Congrats to your Pro winners on the weekend:
– Singles: Paola Longoria
– Doubles: @Montse Mejia and Brenda Laime Jalil
comments on winner; updated # of tourneys, updated season, etc
R2 Sports App home page for event: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=46046
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Let’s review the notable matches in the Singles draw.
Singles Match report in the PRS database: https://rball.pro/bd7
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In the 32s:
– @Erika Manilla made a winning return to the tour, topping newlywed Maria Renee Rodríguez 11,7 in the opener. She fell to Vargas in the next round, but she’s back on tour, which is the best news following her 10-month injury absence.
– @Frederique Lambert blasted Michelle Key 6,1 in a surprise first round matchup. Key is coming off taking Longoria to a breaker in the last event but was handled easily by the part-time player/ER doctor Lambert.
– @jesJessica Parrilla topped @Laura Brandt 0,4 to move on. Notable only because Brant’s appearance on tour at age 62 was the 3rd oldest known tour appearance in the history of the Ladies pro tour. https://rball.pro/nyi
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In the 16s:
– #9 Carla Muñoz turned the tide on a recent lost to Cristina Amaya Cassino , topping the #8 seed in a breaker. This could be a fun rivalry for a while.
– #3 Mejia was pressed by @Valeria Centellas but moved on 10,14.
– #11 Parrilla got a solid win over #6 @Kelani Lawrence to earn a rare quarter final.
– #7 @Natalia Mendez kept her recent streak alive over #10 @Samantha Salas Solis , going breaker to advance.
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In the Quarters
– #1 @Maria Jose Vargas moved past Munoz 1,11
– #4 @Ana Ana Gabriela Martínez held off #5 Laime in a close 10,12 match.
– #3 Mejia moved past country-woman Parrilla with ease 4,5
– #2 Longoria was not troubled by Mendez, winning 6,8
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In the Semis
– Vargas and Gaby went down to the wire, with Gaby having a match point at 10-10 but was unable to convert. This was just the opening Vargas needed, as she rolled off a couple points 9-10 down to win the semi 11-10 and move on. Heartbreak for the Guatemalan.
– Longoria continued her recent mastery over Mejia on the singles court 13,5 to earn another final.
In the Finals, Vargas and Longoria had another back and forth affair, this time with the long-time #1 coming out on top.
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Points Implications of results
With this win. Longoria should take back over the #1 spot on tour, which she relinquished in December 2023 for the first time since 2008. Munoz and Amaya should switch spots at the 9/10 range. Michelle Key rises to #14, which may be a career high. Lastly, Manilla comes in at #20 and will have her work cut out for her as she regains ranking points here on forward.
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Doubles review
Match report in the PRS database: https://rball.pro/rve
Manilla and her Team USA teammate Michelle Key topped the #2 and #3 seeds to earn a final, but lost to the #1 seeds Mejia & Laime there. Still, a great result.
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Open Singles, other notable draws
– Women’s Open Singles: Centellas got the title, with a win over MRR in the final. MRR had topped Parrilla in the semis for a solid win.
– Men’s Open Singles: Local IRT veterans @Mario Mercado and MoMo Zelada , co-founders of @Formulaflow and playing out of their home club, met in the final, taken by Zelada in three.
– Mens Open doubles: IRT staff member Samuel Schulze and local Maryland player John Behm shocked Mercado/Zelada in the Open doubles final.
– The Simmons Father/daughter duo took the Mixed Open/Elite doubles title, topping two local players Imani Valentine & Chris Ruano in the final.
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Thanks for all the streaming on the weekend, especially from broadcasters Favio Soto, Steve Schulze, Pablo Fajre and the IRTLive crew
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.
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Next up?
Per our handy master racquetball calendar …
the International Racquetball Federation – IRF World juniors event is underway in Guatemala, with group stages going on now. We’ll possibly post a preview of the knockouts based on time this week, otherwise we’ll recap it next week. There’s one big outdoor event happening this weekend, then the year wraps up.
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tags
LPRT