Category: WOR

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2024 Outdoor Cup Series Final Standings and Analysis

With the end of the 2024 3Wall Ball championships also comes the conclusion of the 2024 Outdoor Cup series for the season. The cup series, which are sponsored by KWM Gutterman Inc. on the Men’s side and by @LPL Financial for the women, are a year-long competition for pro players who compete in all three outdoor “Majors” (which are Beach Bash in March, Outdoor Nationals in July, and Vegas 3WB in Sept).

Here’s a recap of the final standings.

Men’s Outdoor Cup Final top 5:

1. Eduardo Portillo Rendon , 1332 points

2. Kane Waselenchuk , 1281 points

3. Chris McDonald, 1153 points

4. Robert Sostre , 1015 points

5. Alvaro Beltran , 1015 points.

Top 5 finisher discussion: usually the winner of these cup competitions is the player who did the best across all three competitions, rewarding consistency across 1-wall in Florida, then big-court 3-wall in Huntington Beach, and then 40×20 3-wall plus 1-wall in Vegas. This year though, we saw all top 5 finishers do all their damage in just two of the three events, pipping those who did manage to play all three in the end.

This competition went to the very end; if Lalo hadn’t won the pro doubles final, Kane would have taken the cup. Winner Portillo took home 3 titles this year; singles at OutdoorNats, the big 3-wall doubles title with Alvi in Vegas, plus the one-wall mixed title with Herrera. He alos had a one-wall doubles final and made the semis of every other pro division he entered. He’s put his name out there as the next big thing in Outdoor for sure. 2nd place Kane left Huntington Beach in 2nd place after his two titles there, but a couple of early exits in Vegas cost him the points he needed to win despite his and 3rd place finisher McDonald’s dominant Vegas CPRT win. Floridian and 3rd place McDonald probably could have won this cup if he had any results in his home-state Beach Bash, but he still leaves 2024 with a slew of titles. 4th place finisher Iceman Sostre was tied for 1st after a two-title beach bash performance, but had to miss Outdoor Nationals and suffered a couple of very early upsets in Vegas. Lastly, 5th place Alvi probably is more happy with a Vegas pro doubles title than a cup title, but his win in Vegas propelled him from 19th after HB to 5th here.

Notables in the 6-12 range: Rocky Carson was in 1st place after HB and should have been a shoe-in, but he only played two of the points-earning divisions in Vegas and suffered an uncharacteristic round of 16 upset loss in Men’s Pro Doubles to seal his fate in this competition. @Javier Mar finished 7th despite only playing in Vegas; he won men’s doubles, made the final of both Men’s and Mixed 3-wall doubles, and for me is now the best one-wall player in the world. @Benny Goldenberg was tied for 1st after a two-win Beach Bash, but suffered a couple of exits in the 16s in Vegas. #9 @Rodrigo Montoya Racquetball only played in Vegas and is a relative outdoor newbie, but did team with Mar to take one-wall doubles. Lastly #10 DJ Mendoza , the Beach Bash Singles winner, played all three events this year, the highest ranking player to do so, but failed to have the doubles impact he needed along the way to push for this title. #11 @Thomas Gerhardt played in all three events with solid results, and #12 @Adam Manilla was the lowest-cup ranked event winner with his Vegas mixed title.

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Women’s Cup Top 5

1. Brenda Laime Jalil , 1088 points

2. Michelle Key , 1070 points

3. Carla Muñoz , 913 points

4. Kelani Lawrence , 746 points

5. @Alexandra Herrera , 600 points

Discussion: Like with the men, we didn’t know who was going to take the Cup until the end of Sunday in Vegas. Laime was in two sunday finals and only had to win one of them to claim the cup, and that’s exactly what she did, winning the Mixed 3-wall with Manilla to also claim the cup. Manilla also took Women’s doubles in California plus the 1-wall women’s doubles title in Vegas this year and really made a statement about the pecking order of outdoor players. 2022 Cup winner Key just missed out on the title, winning a title in each of the three majors but suffering early upsets in most of the Vegas events to cost her the points she needed. Key was 2nd after Beach Bash and 1st after Outdoor Nationals, but was caught by Laime in the end. 3rd place Munoz just couldn’t overcome missing Beach Bash this year, but still took three titles between California and Vegas. Lawrence took home a title in Florida and was in 1st place in the Cup standings after Beach Bash, but her two finals in Vegas weren’t enough to move her further up the chain.

Notables outside of top 5: #6 Katie Neils took home her 3rd major doubles title in Florida and made the finals in California . #7 @Montse Mejia only played in Vegas but made the Mixed final and two semis. #8 @Paola Longoria won the Vegas women’s doubles with partner Key, enough to power her into the top 10. California junior @Victoria Rodriguez finished 9th, and last year’s cup winner @Hollie Scott made the one-wall final in Vegas to slip into the top 10.

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The top finishers of both cups won $1000 plus a suite-stay at The STRAT Las Vegas . 2nd place won $250 and some additional merch.

