2003 ProKennex IRF 15th
World Junior Championships
Presented by Penn Racquet Sports

The Orlando Fitness & Racquet Club
Orlando, Florida: December 17-21, 2003

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Site reporting
by Adam Katz

For the second straight year, Mexico won the Junior World Racquetball Championship. Last year, Mexico won by a mere 34 points. This year's new format closed the gap to 14 points, but still Mexico will be keeping the trophy for another year.

In the end, it came down to the head-to-head matches between Team USA and Team Mexico. In the seven divisions where a final pitted these two powerhouses against one another, Mexico won 6 and lost 1.

The action kicked off on Friday night with Kelley Fisher and Elise Wilson of Team USA teaming up to take on Nancy Enriquez and Samantha Salas in the Girls 16 Doubles. Like most of the USA-Mexico matches to follow, this one was extremely exciting, and very close. In the end, Mexico won 15-12, 10-15, 11-9, but their momentum proved short-lived as Team USA's Da'Monique Davis and Jesi Fuller combined to even things out in the Girls 18 Doubles with a 7-15, 15-8, 11-9 victory over Mexico's Angiano/Meuchi.

At this point, the battle was on. Saturday's semifinals created five head-to-head matches for the gold. It was obvious that these matches would determine the World Championship.

The day began with Tripp Isley and Richard Sledzik Jr taking on Mexico's Estrada-Ortega in the Boys 14- doubles final. Both teams had looked very impressive in pool play and the early part of the single elimination draw, but on this day, Team Mexico was the better team and they started things off with a 15-6, 15-3 victory.

The next USA vs. Mexico match was the Boys 16- doubles final between Anthony Herrera and Jared Torres of Team USA and Mexico's De Los Rios/Estrada. This match proved very entertaining as both teams made some truly unbelievable shots and retrievals. In the end, Mexico was 2 for 2 following a 15-10, 12-15, 11-2 victory.

Up next was the Girls 14- doubles match between Shannon Inglesby and Brittany Legget and Mexico's Guzman/Longoria. This was probably the most grueling match of the day, which was surprising considering these are the youngest members of both teams, but these young ladies put on quite a racquetball show. Mexico had its third title with a 10-15, 15-13, 11-7 win.

Next up was Team USA's Joey Lakowske against Mexico's Gil De Los Rios in the Boys 16- singles final. It seemed like the entire club was watching this match, and both players certainly didn't disappoint. Hitting rockets off both sides of the ball and diving almost after each shot, this match had the adrenaline flowing both in the players and in the crowd. Once again, Mexico won 14-15, 15-6, 11-7.

As this match was ending, the fifth and final USA-Mexico match was starting. Team USA's Elise Wilson took on Mexico's Nancy Enriquez in the Girls 16- singles. Nancy appeared to be "in the zone" in this match and she was able to win this one in two games, but Elise fought her every step of the way and definitely made her earn her title. Other matches of note on Sunday were the Boys 18- doubles final between Team USA's Brandon Shoemaker and Travis Woodbury and Venezuela's Castro/Laprea. This was a rematch of the final pool play match where Castro/Laprea won in three very tight games. This match was no different, except the final result turnaround: Shoemaker/Woodbury won it, 11-10 in the tiebreaker.

Adrienne Fisher continued her dominance in the Girls 18 Singles beating Bolivia's Carola Loma 15-9, 13-15, 11-2. And in the final event of the tournament, Ben Croft beat teammate Dan Sheppick in the Boys 18 Singles Final 15-7, 15-11.

New format, same result. It comes down to Championship Sunday and the World Cup comes down to the United States and Mexico. Both teams are extremely close on points and both teams have players in most of the finals that will determine the World Cup.

There will be 10 World Championships determined today as 2, The Girls 18 and 16 Doubles have already been determined with The United States and Mexico splitting those championships, respectively. Of the 10 to be determined today, 5 matches pit Team USA vs. Team Mexico, 2 are all Mexican affairs, 1 an all American battle, and the remaining 2 are US versus another country (Bolivia and Venezuela).

