Mexico won the 2007 World Junior Cup. It is the 6th time in a row for the Mexican team to win the Junior World Cup in Racquetball. Team USA finished second and host country Bolivia placed third. The 19th IRF World Junior Championships ended today in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Check out all draws and winners at the event website or check out this website in the next coming days for updates and a full finishers list.

Today is the final day of the 2007 IRF World Junior Championships in Cochabamba, Boliva. While all finals will be played today and some really close and exciting matches are expected, USA Racquetball has some nice coverage of this year's event with little reports and pictures from Bolivia.

Bolivia's President Evo Morales is now part of Team E-Force... While he attended the Opening Ceremony of the 2007 IRF World Juniors, an E-Force racquet was presented to him by Osvaldo Maggi, thanking President Morales for his ongoing support for racquetball. As of now it remains unconfirmed whether the President will join the Bolivian Racquetball Team in the near future. :-)

The European Racquetball Federation (ERF) has granted the 15th European Championships 2009 to the city of Barcelona. An agreement was signed on December 6th by Josep Ripoll, President of the Catalan Racquetball Federation and Mike Mesecke, ERF Vice President. The Construction for a new 5-court-facility in the Barcelona vicinity will start in February 2008.

The 2007 IRF World Junior Championships are now underway in Cochabamba, Boliva with 200 boys and girls from 17 countries competing for World Junior gold medals in different age divisions. Follow the action at the event website on r2sports.com and see some online action via internet broadcast at www.racquetballonline.tv.

Touraneena won three titles at the All Ireland Club Championships in Kingscourt. The club`s teams won the Mens Novice, Junior Boys and Junior Girls events. Arklow captured the two premier team events, their mens team winning the Mens Open title and their womens team (pictured) winning the Womens Open Championship while Athenry were the winners of the Mens Intermediate title for the third time in a row.

The Asia Racquetball Federation will host the 2008 Asia Open in Fukuoka, Japan on January 25-27 at the Together Fitness Club. This venue was chosen because the club has been a big supporter of racquetball and also hosted many successful tournaments in the past. The Asia Racquetball Federation expects to have many competitive players participating in this tournament and anticipates another successful event in 2008.

The rosters for the 2007 IRF World Juniors are now available online. More entries will be added daily. At this point 17 countries from around the world will be represented in Coachabamba, Bolivia. Delegations are asked to check their player entries and may submit any changes to Mr. Usher Barnoff at usherbar@shaw.ca.

He is on a roll at the moment: After some successful results on the European Tour, Richard van Doezum now won the 2007 Dutch National Championships that were held in Westvliet last weekend. In an exciting final, he defeated Pascal Matla from Zoetermeer. It is van Doezum's fifth national singles title already. In the ladies singles division, Corinda Hobert defeated Yvonne Gerner.in the final.

Delegations and teams who participate in the upcoming 19th IRF World Junior Championships can now book practice time through IRF Technical Director Usher Barnoff at usherbar@shaw.ca. 3 courts per hour for 2 consecutive hours per team are allowed but times may be adjusted to accommodate all - please check back for revisions.

Timothy Hardison (USA) is the winner of the Belgian Open 2007. He defeated Richard van Doezum (Netherlands) with 2-1 in the Mens Singles Final. Hardison competed in all ERT events this season so far with the Belgian Open being his first win. Van Doezum reached another singles final in Belgium after the Hamburg Open in September.

It was all smile as the 2007 Choice Hotels US OPEN Championships concluded on Sunday crowning nearly 70 champions in professional and amateur divisions. Rhonda Rajsich claimed her second US OPEN Championship in the Women's Professional division defeating Cheryl Gudinas-Holmes. Rocky Carson won his first ever US OPEN Men's Professional Championship ousting Jack Huczek in front of a sellout crowd. (11-3,7-11,11-8,11-6). The newly formed Classic Pro Racquetball Tour crowned an inaugural champion as Ruben Gonzalez took out Woody Clouse in a five game marathon that lasted nearly two hours. (9-2,2-9,9-4,8-9,9-5).