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Here’s links to the full points worksheets in Google XLS:

– Men: https://rball.pro/c5y or

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YkLkhbbgY3pNjW5YRb12fXHAI_LnVNFx/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=102402795225850924380&rtpof=true&sd=true

– Women: https://rball.pro/zvw

or

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gpMyYigsDvwwP5Hk-X3BEiyVZaKjL4X1RhB5UjByXv4/edit?usp=sharing

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2024 KWM Gutterman 3WallBall Recap

Portillo made a major outdoor statement this weekend in Vegas. Photo from 2022 3WB via Stephen Fitzsimons

The 15th annual 2024 KWM Gutterman 3Wall Ball Outdoor Championships are in the books. It was a fun, long weekend in Las Vegas on the grounds of The STRAT Las Vegas . This year featured the introduction of World Team Racquetball and a ton of new champions in the desert.

Congrats to your Pro Racquetball division winners on the weekend:

– Men’s Pro 3-wall Doubles: Alvaro Beltran /Eduardo Portillo Rendon

– Women’s Pro 3-wall Doubles: Michelle Key / Paola Longoria

– Mixed Pro 3-wall Doubles: Adam Manilla / Brenda Laime Jalil

– Men’s Pro 1-wall Doubles: Javier Mar / Rodrigo Montoya

– Women’s Pro 1-wall Doubles: Carla Munoz / Brenda Laime

– Mixed Pro 1-wall Doubles: Alexandra Herrera / Eduardo Portillo

Beltran wins his 11th Vegas 3-wall Men’s pro doubles title, with his 4th different partner. He continues to be one of the absolute best outdoor players in the game, even after the end of his indoor touring pro career. He won the first Vegas event with Gies, won a slew of titles with DLR, won four with Rocky, and now with Lalo. Speaking of Lalo, he takes two major titles in Vegas, as does Brenda Laime, who won her second major pro doubles title of the season with Carla.

This week also wrapped up the Outdoor Cup Series; we’ll cover that later in the week.

Also Congrats to the winners of the other major Racquetball divisions held this weekend:

– CPRT Pro Doubles: Kane Waselenchuk / Chris McDonald

– Combined 75+ Men’s Doubles: Patrick Allin / Lou Orosco

– Centurion/Combined 100+ Men’s Doubles; Rocky Carson / Jerry Hall

– Men’s Open Doubles: @Alejandro Barcelo / @Yasmani Perez

– Women’s Open Doubles: Susie Boulanger / Sarah Houghtailing

– Mixed Open Doubles: Kelly Gremley / Jack McDonald

And Here’s the winners of the non-racquetball Pro/Open disciplines competed this weekend

– Paddleball Men’s 3-Wall Pro Doubles: Emmett Coe / Danny Lavely

– Paddleball Mixed 3-Wall Pro Doubles: Emmett Coe / Hollie Scott

– Paddleball Male/combined 1-wall pro doubles: Kathy Guinan / William Rolon:

– Handball 3-wall Big Ball Men’s Doubles: Carlos Marin / Eddie Rocha Jr

– Handball 1-wall Big Ball Men’s Doubles: Anthony Hernandez / John Garcia

– Handball 3-wall Big Ball Men’s Singles: Anthony Hernandez vs Samzon Hernandez

– Handball 1-Wall Big Ball Men’s Singles: Eddie Rocha Jr

R2 Sports App home page for event: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=41864

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Match Reports for the 2024 event in the database by division (racquetball divisions only): if you click on these links, you’ll get the full list of matches in each division for the 2024 event with seeding and home country. This core data feeds to all the other Pro Racquetball Stats reports.

– Men’s Pro 3-wall Doubles: https://rball.pro/ivq

– Women’s Pro 3-wall Doubles: https://rball.pro/0pa

– Mixed Pro 3-wall Doubles: https://rball.pro/3lq

– Men’s Pro 1-wall Doubles: https://rball.pro/ck2

– Women’s Pro 1-wall Doubles: https://rball.pro/hxv

– Mixed Pro 1-wall Doubles: https://rball.pro/69u

Here’s the Triple Crown reports in the database, showing all the winners of all divisions over the years.

– Men’s Doubles Triple Crown Report: https://rball.pro/pdb

– Women’s Doubles Triple Crown Report: https://rball.pro/5pw

– Mixed Doubles Triple Crown Report: https://rball.pro/bhn

(we didn’t have singles events this year, but here’s those Triple Crown reports):

– Men’s Singles Triple Crown Report: https://rball.pro/49e

– Women’s Singles Triple Crown Report: https://rball.pro/hl6

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Here’s a recap of the draws. Because of the number of divisions to cover, we’ll run through in narrative format instead of round-by-round.