The Boys 18s has Ben Croft taking on Dan Sheppick. The talk all tournament has been about Ben, but Dan has had a very solid tournament considering he has gone largely unnoticed. The Boys 16s has Team USA's Joey Lakowske facing Team Mexico's Gil De Los Rios. This match promises to be very explosive as both players hit the ball as hard as anyone here in Orlando. The Boys 14s is an All Mexican match as David Ortega challenges Ruben Estrada for the Gold.

On the Girls side, the 18s has Team USA's Adrienne Fisher looking to defend her crown against Bolivia's Carola Loma. The 16s has Team USA's Elise Wilson facing Team Mexico's Nancy Enriquez. The 14s has Team Mexico's Eleni Guzman facing teammate Paola Longoria.

In doubles, the Boys 18s is a pool play rematch between Shoemaker-Woodbury of Team USA and Castro-Laprea of Venezuela. The 16s pits Herrera-Torres of Team USA against De Los Rios-Landa of Team Mexico. The 14s matches Isley-Sledzick of Team USA against Estrada-Ortega of Team Mexico. And in the Girls 14s, Inglesby-Legget, who both lost tough semifinals matches in the singles look to take their revenge on the girls that beat them, team Mexico's Guzman-Longoria.

It promises to be a very tense day here in Central Florida.

This was certainly the most anticipated match of the tourney and once it was announced, people started walking away from other matches just to get a good seat. The crowd was evenly distributed between Team USA and Team Mexico. [Photo L-R: Croft (far left) and Tristan watch as the referee tosses the coin to determine first serve].

In last year's World Championships, Ben Croft was leading 7-2 in the tiebreaker when he started to cramp up. He ultimately succumbed on that day, but the experience has given him an entire year of motivation pointing toward this moment.

With that in mind, the match started. Neither player was able to score in the early rallies as both of them are extremely fast, with tremendous shot selection and retrieving ability. After six successive side outs, Augustin got the game's first point with a drive serve to the left that led to a forehand reply down the line on the right side, off Ben's return. Nobody knew at the time, but it would be Augustin's only lead of the match.

Once Ben got the side out, he started to roll. An ace crack serve to the right tied the score and he proceeded to move out to a 6-1 lead. The Mexican crowd tried to fire Augustin up, but it was to no avail as Ben had him on the defensive from the outset. Ben continued to apply the pressure as he was hitting everything extremely low. There were the occasional ceiling ball rallies, but they usually ended with Ben rolling one from deep court usually just under a diving Augustin. This led to an 10-4 lead when Augustin called his first timeout. The plan failed when Ben blistered a drive serve to the right and followed with a backhand down the line to the left to increase the score to 11-4. Another good rally with three great diving gets -- one by Ben, two by Augustin -- resulted in a side out. Augustin's next serve was a drive to the left that appeared to come close to his body. Ben asked for a screen but the ace was given. Ben refused to let this bother him and killed the next serve return and took his lead to 13-5. Another side out allowed Augustin to narrow the margin to 13-7, but that would be as close as he would get in this game. Once Ben returned to the service box, he played a great rally on the left side, finally killing it with a backhand down the line past a diving Augustin. Game point was secured after a seven-shot ceiling ball rally that Ben concluded with a forehand splat to the right, which rolled under a diving Augustin.

Game two started the same way that game one had ended. Ben continued to apply the pressure and Augustin was forced to react. Ben jumped to a 3-0 lead before Augustin could respond with a drive serve ace to the right side. Ben then moved it to 6-1 with some great shooting and a couple of skips by Augustin from deep in the court. Augustin then moved it to 6-3 as Ben skipped consecutive forehand pinch attempts. But once Ben got the service back, he rolled the score up to 14-3. A couple of side outs in succession put Ben back in the service box and he ended the match the same way he ended the first game, with a forehand splat to the right side.

