Wednesday, August 18, 2010

2010 IRF World Championships - Off Day Notes

Wednesday's an off day at the 15th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Seoul, South Korea as the individual competitions have concluded - medal summary below - and the team competition begins Thursday.

Wikipedia - Gettin' wiki with it

The Racquetball Blog staff has been updating some of the racquetball pages on Wikipedia to reflect what's happened in Seoul. For example, we've created a page for the 2010 Worlds. Check it out!

Speaking of things to check out, Team USA has been keeping a blog on their experiences in Korea and it makes for interesting reading. We could tell you the interesting bits, but why not just read it for yourself?

What's up with the Mexican men's team?

The Mexican men's team is missing some of its big names, like 2000 World Champion Alvaro Beltran, and Javier Moreno, a two time doubles World Champion (facts you can find on Wikipedia). Our understanding about this is that the Mexican team's resources were stretched by their commitment to the Central American and Caribbean Games - a multi-sport event occurring every 4 years - held last month in Puerto Rico (results on Wikipedia), and the arrangements for the team to go to Worlds were such that some of the men's players were not interested in going.

This isn't the first time that financial considerations have played a part in a country's participation at a racquetball competition. Earlier this USA Racquetball failed to send a team to the Pan American Championships in Honduras, which we understand was due to finances knowing that the costs of sending the team to South Korea for Worlds would be considerable.

Indeed, finances likely play a part in the fact that there is only one full team from Europe in South Korea, although there are still some bad feelings between the European Racquetball Federation and the IRF. Cheers to Team Ireland for being in Seoul.


15th IRF World Championships - Seoul, South Korea
MEDAL SUMMARY

Men's Singles

Gold - Rocky Carson (USA)
Silver - Jack Huczek (USA)
Bronze - Vincent Gagnon (Canada) and Ricardo Monroy (Bolivia)

Men's Doubles
Gold - Ben Croft & Mitch Williams (USA)
Silver - Tim Landeryou & Mike Green (Canada)
Bronze - Cesar Castro & Jorge Hirsekorn (Venezuela) and Alejandro Landa & Miguel Perea (Mexico)

Women's Singles
Gold - Rhonda Rajsich (USA)
Silver - Nancy Enriquez (Mexico)
Bronze - Paola Longoria (Mexico) and Cheryl Gudinas (USA)

Women's Doubles
Gold - Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas Solis (Mexico)
Silver - Amy Ruiz & Jackie Paraiso (USA)
Bronze - Brandi Jacobson Prentice & Frédérique Lambert (Canada) and Naomi Wakimoto & Toshiko Sakamoto (Japan)

Follow the bouncing ball....

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