– Men’s 3-wall Pro Doubles: Beltran and Portillo were stretched to a breaker in all four of their matches, but it was their semi that was most interesting to discuss. Manilla and Riffel may have been the two-time defending finalists, but many thought the power-house pair of Waselenchuk and McDonald would be the favorites here. Their semi versus eventual champs Aliv & Lalo was fascinating in terms of its strategy; after getting shellacked in game one 15-4, the Mexican duo focused a ton of its serving towards the aggressive McDonald in his advanced receiving position, and tried to force their opponents into taking offensive shots from defensive positions. It worked, and they clawed their way back into the match by playing smart and opportunistic ball. The end of the match was marred by a couple of disputed calls, but the final point was one of the better rallies you’ll see in outdoor (go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE8IkVyKxcU and hour/minute 1:10). The final was a slower, tactical game between four players who were certainly trying to “play outdoor” on the outdoor courts, a slog eventually won by Beltran and Lalo.

– Women’s 3-wall Pro Doubles: Longoria wins her 4th Vegas title, nicely spread out amongst the 15 years of the event. She took the first 3-wall pro doubles title in 2010 with Keeley Franks, and won this week with the sport’s most decorated player Key. Michelle meanwhile took her 18th Women’s outdoor pro title with Longoria, though they had to survive an 11-10 thriller in the semis against Mejia/Herrera to do so.

– Mixed 3wall Pro Doubles: Laime and Manilla broke a decade-long stranglehold on the Mixed pro division from the absent DLR, cruising into the final without being seriously challenged, then taking an 11-9 thriller against Mar & Mejia.

– Men’s One wall Pro Doubles; Mar & Montoya battered their way to the One wall pro doubles title, never seriously challenged along the way. They won the final 7,5. Mar continues to establish himself as the preeminent one-wall player in the world, winning his fourth one-wall men’s pro title in the last three seasons.

– Women’s One Wall Pro Doubles: Munoz won her third straight one-wall Vegas title, and her second in a row with Laime. The duo dominated the 2023 Beach Bash champs Lawrence/Scott in the final.

– Mixed One Wall Pro Doubles: The one-wall mixed pro draw was the single most disputed of the seeding issues that we had in Vegas this year, and you can see the results of going purely by points in the results. The draw’s #2, #3, and #4 seeds failed to make the semis, the draw was won by the #10 seed, and one could make a decent argument that the #7-#10 round of 16 match could have been the final. At the end of the day, Lalo took the title with his partner Herrera, capping a fantastic week for him: he took two titles, made the final of a third, and won the WTR MVP.

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Other Rball divisions:

– CPRT Pro Doubles: McDonald and Waselenchuk may have lost in the pro semis, but they came home with a dominant win in the CPRT. The pair destroyed Beltran & Koll in the final 4,3.

– Combined 75+ Men’s Doubles: two solid players from SoCal Allin and “Sweet” Lou took the 75+ division, beating two top players from Naples Florida in the final in Barcelo and Perez.

– Centurion/Combined 100+ Men’s Doubles: Carson teamed with Hall to take out Beltran and Knox LaRue in the 100+ final.

– Men’s Open Doubles: A Florida-heavy Open draw came down to, of course, two teams of Florida players for the title. Barcelo & Perez took out Young & Hansen for the title.

– Women’s Open Doubles: Susie Boulanger & Sarah Houghtailing won their group and then won the winner take all final.

– Mixed Open Doubles: Kelly Gremley / Jack McDonald took down Hansen and Lambert in the final. Not a bid first showing outdoor major for either Timmy or Frederique.

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Thanks for all the streaming on the weekend from the LPRT team of Jerry J Josey Jr. JT R Ball , and Tj Baumbaugh along with their many guest commentators like Mike D and Rolon.

Thanks to the Tourney Directors Mc Vegas for putting this event on, as well has his entire 3Wall Ball team. Peggine Tellez , Jen O’Meara , and @Peter McMillan worked tirelessly all weekend, along with dozens of other volunteers at the front desk and behind the scenes to make this tourney happen.

Thanks to the primary Tourney Sponsors @KWM Kwm Gutterman, PROKENNEX , @AGE Age Solutions , @LPL Financial, and others I missed here. Thanks also to the dozen other sponsors who helped either with product or finances. Without you, we do not have a pro sport, and without you we don’t have 3WallBall. Thank for all you do.

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Next up?

Per our handy master racquetball calendar https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1V6OTid6rZ356voXVkoV2sN7KMMbIP9SZd0MssH_nPGU/edit?usp=sharing

Next up is the 2024 Inland Empire Pro-Am IRT event in Spokane Washington in a couple of weeks.

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tags

USA Racquetball

WOR – World Outdoor Racquetball

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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.

Posted on

2024 Outdoor Cup Series Standings post Outdoor Nationals.

Carson takes over the lead in the Outdoor Cup for 2024. Photo by Rick Bernstein, 2022 Beach Bash

Now that the 50th annual Outdoor Nationals is in the rear-view mirror, here’s an update on the standings for the 2024 Outdoor Cups, brought to you by LPL Financial (for the Women) and KWM Gutterman Inc. for the Men.

For those not familiar, the Outdoor Cup series calculates points earned by players in pro divisions at all three Outdoor “Majors” (Beach Bash, Outdoor Nationals, and 3WallBall in Vegas) and gives awards to the top finishers.

