First, I would like to congratulate each and every one of the 301 players that came to Tempe, Arizona to compete in the 18th IRF Ektelon Junior World Racquetball Championships, and also congratulations to Team Mexico for defending their titles in the Junior World Cup (14-18 year olds) and the Espirit Cup (12 and under).
I didn't get to see all the matches yesterday, but I will report on what I know. And today we will start with the match of the day. The Girl's 14 Singles Final between Ecuador's Veronica Sotomayer and USA's Aubrey O'Brien. Both players gave it everything they had from the opening shot to the final point in the tiebreaker.
Aubrey came out strong in this one keeping the score close early in the first game with solid passing shots and near perfect splats forcing Veronica to play even smarter than she already does. Slowly, however, Veronica pulled away putting points together until she had won the first game 15-5. This didn't deter Aubrey one bit, as she fought through a point for point battle in the second game. The crowd continued to grow at the exhibition court as this match progressed and each rally ended with wild cheers from 1/2 of that crowd. The U-S-A cheer was even heard for the first time this tournament. So when Aubrey managed to get the 15th point in that second game, the US Team and all of their fans absolutely erupted, the noise was truly deafening. Aubrey came out strong in the breaker to build a 5-2 lead, but Veronica wasn't about to go away without a fight. She started ripping shots and quietly moved to match point at 10-5, but Aubrey wasn't about to let this world championship go that easily. She regrouped and managed to get to 9-10, each point ending with Aubrey pumping her fist to the crowd. You could feel the adrenaline in the air. At 9-10, Aubrey hit a great serve to get a weak return from Veronica, but she skipped the set up and Veronica was able to close out the win on the very next serve. The team from Ecuador erupted in cheer and took their celebration to the court, where they danced around and waved their countries flag for all the online fans in the world to see. Afterwards, I asked the Ecuador coaches when was the last time that Veronica had lost a game in tournament play. None of the coaches could remember, her mother didn't even know.
Veronica would be cheering again later on in the morning as she and teammate Maria Paz Munoz would officially claim the World Championship in the Girl's 14 Doubles with a fairly easy win over Mexico.
In the Girl's 18 singles, Michelle Key put an end to her disappointment from last year where she didn't get to play by winning the World Championship in this division. Michelle played very smart and controlled throughout this tournament and was truly deserving of the title. One she now looks forward to trying to defend next year.
The Girl's 18 doubles had been decided earlier after Mexico had beaten the US on Wednesday night to win the gold and give the silver to the US.
In the Girl's 16 singles, Mexico's Paola Longoria continued her domination of juniors with a straight games win over USA's Sharon Jackson. I didn't see this match, but I heard that Sharon stuck with her early on in the first, but pulled away late and kept the pressure on to win in two. All in all, it was still an excellent tournament for Sharon as she was still able to claim a world championship later in the day.
She and Holly Hettesheimer combined to defeat Paola and her doubles partner for the Girl's 16 Doubles title. Didn't see this match, nor have I heard anything about it as I was on the road back to Denver before it started.
On the Boy's side, Mexico's David Ortega continued his dominating run in Junior play claiming both the singles and doubles titles in the 18s. Chris Coy and Zach Apperson gave it all they had in that doubles final, but came up just a little short. It was clearly not the end to his junior career that Chris was hoping for, but he is one tough competitor and one high class individual. I am certainly honored that he was representing the US at this tournament.
In the Boy's 16 singles, Ishmael Aldana continued his strong tournament by taking out close friend and doubles partner, Jose Rojas for the title. They weren't quite able to complete the sweep of the division as Mexico was able to claim the doubles title.
In the Boy's 14s, Mexico was able to complete the sweep as Alex Cardona repeated the feat of teammate David Ortega by winning the singles and doubles avenging his loss to Jose Rojas last year in the singles by defeating Taylor Knoth in two tight games.