All of the Team USA players in attendance jumped up and started waving American flags provided by the Ben's parents.

As soon as that match ended, everyone moved over to the court where Dan Sheppick was facing Venezuela's Marcelo Laprea. At that point, Dan was trailing 3-5. Within minutes, he was down 5-14. Without losing his serve, Dan then made an amazing run and ran the next 10 points to close the game. Marcelo took two timeouts and made two appeal calls during this span, but nothing could stop Dan's momentum.

He carried it forward into the second game and finished the match 15-9 creating an All American final in the Boys 18s. Ben and Dan have enjoyed quite the rivalry over the years and tomorrow's final promises to be another great match.

After two intense days of racquetball, the 14-18 years olds have ended pool play and now enter the grueling single elimination part of the 2003 Pro Kennex IRF Junior World Racquetball Championships. There have been a few surprises along the way and the draws were determined based on results of the pool play combined with seedings determined based on last year's overall results.

In the Boys 18 Singles, Team USA's Ben Croft looks to single handedly take out Team Mexico as both Mexican players Rene Enriquez and Augustin Tristan are in his half of the draw. This was caused by Rene's loss in pool play to Marcelo Laprea of Venezuela 12-15, 15-10, 11-9. Croft is certainly looking forward to the challenge commenting, "If you're going to be the World Champion, you're going to have to beat the best." On the other half of the draw, Team USA's Dan Sheppick and Venezuela's Marcelo Laprea are the players to watch. The 18s will play the round of 16 and the quarterfinals today.

In the Boys 16 Singles, Team Mexico's Gil De Los Rios and Cesar Guzman are both in the top half of the draw while Team USA's Charlie Pratt and Joey Lakowske are in the bottom half of the draw. This was caused by Lakowske's victory over Guzman in the pool play yesterday.

In the Boys 14 Singles, pool play held to form as Team Mexico #1 David Ortega and Team USA #2 Allan Crockett are in the top half and Team USA #1 Ismael Aldana and Team Mexico #2 Ruben Estrada are in the bottom half of the draw.

In the Girls 18 Singles, Team USA Co-Captain Adrienne Fisher is in the top half with Team Mexico's Tere Meuchi while Team USA's Jesi Fuller is in the bottom half with Bolivia's Carola Loma.

In the Girls 16 Singles, Team USA's Elise Wilson and Kelly Fisher are in the top half while Team Mexico's Nancy Enriquez and Samantha Salas are in the bottom half. This was caused by Samantha's victory over Kelly in a tiebreaker during pool play yesterday.

The Girls 14 Singles also held to form as Team USA #1 Brittany Legget and Team Mexico #2 Eleni Guzman are in the top half while Team Mexico #1 Paola Longoria and Team USA #2 Shannon Inglesby are in the bottom half.

In doubles, the Boys 18s have Brandon Shoemaker and Travis Woodbury of Team USA in the same half as Team Mexico's Roberto Porras and Alex Portillo. This is due to Shoemaker and Woodbury losing a tough tiebreaker to Venezuela in pool play last night. That match lasted until almost 11 pm, but there was still a packed house in the stands cheering until the last point was won. That match gave the Venezuelan duo the top seed in the draw.

In the Boys 16 doubles, Team USA's Anthony Herrera and Jared Torres and Team Mexico's Gil Del Los Rios and Armando Landa are in separate halves. In the Boys 14 doubles, Team USA's Tripp Isley and Richard Sledzick Jr. are separated from Team Mexico's Ruben Estrada and David Ortega.

The doubles on the girls side is a round robin that has already started. In the girls 18s Both Team USA and Team Mexico are undefeated with their matchup coming tonight at 8:30.

In the Girls 16s, again both Team USA and Team Mexico are undefeated and meeting tonight at 8:30.

In the Girls 14s, once again both Team USA and Team Mexico are undefeated, but their match will wait until Sunday at 10:30 am.

The excitement is only growing here in Orlando and the atmosphere has been truly electric. I've heard many comparisons between this and the Davis Cup. More to follow.