Here’s where we stand after the second major of the 2024 season.

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Men’s Cup Series:

Full Standings xls: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YkLkhbbgY3pNjW5YRb12fXHAI_LnVNFx/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=102402795225850924380&rtpof=true&sd=true

1. With a big tournament in Huntington Beach, @Rocky Carson has jumped from #6 after Beach Bash to be in 1st place by a fair margin of the Outdoor cup standings after Outdoor Nationals. He won the pro doubles and made the final of the CPRT. Had he entered singles or mixed, he might be even further ahead.

2. King Kane Waselenchuk vaults up to #2 in the standings after winning Men’s Pro and CPRT doubles in California.

3. Chris McDonald, who did not play Beach Bash despite it being drive-able from his home in Gainesville, jumps to 3rd place in the standings with a stupendous showing in California last weekend. He won CPRT with Kane, won Mixed with @Michelle Key, won a third division with his brother, and made the quarters before an injury to his partner forced his team out of pro doubles. He’s committed already to Vegas and his partnership with Kane looks quite fruitful; it will be interesting to see who Kane chooses to play Pro Doubles with at 3WB.

4. The two leaders post Beach Bash (Robert Sostre and @Benny Goldenberg) remain tied for 4th in the standings. Both are Vegas regulars and could push for the top 3 with good showings, but both are also inarguably one-wall guys which will make things tough.

Notables in the 6-10 range: DJ Mendoza , the Beach Bash winner, had a quiet HB events but remains in 6th place. @Eduardo Portillo , who missed the Beach Bash, took Outdoor Nationals singles and made the semis in both Men’s and Mixed doubles and sits in 7th place. Thomas Gerhardt and Walter Ramos sit 8th and 10th respectively with solid showings across the board at both majors so far. @Josh Tucker lost in the final of Pro Doubles and retains 9th place on the rankings.

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Women’s Cup Series:

Full Standings xls: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gpMyYigsDvwwP5Hk-X3BEiyVZaKjL4X1RhB5UjByXv4/edit?usp=sharing

1. Michelle Key got a win and a final in California and took over #1 in the rankings after doing the same in Beach Bash earlier this year. She has a pretty sizeable lead and probably cannot be caught for the 2024 title unless she misses 3WB.

2. @Carla muñoz had about as good of an event as one could hope for in California, winning two pro titles and making the final of the third. This is enough to vault her into 2nd place despite missing the Beach Bash event altogether.

2. Arizona’s @Katie Neils sits tied for 2nd with Munoz on the strength of a finals appearance in California and the Beach Bash pro title, both earned with fellow Arizona resident Key. She’ll have her work cut out for her to break into the top 2 in Vegas.

4. @Kelani Lawrence , who was in the lead post Beach Bash, has slipped to 4th after having to miss Outdoor Nationals this year.

5. Brenda Laime ‘s strong Outdoor Nats event (a win, a final, and the Mixed semis) was enough to push her to 5th place. She only trails 2nd place by 90 points though, which can be attained with a solid showing in Vegas.

Notables in the 6-10 range: Jessica Parrilla and @Veronica Sotomayor were both in the top 5 post BB but now sit 6th and 7th respectively. Leoni is a Vegas favorite but Vero hasn’t (to my knowledge) ever played Vegas, so we’ll see what happens. Vero and @Sudsy Monchik recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest, which might make a Vegas trip more attainable though. 16-yr old @Victoria Rodriguez got a couple of semis in HB and now sits 8th. Two Floridians who were top10 post Beach Bash (@Delia Silva and @Chanis Leon hold on to their top 10 spots for now.

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We’ll revisit the Outdoor Cup after the year’s last major, that being 3Wall Ball to be held in late September in Vegas.

@World Outdoor Racquetball

@USA Racquetball

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2024 50th Annual Outdoor Nationals Recap

Florida’s Chris McDonald had a dominant weekend at Outdoor Nationals. Photo 2023 Outdoor Nats via Lara

Congrats to your winners on the weekend:

– Men’s Pro Doubles: Rocky Carson & Kane Waselenchuk

– Women’s Pro Doubles: Carla Munoz & Brenda Laime

– Mixed Pro Doubles: Chris McDonald & Michelle Key

– Men’s Singles: Eduardo Portillo

– Women’s Singles: Carla Munoz

– CPRT: Chris McDonald & Kane Waselenchuk

A big weekend for the McDonald clan, who took home a slew of titles. Munoz got the double and missed out on a Triple Crown by one division. Two wins for King Kane, adding his name to the outdoor record books, and yet another title for Rocky.

