Category: 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.

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.