sport in Waselenchuk and Longoria. Neither have a ton of outdoor experience, but both have shown their ability to win on the 3 wall courts. Longoria pairs with the most decorated female outdoor player of all time in Michelle Key, while Kane pairs with Florida’s fiercest competitor in Chris McDonald to form quite the dynamic duo. And, if someone falls short, they have last year’s #2 IRT ranked player in hard-hitting Jake Bredenbeck to fill in. This is the team to beat.

– Team ProKennex features the most decorated outdoor doubles player in the history of the sport in De La Rosa, and he can choose between two of the best one-wall players on earth in Sostre and Mar for his doubles partner. DLR may be full time pickleball now, but he proved at IRT Worlds in August that he still remembers how to play. Their ladies are Scott & Lawrence, who regularly play doubles together on tour and for Team USA, and who both are seasoned outdoor players. DLR has the talent to will this team to win as needed, and will be a tough out especially in Mixed.

– Team Dovetail is led by reigning Outdoor Nationals champ Rocky Carson, who added his 12th major outdoor Men’s pro doubles title alongside King Kane in Huntington Beach earlier this year. He’s joined by fellow team Dovetail regulars Lalo Portillo and Andres Acuna, each with outdoor credentials to their name. Rocky teamed with Lalo to win the 2022 3WallBall pro doubles championship, while Acuna won the 2022 Outdoor Nationals singles title. They’re joined by the absolute best Ladies doubles team in the world, Montse Mejia and Alexandra Herrera, who made the finals of all seven competed LPRT pro doubles competitions last season, winning six.

– Team Eve Genesis is led by the legendary indoor and outdoor player Alvaro Beltran, who won 10 of the first 12 3WallBall pro doubles titles. He’s joined by up and coming outdoor fanatic Adam Manilla who has made the finals of Vegas the last two years and who is the #1 seed in the Pro Doubles draw this year. Team Eve also has the husband-wife team of Natera and Munoz on board; Munoz now has 10 women’s pro doubles outdoor titles in just the last five seasons. Lastly they have the services of Brenda Laime, who has quietly climbed the ranks of both the indoor and outdoor circuit.

The team competition will feature three rounds of doubles competition: one Men’s match, one Women’s match, and one Mixed match. Each match will be two games to 11. Every point counts; the winner of each match is going to be determined by total points.

On September 14th, Brian Pineda sat with 3WallBall founder Mike Coulter to draw cards, in true Las Vegas fashion, to determine the semi-final matchups. The matches, to be held on Tuesday September 24th at 5pm Vegas time, will be:

– KWM Gutterman Kings vs Team Genesis

– Pro Kennex versus Dovetail.

As it turns out, this is a great seeding because it almost precisely follows my personal seeding of the four teams.

Here’s my predictions

– In semi #1, KWM vs Genesis, we’ll probably see Waselenchuk & McDonald overpower Beltran & Manilla in the Men’s doubles tie, while Key/Longoria will be played tough by Munoz/Laime but will prevail. In the mixed ties, I suspect we’ll see Jake & Michelle taking on the Natera/Munoz pair, and Genesis will salvage a win but will lose the match.

– In semi #2, ProKennex vs Dovetail, I suspect DLR & Mar will have a fun, tactical match versus Carson & Lalo but will prevail. Then, the ProKennex pair of Lawrence & Scott will battle hard against Mejia & Herrera but will fall, leaving it to the mixed tie. Faced with a do-or-die situation, they leave the one-wall specialist Sostre on the sidelines and go with DLR & Scott, partners on and off the court, who take on Acuna & Herrera. DLR takes over and gets the win to advance to the final.

– In the final, KWM’s Waselenchuk & McDonald take on DLR and Mar in a fantastic battle, with Pro Kennex guys winning by the slimmest of margins. Key & Longoria win the grudge match of the ladies tie, crushing Scott & Lawrence. It leads to the Mixed tie, which DLR and Scott win, but thanks to the dominant women’s victory by Key & Longoria team KWM take the title.

Tune in on Tuesday evening wherever you are for this first-of-its-kind event. It is sure to be exciting. Follow WTR on Facebook for up-to-date announcements and scheduling: play will start at 6pm Vegas time each night on 9/24 and 9/25.