R2 Sports App home page for event: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=42032

ProRacquetballStats.com Match Reports by Pro division (notification that the results have been loaded to the database):

– Men’s Pro Doubles: https://rball.pro/s0x

– Women’s Pro Doubles: https://rball.pro/km7

– Mixed Pro Doubles: https://rball.pro/6zj

– Men’s Singles: https://rball.pro/5tx

– Women’s Singles: https://rball.pro/xyg

Triple Crown Reports: (these show the winners of all Pro divisions at all WOR outdoor majors across time)

– Men’s Pro Doubles: https://rball.pro/j47

– Women’s Pro Doubles: https://rball.pro/2vv

– Mixed Pro Doubles: https://rball.pro/y43

– Men’s Pro Singles: https://rball.pro/86z

– Women’s Pro Singles: https://rball.pro/x8g

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Lets do a quick recap of the pro draws.

Men’s Pro Doubles:

Thanks to very balanced seeding, there were really no surprises to the semis in the Men’s pro Doubles draw. All top 4 seeds advanced as expected, and only one tie-breaker blip in an earlier round forced one of the favorites to stress.

In the semis, the #1 seeds and defending champs @Josh Tucker and Brandon Davis struggled with the veteran/youth combination of Mexican #4 seeds @Alvaro Beltran and @Eduardo Portillo , losing the first game 13 before grinding out a three game win. In the bottom semi, two-time Outdoor Nats pro winners @Micah Rich and @Jason Geis faced off in a highly anticipated match against 5-time Outdoor Nats pro

winner @Rocky Carson and 14-time IRT tour champ Kane Waselenchuk . Kane first played outdoor just a few years ago, coming out to Las Vegas during the Covid year to make a huge run to the final before falling to the DLR/Beltran team. He came to Huntington Beach last year, but struggled to gel with Alvaro and lost early to the same team they played on Sunday (Jason and Micah). In 2024, with a more natural left-sided partner in Rocky, Kane was unbeatable. Unlike in years past, when Kane’s court coverage was a liability, he was deadly today, and any ball that ventured to the right side of the court that was below his shoulders was basically a roll out. Rich and Jason worked primarily to Rocky, but Rocky’s defensive game is top notch, and there was just only so many shoulder height overheads Micah could take in the middle of the court before one popped over to Kane for the kill. The final score line was 7,7, and the two legends of the sport were moving on.

In the final, Kane & Rocky white-washed the defending champs in game one before they made the adjustments needed to get back into the match. Like one would expect, Davis & Tucker ground their way to a game two win to force a breaker. There, Rocky & Kane took back over and won the title 11-7. Rocky claims his 6th Outdoor Nationals doubles title, tying him with Greg Solis and Clubber Lane for 2nd all time. Meanwhile, Like indoor legends Brumfield, Swain, Carson, Beltran, and De La Rosa before him, Kane got to put his signature on the champion’s surfboard for the first time.

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Women’s Pro Doubles:

Carla Munoz won her 6th straight Women’s Pro doubles title at Outdoor Nationals, and her third in a row with a different partner, by teaming with Brenda Laime to down her former partner Michelle Key playing with @Katie Neils in a close 11,14 match Sunday morning.

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Mixed Pro Doubles

Chris McDonald played his patented “pressure defense” game while teaming with the best and most decorated female doubles outdoor player of all time in Michelle Key to take the final in dominant fashion over the #1 seeds Rich & Munoz, denying Munoz the triple crown on the weekend. Final score: 9,5.

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Men’s Singles

In his first ever foray into outdoor singles, @International Racquetball Tour veteran Eduardo “Lalo” Portillo made fast work of the competition to take the title. He downed Hall of Famer Greg Solis in the semis 4,6 and then toppled the defending champ and #1 seed Danny Lavely 3,5 in the final.

Portillo is now the 8th different man to win this title in the last 8 years it has been held. Before him was Lavely, Acuna, Diaz, Covid, Tucker, Avila, Beltran, and then Rocky … who won it 10 out of 11 years dating back to 2007 and beyond.

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Women’s Singles

#1 seed Carla muñoz won her 3rd Women’s pro singles title at Outdoor Nationals in four years, topping fellow LPRT pro Brenda Laime 7,14 for the title.

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Other Major Draws in California:

– CPRT: the future Vegas World Team Racquetball team KWM pair of McDonald and Waselenchuk used this draw to get acclimated as partners, and they ran through the draw learning each other as they went to end up with the title. After topping the NorCal based Torres/Ramos, they vanquished the top seeds Tucker & Solis 14,6. In the final, they faced 2-time pro champs Carson & Ustarroz, who have played together for many years. The two legend-led pairs split the first two games before the fire of McDonald caught ahold and they raced to an 11-3 tie-breaker win for the title.

– Men’s 75s: Chris McDonald made it three titles on the weekend, teaming with his younger brother Jack Mcdonald to take the 75+ division. They beat Florida’s Max Heymann and Sweet @Lou Orosco in the final.

– Men’s 100/Centurion: Heymann went one step further than he did in 75s, teaming with @Gabe Medina to win the 100s.

– Men’s Open: Jack McDonald and Lou Orosco both claimed a second title on the weekend, winning the Open Doubles crown.