On the Espirit Cup front, in the Girl's 12 Singles, Team USA's Devon Pimentelli came up just short in her bid for a first World Title when she was beaten by Bolivia's Maria Jose Vargas. Team USA did manage to win the doubles title when Elizabeth Brenner and Samantha Rosado completed their sweep of the round robin competition.
In the Girl's 10's, one of the Gonzalez sister's won the event. To be honest, they are twins and I cannot tell them apart so I'm afraid I have no idea which girl won the title.
In the Girl's 8s Mexico claimed both the Gold and Silver in this round robin event with Team USA's Erika Manilla bringing home a bronze medal.
On the Boy's side, Marko Rojas was a one man wrecking crew in this tourney as he swept to the singles and doubles titles. He now moves up to the 14s and is looking forward to his first bid to qualify for the US Junior World Cup team. He is also one very talented young man who could be the next big thing on the IRT tour.
In the Boy's 10s Mexico ended up Gold and Silver and Team USA's Adam Manilla brought home the bronze in both singles and doubles. Adam truly was the personification of the heart that this entire Team USA showed during this World Championships. I am extremely proud of him and glad to know that he really had a good time at this tournament despite his very tough, close losses in the semifinals of both the singles and doubles. He did gain a little consolation when he and mixed doubles partner, Hollee Hungerford from Oregon claimed the World Championship in the Mixed Doubles.
The Boy's 8s were dominated by Mexico, but both Ryan Francis and Jake Birnel showed that they have some serious talent to contend with as well.
As I get to the wrap up portion of this update and the tournament in general, I feel it is very important to mention how lucky we are to have the current US Junior Team coaching staff in place. They are an inspiration for our kids and for us all in their behavior and their demeanor. They added a couple of new faces this year, but they never missed a beat. I only hope that they will continue on in this venture for many years to come. They all share a true passion for this sport and a true dedication to each and every player on their team...our team. For those of you that don't know who they are:
Kelley Beane - Head Coach
Cheryl Gudinas
Kristen Walsh
Andy Pitock
Shane Wood
Charlie Pratt - Coach in training
Jen Meyer - 12 and Under Coach
Now that we are at the end of the year, I figure I might as well hand out my "unofficial" year end awards for this tournament. This is entirely my opinion based soley on the matches that I saw this past week.
Female Athlete of the Year World Cup Age - Michelle Key. I was so sad for her last year when she couldn't play in the tournament due to fears about a recurring hamstring injury, and she just put it all out there every match this week to claim the title in the Girl's 18 Singles.
My runner-up here is Sharon Jackson who was all heart all week.
Male Athlete of the Year World Cup Age - Ishmael Aldana. To lose like he did in Juarez was tough, but he fought through all that this year and had a great tournament to take home the title.
Female Athlete of the Year Espirit Cup Age - Devon Pimentelli. I had no idea who she was at the opening ceremonies, but watching her play, I can tell that she has some serious game.
Male Athlete of the Year Espirit Cup Age - Marko Rojas. Two world championships and a dominating performance at this tourney make him the clear cut choice.
Match of the Year - Female - World Cup Age - Sharon Jackson over Yazmine Sabja in the Girl's 16s. Sharon trailed bad in all three games but still fought back to win it. My runner up here is the Girl's 14 Singles Final Veronica Sotomayer over Aubrey O'Brien.
Match of the Year - Male World Cup Age - Ishmael Aldana over Ruben Estrada. All the motivation and being his second tough match of that day.
Match of the Year - Female - Espirit Cup Age - Ximena and Lucia Gonzalez over Abbey Lavely and Elizabeth Vargas - Girl's 10 Doubles. They went into this one both undefeated and Abbey and Elizabeth played their best match of the tournament but were still beaten in two tough games by the Mexican sisters.
Match of the Year - Male - Espirit Cup Age - Adam Manilla over Pablo Sauma in the Boy's 10s quarterfinals. Watching this one, you would have thought that they were both playing on the IRT tour, it was that good of a match.