Junior Worlds - Day Two
December 18th, 2005 by Adam Katz
2005 IRF 17th World Junior Racquetball Championships
The atmosphere definitely kicked into gear today as tiebreakers seemed to be the rule of the day. This was not the best of days for Team USA but there were several bright spots along the way.
In the Girl’s 18s today, Kelley Fisher continued her momentum in the round robin pool with a 2 game win. However, Sarah Hettesheimer suffered a loss to Cuba. I saw part of that match and was surprised by the result, Sarah seemed to be in control most of the way, but couldn’t seem to close it out. I am confident that she’ll come out strong tomorrow. The Girl’s 18 Doubles team had the night off.
In the Girl’s 16s today, 1 of the two matches of the day took place as Kara Mazur from Connecticut took on Eleni Guzman from Mexico in the opener of pool play for both young ladies. The largely Mexican crowd showed up with drums and noisemakers for this one and the entire club was loud and boisterous throughout. Eleni took the first game 15-9 and seemed to be cruising in the second up 13-9 late. However, Kara dug deep and fought through a great deal to even things out 15-13. She then came out on fire in the tiebreaker going up 6-0. This wasn’t going to be an easy one though and Eleni regrouped and pulled within 2 at 8-10. During that rally chaos ensued. Sadly, I was at the next court over so I’m not entirely certain what happened, but I can tell you it delayed the match for almost 30 minutes as all the coaches argued over whatever the call was. The coaches are currently eating dinner before their team meeting and so I will have to wait to find out, but I will try to pass that along later. Also in the Girl’s 16s, Shannon Inglesby made it 2 for 2 with a win over Australia today. The Girl’s 16 doubles also had the night off.
In the Girl’s 14s today, Sheryl Lotts continued to struggle finding her rhythm and was beaten in two close games. I’m hoping that she’s just getting the nerves out of her system before the single elimination draw starts on Monday. Danielle Key won her match toady fairly easily. However, in the doubles these two lost to Ecuador in a tight tiebreaker. 1 of the members of the Ecuador team is up and coming player Veronica Sotomayer. All I can say is this girl can really play. She’s here playing 14 Doubles and 12 Singles, and has a very good chance of winning them both.
In the Boy’s 18s, the other match of the day took place as Chris Coy took on Costa Rica, and by the sound of the crowd it definitely felt like he was taking on all of Costa Rica. This match, like the Mazur-Guzman match was Standing Room Only and was impossible for me to find any spot to view it. All I can say is that the crowd reaction to each and every rally let everyone in Juarez know what was going on. In the end, Chris lost both games 15-14, 15-14. Both games ended with controversial skip calls but Chris was ok with it in the end. I’m sure he’ll rebound well tomorrow. Mike Keddie, once again, served his opponent off the court in two fairly quick games. As hard as he hits the ball, I worry about these courts. There are already some holes in the front wall on one court, and that was the court Mike played on yesterday. I’m curious to see how today’s court holds up tomorrow. The Boy’s 18 Doubles team received a forfeit when Nigeria failed to show.
In the Boy’s 16s, Ishmael Aldana continued to show that his eye problems are in the past as he breezed through this match. He seemed to be testing some things out as the second game wore on, but when it came time to close it out, he pushed it up another gear. Allan Crockett wasn’t so lucky, however, as he lost a tight tiebreaker. This match featured 2 very fast kids who were willing to dive for every shot if necessary. For a while, it seemed like it definitely was necessary as every rally featured multiple dives from both players. The Boy’s 16 doubles of Ishmael teaming with Jose Rojas won their match rather comfortably.
In the Boy’s 14s, Team USA actually swept its 3 matches as Jose Rojas and Danny Lavely both looked extremely strong in their singles games and Danny then teamed with Chad McGuffey and looked really strong in the doubles.
On the Espirit Cup front, again it was a tough day for Team USA again with some very bright spots.
The day started with Colorado’s Elizabeth Vargas playing in the girl’s 8s. After winning the first game fairly easily at 15-3, she found herself down 14-3 in the second. Being that I help coach her, I was very calm since I know how focused and determined she is. So it was no surprise to me when she came back and closed out the match 15-14.
The Girl’s 10s are still playing round robin matches to give the girls some matches before the real draw begins on Monday, so I won’t talk about these matches until they get to the real event.
In the Girl’s 12, a USA point earner fell out of the Gold division when Elizabeth Brenner lost 11-10 in the tiebreaker. She falls into the Blue Division. Courtney Chisholm got things righted in this division when she won her match today.
In the Boy’s 8s, another member of my Team Colorado came through in a tough match as point earner Matt McAdam fought through all the noise of the Mazur-Guzman match next door to win his own little battle with Team Mexico 11-5 in the tiebreaker.
In the Boy’s 10s, John Lindsey played extremely well in keeping our hopes alive as he was able to fight through a large Pro Mexico crowd to earn a spot in the next round.
Both Boy’s 12 players Joseph Lee and Marko Rojas played extremely well and won their matches.
In the Boy’s 10 doubles, another of my Team Colorado players and point earners Adam Manilla teamed with Sam Reid of Oregon to win their match rather easily. They both served extremely well to completely frustrate their opponents 15-1, 15-5. On the Friendship Cup front, today Kevin Hernandez started his play in these Junior World Championships and just like Chris Good yesterday, he was overcome by his nerves. He started out slowly and we tried to calm him down, but nothing seemed to work and he lost in 2 tough games 15-8, 15-11. Afterwards, he finally calmed down and we’re still expecting great things from him in the Red Division singles and the 16 doubles starting tomorrow afternoon. Mike, you can definitely be proud of your son, even though he lost he handled all the pressure with great dignity. The crowds here are like nothing you’ve ever seen and Kevin stayed very even tempered throughout.
That’s all for now, tomorrow is the last day of pool play in the World Cup so the action will only be getting hotter down here in Juarez.
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Entry Filed under: Racquetball News, USA Racquetball
Tags: 2005 Junior Worlds, Junior Worlds