– Men’s Paddleball “Upper” title: Danny Lavely & Jeremy McGlothin won an injury-riddled Paddleball Upper division title, getting a walk-over in the final when Brian pineda got hurt earlier in the weekend.

– Mixed Paddleball upper title: San Diego pair Aaron Hager & Roxanne Rehling surprised the draw by taking the title as the #5 seeds.

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Thanks for all the streaming on the weekend from various fans and players. Outdoor mavens did a great job of sharing the streams so we could follow along.

Thanks to the Tourney Directors Geoff Osberg and Jesus Ustarroz for putting this event on, and congratulations on your induction into the WOR Hall of Fame for your decade-plus of service here.

Thanks once again to all the sponsors, especially 3Wall Ball , @kwKwm Gutterman , Keith Minor , Pro Kennex , @Melissa’s, Joe Splathead and GearBox .

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Next up?

We’ll do all the accounting for the Outdoor Cup series and publish a status of updated standings post Outdoor Nats later this week.

Per our handy master racquetball calendar … https://docs.google.com/…/1V6OTid6rZ356voXVkoV2sN7KMMb…

The last weekend of July features NMRA National Masters/IRF Senior Worlds plus Mexican Junior Nationals, then the first weekend of August we get an early start to the LPRT calendar with the Denver open.

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3Wall Ball

@worWorld Outdoor Racquetball

USA Racquetball

Posted on

Outdoor Nationals 2024 Preview

Carla Munoz is well positioned to take the triple crown this weekend, being the #1 seed in all three pro divisions entered. Photo Mike Augustin 2019

This coming weekend is the 50th annual Outdoor Nationals event, the longest running outdoor tournament in existence and one that has been the standard bearer in the genre for decades.

If you missed my preview and oral history of the event, which dates to 1974 and has included many of the sport’s pivotal contributors and players over its 50 year history, please see https://www.usaracquetball.com/…/outdoor-nationals-50th…

R2 Sports App link: https://www.r2sports.com/portfolio/r2-event.asp?TID=42032

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Let’s preview the pro draws. We’ll run through them one by one.

Men’s Pro Doubles

A great seeding job will result in a slew of exciting matches throughout this draw. We have some new partnerships this year in pro, and it will be interesting to see how the draws shake out.

Last year’s champs (@Josh Tucker and Brandon Davis are back and the #1 seeds, while the 2022 and 2021 champs @Micah Rich and @Jason Geis are the #2 seeds. However, trouble awaits both top seeds if they want a grudge match for the title this year. Lurking in the top half is 3-time Outdoor Nats pro doubles champ #4 @Alvaro Beltran, teamed with @Eduardo Portillo , who has a 3WB title and has proved to be a very fast study, but the team i’m looking at for the semis is #5 @Danny Lavely and WOR hall of Famer and 6-time Outdoor Nationals pro champ Greg Solis , who I think can get to the semis and might push Tucker & Davis a bit.

Meanwhile, the bottom half features the all-star pairing of Rocky Carson with the king himself @Kane Waselenchuk as the #3 seeds; they’ll get a fun opener against another legend of the sport Cliff Swain (paired with the hard-hitting Mike orr ), and project into the #6 seeds Chris McDonald and Brian pineda , who outdoor legends themselves who have a history with Kane stemming from last year’s Vegas event. The bottom half semi could be epic, with two lefty-righty teams battling, pitting power and tactics head to head.

In the end, I think its #1 versus #2 reach the final, and I think Rich & Geis reclaim their crown. But I could also easily see any of the top 4-5 seeds winning this thing.

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Women’s Pro Doubles

Just four teams are entered, with a final projected between the two top seeds. #1 @Carla muñoz and Brenda Laime should face the Arizona-based pair of Michelle Key and @Katie Neils for the title. Munoz/Laime will isolate on Neils and should take the title. Munoz has won this title five years in a row and will look to make it six by topping the sport’s most decorated player in Key.

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Mixed Pro Doubles.

Eight solid teams are entered into Mixed, including the Legendary @Martha McDonald, playing with her son Jack as the #4 seeds. Then, her other son Chris is the #2 seed with Michelle Key . Both teams would have some serious work ahead of them to have an all McDonald final.

The #1 seeds @Micah Rich and Carla muñoz likely have to beat the very tough looking team of @Eduardo Portillo and @Brenda Laime to get to the final, but Rich’s experience on his home courts should push them through. I think it’ll be 1v2 in the final, and I like the emotion of Chris McDonald and Key’s legendary talent in outdoor doubles to win out over Rich/Munoz for the title.

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Men’s Pro Singles

There’s 8 players in the Singles draw, highlighted by defending champ Lavely, tough touring pro Portillo, and Hall of Famer @Greg Solis , who’s made the singles final three times (99,01,19) across a 20+ year career but has never won it. The draw is not out as of this writing, but Lavely is a beast in singles and will be my favorite to repeat.