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In Memory: Dr. Richard “Dick” Krinsky

Dr Krinsky was the long-time coach of the Colorado State University – Pueblo (formerly known as the University of Southern Colorado), and was one of the most successful and decorated college coaches in the sport’s history. CSU-Pueblo is a standard bearer for collegiate programs in this country, and has competed against bigger and more well-funded schools for decades. Krinsky’s accomplishments earned him entry into his school’s athletic hall of fame in 2015, an amazing achievement for a racquetball-affiliated person. He deserves consideration for the USA Hall of Fame for his contributions to collegiate racquetball and to his home program.

After a battle with cancer, Dr. Krinsky passed away on 9/10/24.

Achievements:

– 5-time Overall National Champion: Dominated as the overall national champion in the years 1998-2000, 2018, and 2019.

– 14-time Men’s Team Title: Led the men’s team to 9 consecutive titles from 2004 to 2012.

– 1-time Women’s Team Title: Guided the women’s team to their first title in 2019.

– 118 Individual Titles: Secured 118 individual titles across men’s and women’s singles and doubles events.

Honors:

– CSU-Pueblo Athletics 2015 Hall of Fame Inductee: Recognized for exceptional contributions to sports as a special contributor. See https://gothunderwolves.com/honors/csu-pueblo-athletics-hall-of-fame/dr-richard-krinsky/58 for CSU Pueblo Athletics Hall of Fame page.

Contributions:

– Recruitment: Successfully recruited numerous student-athletes from both the US and internationally, enhancing the team’s talent and diversity.

– Fundraising and Development: Led fundraising efforts resulting in the construction of the only squash courts south of Colorado Springs, significantly boosting the local sports infrastructure. This record of achievement and contribution demonstrates an exceptional career deserving of hall of fame recognition.

Thanks to @jJeremy Mcglothin for the information contained herein.

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Dr. Bud Muehleisen (10/9/31 – 9/8/24)

One of the legends of our sport is no longer with us. Dr. Bud Muehleisen passed away early morning on 9/8/24 from a stroke in Fridley, Minnesota.

Dr. Bud, as he was known, was one of the very first champions of Racquetball, winning the 1969 US National title after pivoting from paddleball (where he had taken the 1966 and 1968 National titles). Once he began playing racquetball, he paired with the other top paddleball champion-convert to racquetball in Charlie Brumfield to form the most dominant doubles team of the early era. The pair, who both lived in Southern California, were instrumental in the early 1970s growth of pro racquetball, and were also the first outdoor national champions in 1974.

Dr. Bud was already in his mid 30s when he pivoted to racquetball and retired from pro play in early 1977 to focus on his career and volunteerism in the sport. He still played amateur divisions and won dozens of national titles along the way. He served on the IRA board for years (IRA was the precursor to the modern day USA Racquetball organization), helped define the rules of the sport, worked with manufacturers during the sport’s 1970s boom, was a frequent contributor to National Racquetball Magazine, and was a coach/mentor for years. To this day, the “Bud Muehleisen Award” is given out every year to the best male age group player of the year.

The “Doctor” of “Dr. Bud” was for dentistry, and he practiced for decades in La Mesa, a suburb of San Diego. He never forgot his roots though, and was a frequent visitor at the US Open and other major events.

He was in the inaugural inductee class to the USAR Hall of Fame in 1974 along with Joe Sobek, who invented the sport.

There are excellent tributes to Dr. Bud in Classic Racquetball from Chelsea George, who knew him well and was of the era. His HoF bio and his wikipedia page also give great details.

Borrowing from @Sudsy Monchik’s post: Condolences can be sent to Shannon Wright and family here (506 Rice Creek Terrace, Fridley MN 55432).

  • USA Racquetball Hall of Fame: https://www.usaracquetball.com/about/hall-of-fame
  • Bud Muehleisen award: https://www.usaracquetball.com/about/annual-awards
  • Paddleball Nat’l champs: https://paddleball.org/pdf/singles.pdf
  • USA Amateur Nat’l Champs: https://rball.pro/85i
  • Outdoor Nationals Doubles champs: https://rball.pro/9fk
  • Dr’ Bud’s career Pro/National match record: https://rball.pro/mt8
  • Dr Bud’s wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Muehleisen
  • Chelsea’s Classic Racquetball remembrance post: https://www.facebook.com/groups/917996761894504/permalink/2229475790746588

Thanks Dr. Bud for everything you did for our sport.