L-R: Team USA players Da'Monique Davis and Jesi Fuller (foreground) receive coaching from Mitt Layton and Kelley Beane during their doubles match.

This match was easily the match of the morning as both Teams USA and Mexico watched intently and the atmosphere was truly electric. Both players hit strong serves and great shots to keep the match close throughout. Kelly managed to win the first game 15-11, but Samantha picked her game up quite a bit to force the tiebreaker 15-13. In that tiebreaker, Samantha kept her momentum going to take an 8-0 lead. At this point, the momentum shifted. During the rally at 0-8, Kelley lined up a forehand down the line on the right when her backswing caught Samantha in the face near her goggles. Samantha immediately took her goggles off and threw them towards Kelley, hitting her in the leg. After several minutes of discussion, the call was made. Technical foul against Samantha and avoidable hinder. The score went from 0-8 to 1-7. At this point, Kelly made some strong serves and Samantha was clearly frustrated and Kelley closed to 4-7. From this point on, the players alternated points and sideouts until Samantha was able to close the match at 11-7.

The much anticipated match of the afternoon was the pool match between Joey Lakowske of Team USA and Cesar Guzman of Team Mexico. This match certainly was the match of the day. Both these players are very fast and make some truly unbelievable diving saves. This match featured many rallies that had 4 or more dives per rally.

In game one, Joey came out strong grabbing an early 4-1 lead. Each rally was something to behold as one player would take the offensive and the other would make a great diving save to shift the momentum. Joey continued to press the issue jumping to an 11-4 lead. Cesar was eventually able to get the score to 8-12, but then Joey ended things with some amazing diving retrievals and even better splats. Game point ended with Joey making an unbelievable diving save up front and then taking Cesar's weak return for a forehand splat kill to the right. This was greeted by a huge outburst of applause by all in the audience.

Game two started with Cesar having the advantage as he slowly built a 2-1 lead. The early rallies were dominated by some unbelievable dive saves and great rekills. At 2-1 Joey hit a solid backhand down the line on the left which Cesar took a bad path towards. The referee called the shot down and after several minutes an all Canadian line judge crew was recruited for the rest of the match. Each player used their allotment of appeals during the remainder of the game with 2 calls standing and 2 being overturned.

As the game progressed, Cesar built a 14-8 lead. Joey regrouped and slowly started his way back into the game. Continuing his great diving saves and splat kills with his forehand, he climbed back to 14-14. At match point, he hit a great drive serve to the left that Cesar was barely able to return. This led to an easy forehand splat to the right that ended things. The pool play is almost over and the single elimination part of the draw will start tomorrow morning. The tension continues to build here and it looks like the weekend will definitely be explosive as the stakes get higher.

In the Esprit Cup tourney, most of the team point earners from the U.S. and Mexico continue to advance in the Gold division. This contest looks to be extremely close.

Looking to regain their lost crown Kelley Beane's Junior Team USA also has a great group of players at every age group. Other teams to watch in this year's tourney include Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Argentina, and Australia.

The tourney will be conducted in three parts. The World Cup consists of the top 2 singles and top doubles team in the 14s, 16s, and 18s for both girls and boys. They will play a round robin format by age group on Wednesday and Thursday to determine seeding for the single elimination draw that will start on Friday.

The Friendship Cup pits all other 14-18 year olds in an Olympic style format to earn more team points for each country. The interesting thing about this competition is that many of the World Cup doubles teams are entered in the Friendship Cup singles.

Finally, there is the Esprit Cup pitting the top two singles and top doubles teams in the 10s and 12s and the top 2 singles in the 8s. Newly appointed US National 12 and Under Coach and former Junior National Team member, Jen Meyer, has done a great job working with these juniors and hopes to make a lasting impression in her Junior Worlds coaching debut.

The tourney kicked off bright and early on Wednesday, December 17, and to this point there have been no upsets. Most of the higher seeds in each division will not play until this afternoon at the earliest.