—

Women’s Pro Singles

Six ladies are entered, highlighted by the #1 seed Carla muñoz , who won this in 2021 and 2022 and was a finalist last year. She seems likely to face fellow LPRT touring pro #2 @Brenda Laime in the final. This is Laime’s debut at outdoor singles, but based on her outdoor doubles acumen she could push Munoz for the title, but I favor the experience of Munoz (who holds 4 career outdoor singles major titles).

Other Divisions of note:

Men’s Open Doubles is essentially a pro-quality draw, with Brandon Davis & Brian Pineda as the #1 seeds. They’ll be hard to beat, but there’s several other pro entrants scattered throughout the draw. Look for Davis to do the Pro & Open double this weekend.

CPRT has 10 teams, highlighted by the star-studded McDonald/Waselenchuk team. the draw isn’t available as of this writing, but they’re a team looking out for. Defending champs Solis & Tucker will be tough to beat as the #1 seeds. St. Clair & Burg made the CPRT final last year and are no slouches either. This draw also has 2-x Outdoor pro champs Rocky & Jesus and @Cliff Swain and @Mike Orr (who, if this was 1995, would be perhaps the hardest hitting doubles team in the history of the sport). Great draw, should be a fun one to watch.

Combined 75+ also has some solid teams, including Beltran & Chavez, Rich & Osberg, the McDonald brothers, and Gerhard & Allin.

Men’s combined 100+/Centurion features some really good teams. the #1 seeds are HB veterans Tony Burg & Scott St. Clair, and they’re #1 for a reason. The legendary @Rocky Carson is playing with NoCal’s Jerry hall and are favorites for the final. Don’t sleep on #7 @MMax Heyman and Gabe Medina , nor #3 Geoff Osberg and @Eric Fernandez , who are also playing on home courts and know their way around.

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There’s also a healthy Paddleball competition at this year’s tourney, with some crossover from Racquetball to Paddleball in the divisions. The top-level paddle division features several excellent players in Danny Lavely , Jeremy Mcglothin , Beltran, Pineda, Riffel, and the like.

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Look for Streaming online, both from players and from WOR/3WallBall pages.

Thanks to the Tourney Directors Jesus Ustarroz and Geoff Osberg for putting this event on! The pair are being recognized this weekend with entry to the WOR hall of fame for their decade+ contribution of running this event.

Thanks to many gold-level sponsors of this event. KWM Gutterman Inc. and @Keith Minor, @Prokennex , @3wallba3Wall Ball and @Mike Coulter, Melissa’s produce, Gearbox Racquetball and @Rafael Filipini , @splathead and @Joe Hall, and @LPL Financial and Halsey Roscoe . It goes without saying that without you and your support, we don’t have a sport.

Associations

USA Racquetball

WOR – World Outdoor Racquetball

Posted on

2024 Outdoor Cup Series Standings Post Beach Bash

As team @3Wall Ball has done the last couple of years, 2024 will have an Outdoor Cup series covering all three Outdoor “Majors” (Beach Bash, Outdoor Nationals, and 3WallBall in Vegas).

This post is to cover the results and standings of the Cup series after the first event of the year, the just-finished Beach Bash.

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Men’s Cup Series:

Full Standings xls: https://docs.google.com/…/1s6PHS…/edit…

Standings after the 2024 Beach Bash discussion:

Robert Sostre and @Benny Goldenberg are tied for the lead after the first Outdoor major, having teamed up together to take the Men’s one-wall Pro doubles, then each winning a second event (Sostre Mixed, Benny CPRT). Sitting in third is U18 junior DJ Mendoza, winner of the singles competition. There’s a small gap to 4th place, where Florida’s @Javier Trujillo sits, with an impressive tournament that included making the finals of pro doubles and the semis of singles. 5th place belongs to Marcos Gravier , my broadcast partner in Vegas, who entered and won just the CPRT event with Benny.

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Women’s Cup Series:

Full Standings xls: https://docs.google.com/…/1gpMyYigsDvwwP5Hk…/edit…

Standings after the 2024 Beach Bash discussion: @Kelani Lawrence sits in first place on the strength of winning the biggest pro draw of the weekend Mixed with the Iceman. 2nd place belongs to 2022 cup winner Michelle Key , who took home the Women’s doubles crown in Hollywood. #3 sits outdoor and LPRT vet Jessica Parrilla , who made 2 semis and a final on the weekend. Two ladies are tied for 4th place. The first is Arizona’s @Katherine Neil , winner of the doubles with Key. The next is @Veronica Sotomayor, who defended her one-wall singles title at the Beach Bash event.

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We’ll revisit the outdoor cup after the next major, that being July’s Outdoor Nationals.

WOR

@World Outdoor Racquetball

@USA Racquetball

Posted on

2024 Apcon Beach Bash Recap

Sostre a double winner in Florida this weekend. Photo Steve Fitzsimons 3WB 2020

Congrats to your Pro winners on the weekend:

– Men’s Pro Doubles: Robert Sostre and Benny Goldenberg

– Women’s Pro Doubles: Michelle Key and Katie Neils

– Mixed Pro Doubles: Robert Sostre and Kelani Lawrence

– Men’s Pro Singles: DJ Mendoza

– Women’s Pro Singles: Veronica Sotomayor

Executive Summary: Sostre takes two titles and has a huge weekend. Goldenberg goes undefeated in Men’s and CPRT. Key wins her record extending 34th WOR major title. Lawrence and Neils return to the winner’s circle. Sotomayor repeats, and Mendoza is a first time winner in singles.