For the seventh consecutive time Francisco Gómez won the open singles in the 13th edition of the National racquetball tournament at the  Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia. Over 100 players participated in this event, while Ektelon was the official ball sponsor. Sebastian Franco and Juan Garzón won the first and second place in the junior division - sure this is going to be the first step to join the Colombian team for the world junior championship that will be held in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

The 3rd IRF World Senior Doubles Championships 2008 are granted to Mexico. The event will be held in San Luis Potosi on June 12-14 at the La Lomas Club. Age divisions from 35 to 85 for both, men and women will be offered as well as mixed doubles. More information and an entry form will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead.

Tune in for all the action right through the finals on Sunday... watch your favorite pros and amateurs vie for the prestigious U. S. Open titles. Racquetballonline.tv will be live streaming them all.  However the live coverage of the men's professional events will not continue past the quarterfinals. There will be live broadcasts through the finals for the CPRT and WPRO.

Issue 6 of the European Racquetball Federation newsletter "Racquetball Europe" is now online. This issue reports on the recent European tournament results as well as some more information on the World Championships 2008 in Ireland and news of upcoming events.

Getting up early makes the differences sometimes... in a meeting today at 7.00 am in La Paz, Bolivia's President Evo Morales confirmed his attendance at the Opening Ceremony of the 2007 IRF World Championships in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The Ceremony will be held on December 14th.

Finally.... November 5th was the re-launch day for Racquetball Canada's website, a new design, more information about everything what is on in Canada. One of the good stuff is the National Racquetball Week, a campaign to encourage individuals, families, schools, businesses, and community groups to try and include racquetball as part of their physical fitness activities.

Mexico has a very strong foundation in the international racquetball arena. Why did Mexico's capital had not jumped on the bandwagon yet. IPRO Director Gary Mazaroff wanted to find out himself and developed a network and set out to establish some instructional classes under the IPRO banner. It was a great success

European Champion Victor Montserrat and Anna Ventura are the winners of the 1st International Trophy of Barcelona 2007. In the Mens Singles Final, Montserrat defeated Timothy Hardison (USA) 7-15, 15-8, 11-5. While Ventura defeated Elisabeth Consegal 4-15, 15-12, 11-9 in the Ladies Singles Final. With his partner Ignacio Perez, Montserrat also won the doubles final.

The 2008 French Open will be held in Nanterre on January 12th-13th. The club Forrest-Hill City Form in Nanterre, where the Open have been held for 27 times already, will be the host club for the first European tournament of the new year 2008.

The 13th National Racquetball Tournament 2007 which will take place at the Universidad del Norte (Barranquilla, Colombia) on November 6-12. Ektelon will be the official ball of the event that will a be great test for many juniors who prepare themselves for the upcoming Junior World Championships in Bolivia. Over 120 players are expected to compete from all the country's major cities. Big favorite for the Mens Open Singles titel is Francisco Gomez from Bogota. In addition to the event special clinics will be held as well.

Players and delegations who participate in the 14th IRF World Championships 2008 in Kingscourt, Ireland may want to hurry up with their travel arrangements. Not only because the 2008 Worlds will be held in Ireland for the first time and some major interest in this event is to be expected. Even more important: Ireland has topped the list of the World’s Friendliest Vacation destinations in the new edition of Lonely Planet Bluelist 2008, the annual title which captures the best in travel for the coming year.

The 27-year-old Canadian Kris Odegard won the Mens Open Singles at the Kingscourt Open 2007 last weekend. He defeated Irish number 1, Noel O`Callaghan in the final of the Mens Open Singles. The womens title went to Susan Farrell. She defeated Julie Skehan in the Womens Final. The Kingscourt Club is the venue for the 2008 IRF World Championships next year.

Important Notice: The official host hotel for the 2007 IRF World Juniors is fully booked. Delegations are asked to make reservations with the other partner hotel:
Hotel La Colonia www.Lacoloniahotel.com
Please make your reservation through  IRF Official Osvaldo Maggi or Roberto Aracena and provide a valid creditcard for the reservation.