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IRF Worlds Team Competition Wrap-up

Final report from San Antonio; a quick word about the Team Competition (not to be confused with the Team ranks created by summing up points from the individual competitions).

All 16 countries who had enough players to field a full team (Italy, Denmark, and Eritrea had individuals competing but not enough for a team) participated in the Davis Cup style competition, which had two rounds of singles and then a doubles match to break the tie. There were both men and women’s competitions, which added together to name a Combined winner as well.

Here were the results.

Men’s Team: USA topped Canada in the final to claim the Men’s team title and finish off a 3-gold weekend for Daniel De La Rosa . Canada upset both #2 Mexico and #3 Bolivia to get to the finals in a great showing from Samuel Murray and Coby Iwaasa .

Men’s Results:

1. USA

2. Canada

3rd: Mexico and Costa Rica

Women’s Team: #1 Mexico completed the perfectly-chalk draw by topping #2 Argentina in the final. Mexico was pressed in the quarters with a shock defeat of @Paola Longoria by former LPRT touring pro-turned ER physician Frederique Lambert , but the Mexican doubles team prevailed to move on.

Women’s Results:

1. Mexico

2. Argentina

3rd: USA and Bolivia

When adding Men’s and Women’s results together to declare a combined team winner, USA and Mexico tied at the top … and Mexico won the tie-breaker to claim the Combined title.

Combined Results:

1. Mexico

2. USA

3rd: Canada and Argentina.

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Impact for the 2025 World Games.

These 2024 worlds served as a qualifier for the 2025 World Games. You can read their release here: https://www.internationalracquetball.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/IRF-Qualification-TWG2025s.pdf

Per this release, the “The final results of the Overall Combined Racquetball Championships San Antonio 2025 will be the qualifying event for The World Games Chengdu 2025.” We also know from the release that the available slots are divided/reserved for groups of countries as follows:

– Asia (including the host country China): 4 teams

– Europe: 4 teams

– The Americas: 8 teams

So, based on the final Combined results, who qualified and who didn’t? Here’s the exact results of the Combined Team play:

1. Mexico: Americas #1

2. USA: Americas #2

3. Canada: Americas #3

4. Argentina: Americas #4

5. Bolivia: Americas #5

6. Costa Rica: Americas #6

7. Guatemala: Americas #7

Now, here’s where it gets tricky. Three Countries, all from the Americas, tied for 8th in Combined: Chile, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic. How will the 8th team be selected? I have no idea. Chile had better individual results in the individual play stage, but that may not be the tie-breaker used.

8t: Chile: America’s #8

8t: Ecuador: Americas 1st Alternate

8t: Dominican Republic: Americas 2nd alternate

11t: South Korea: Asia #2 (China as host is Asia #1)

11t: Japan: Asias #3

11t: Ireland: Europe #1

14t: India: Asia #4

14t: Colombia: Americas 3rd alternate

14t: Germany: Europe #2

Two other European teams competed at Worlds (Italy and Denmark) but they did NOT compete in the team event due to lack of personnel. Do they get Europe’s #3 and #4 spots? I don’t know.

So, assuming I’ve got this all right, here’s the 16 teams that have first right of refusal for the World Games in 2025:

– Asia: China, Japan, South Korea, India

– Europe: Ireland, Germany, Italy, Denmark

– Americas: Mexico, USA, Canada, Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Chile.

The eventual SEEDING once WG2025 starts will be determined (as is pointed out on the 2nd page of the above PDF link) by the finish in the individual events Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, and Mixed. So that’ll mean (factoring in tiebreakers in the 3/4, 5/6 and 7/8 spots):

Men’s Singles: USA, Canada, Mexico, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Argentina, Guatemala, India

Women’s Singles: Mexico, Guatemala, Argentina, Chile, USA, Bolivia, Italy, Canada

Mixed Doubles: USA, Mexico, Bolivia, Guatemala, Chile, Argentina, South Korea, Canada.

I could be wrong here; take this with a grain of salt. At least we have racquetball at the 2025 World Games!

Congrats again to all the winners, congrats to the IRF and USAR and all the San Antonio racquetball supporters who made this happen, including the Sudsy Monchik-led team that did a Centurion fundraiser.