R2 Sports App home page for event: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=41755

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Reports on ProRacquetballStats.com:

Match reports for 2024 Beach Bash:

– Men’s Pro Doubles: https://rball.pro/g69

– Women’s Pro Doubles: https://rball.pro/ego

– Mixed Pro Doubles: https://rball.pro/s1n

– Men’s Pro Singles: https://rball.pro/9xz

– Women’s Pro Singles: https://rball.pro/672

Triple Crown Reports for all past WOR major champions:

– Men’s Pro Doubles: https://rball.pro/3lj

– Women’s Pro Doubles: https://rball.pro/zoa

– Mixed Pro Doubles: https://rball.pro/obz

– Men’s Pro Singles: https://rball.pro/9ey

– Women’s Pro Singles: https://rball.pro/h27

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Lets run through the draws, recapping the action.

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Men’s Pro Doubles:

One-wall NYC legends Sostre & Goldenberg held serve as the #1 seeds and took the pro draw without dropping a game. With Sostre manning the left-side, he demonstrated his hall of fame hand-speed and one-wall defense all weekend to grind out the win. They toppled two Floridians in Yasmani Perez & Javier Trujillo in the final, who really raised some eyebrows this weekend as pro division debutants.

The tenor of the match was set at the end of the first game, when a line call at game point was over-turned by Perez, giving their opponents the game. Great sportsmanship all around, and great play for the neutrals to watch.

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Women’s Pro Doubles:

The Arizona pair of Michelle Key and Katie Neils took the pro doubles title over surprise finalists from Miami Chanis Leon and Yurisleidis Allue. Leon and Allue showed why you can’t just assume touring pros will win in outdoor (especially one-wall), topping two teams of LPRT veterans to make the final.

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Mixed Pro Doubles:

Sostre padded his HoFame resume, earning his 17th WOR Major doubles title by teaming with Lawrence to hold serve as the #1 seed and win out. They survived the toughest quarter (against IRT legend Sudsy Monchik and his wife, 2-time Beach Bash singles champ Sotomayor), cruised past fellow NYers Blatt & Silva in the semis, then downed two top outdoor pros in future WOR HOFamer Rocky Carson and Jessica Parrilla in a back and forth 13,(13),8 final.

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Men’s Pro Singles:

The wide-open draw came down to two gun slingers from San Antonio, who also happen to be doubles partners on the weekend. USA u21 Mendoza took out my pre-tournament favorite David Blatt and then the hard hitting Norcal Lefty @Walter Ramos to earn the final. Jennings took out Florida’s @Michael White and then #1 seed @Javier Trujillo to make the final. There, Mendoza ground out a win against his partner for the title.

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Women’s Pro Singles:

#1 @Veronica Sotomayor defended her Beach Bash singles title by topping two veteran outdoor players in Jessica Parrilla and Michelle Key in the final for the win. Key vanquished #2 @Kelani Lawrence in a 21-19 semis bruiser to earn her first singles final since 2016. Sotomayor repeats as champ and puts herself in an early lead for the outdoor cup.

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Other Notable draws:

– CPRT 40+ Doubles: 6th seeds @Benny Goldenberg and Marcos Gravier survived three straight tie-breakers to come out on top of the CPRT 40+ Pro draw, defeating the #2, #3, and #4 teams along the way. In the final they topped Robert Sostre and Mike Harmon in a great 11-8 tie-breaker.

– Men’s 75+: Carson and Barcelo (partners in both Pro and 75+) held serve as the #1 seeds and conquered the 75+ division. They topped surprise finalists Floridians @Michael Boyle & @Travis Burnell , who surprised the bottom half as the #11 seeds and beat #6, #3, and #2 seeded teams to reach the final.

– Men’s 100+: Outdoor legend Richie Miller and Marty Hogan survived a huge 100+ draw and topped Cheven Kimbrough & Guillemo Castellon in the final.

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Thanks for all the streaming on the weekend from the LPRT video crew.

Thanks to the Tourney Directors Peggine Tellez , Jen O’Meara , @Mike Coulter and the entire 3Wall Ball crew for putting this event on and ensuring the legacy of outdoor majors.

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Next up?

Per our handy master racquetball calendar https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1V6OTid6rZ356voXVkoV2sN7KMMbIP9SZd0MssH_nPGU/edit?usp=sharing

I’ll recap Intercollegiates tomorrow.

Next up is the International Racquetball Federation ‘s Pan American Racquetball Championships event (PARC). This will be the 35th annual PARC event, and will be heading Bolivia for the 6th time.

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tags

USA Racquetball

WOR – World Outdoor Racquetball