Racquetball Canada announced Ron Brown, Ch.P.C., of Winnipeg, as Team Canada's Head Coach for the 2008 Pan American Championships to be held March 14-22, 2008 in San Jose, Costa Rica. "This will be a chance to see where our players and the competition are at ahead of the World Championships," said Brown. The players representing Canada in Costa Rica will be chosen based on performances at the 2008 National Team Selection Events.

Nawoo Kim from Korea has her own story to tell. She and her brother both lost thier sense of hearing in early childhood. Both started to wear a hearing aid at the age of one. Nawoo loves drawing and already won several national competitions. Two years ago her brother introduced her to racquetball. "I was very introverted before playing and now I am much more outgoing and confident", she said about herself. In December she is on the Korean Team for the IRF Junior Worlds.

All is in place for the 2007 IRF World Junior Championships in December in Cochabamba, Bolivia. IRF official Osvaldo Maggi visited the local committee last week to get an overview about the current status of the event plannings when he also got invited to meet the country's president Evo Morales personally. There will be no security problems during this event.

Christie Van Hees of Calgary successfully defended her title at $28,000 2007 Canadian Open Racquetball Classic Sunday at the Cedar Springs Health and Racquet Club in Burlington, Ontario. She defeated Kristen Bellows (USA) 11-6, 11-6, 11-4. On the mens side, Jack Huczek (USA) won his third Canadian title against Jason Manino (USA). Unfortunately, the win was as a result of Mannino retiring after two games due to an injury he sustained in game one.

Newport`s Ciara McManaman won her first Open Singles title at the 2007 Ballinrobe Open (Ireland). In the final she defeated her club mate Donna Ryder by 2 games to nil.
In the Mens Open Singles Noel O`Callaghan (Kilkenny) defeated Adam Neary (Arklow).

Antwerp will host the 22nd Belgian Open 2007 on November 17-18 at the Indoor Sports Club. It will be the third major competition on the European Racquetball Tour and the last major event of the year 2007. "We hope that players will show up in large numbers", says Belgian Federation President Erik Meyer, "Fun and great matches are guaranteed. Entry deadline will be Nov 14th.

What would you think if you heard that someone wanted to celebrate his 70th birthday by having a racquetball tournament. Anyone who knows Coach Chung Kiwan would not be surprised to here that he is planning to do just that in Taegu, South Korea in February 2008. Coach Chung learned the sport while working on a U.S. Army Installation over 40 years ago.  He has spent much of his life introducing racquetball to South Koreans. For the last four years he has worked for free as a racquetball instructor at the Yusung sports center that sponsored the 2007 Asia Championships.

The European Racquetball Season 2007/2008 has started with it's first event in Germany and another tournament will be held in Barcelona (Catalonia/Spain) on November 1-4, 2007.  It will be the first time EVER in the history of European Racquetball that the ERF sanctions a tournament in that region.

The 2007 Choice Hotels US OPEN Racquetball Championships will be held November 14-20, 2007 in Memphis, TN. The prestigious event features all of the top professionals in the world, along with over 700 amateurs from 18 countries world wide. The very best racquetball has to offer will be in Memphis, and there is no better place to watch professional racquetball.

The Dutch National Racquetball Championships 2007 are scheduled for November 23-25 at the Westvliet Sport & Welness Club near The Hague.
For an entry fee of ten Euros, Dutch players of all skill levels wil compete for Ladies and Men National titles and crown their National Champions 2007. 

The next IRF event will be the 19th IRF World Junior Championships in Cochabamba, Bolivia. All IRF member countries have been informed about the new format and other activities for the 2007 World Juniors. Any format questions shall be directed to the Technical Director Usher Barnoff. The IRF expects more than 20 countries competing at this years' World Juniors.

Racquetball Canada's Online Newsletter for October has just been published and is available for download at the RC website.