WOR Outdoor Racquetball Update January 2023
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by Todd Boss, with contributions from Mike Coulter and Peggine Tellez
2022 Beach Battle Recap
The last big event on the 2022 Racquetball calendar took place December 15-18, 2022: The Age Solutions Beach Paddleball/Racquetball Battle, held at the legendary Garfield Street Paddleball Courts in Hollywood, Florida. Thanks to Andy Gomer for your continued support of outdoor and the sport in general.
This relatively new event, the brain child of DC-area outdoor aficionado Maddie Melendez, has quickly become a popular off-season outdoor tournament that features both Paddleball and Racquetball and draws players from up and down the East Coast. R2 Sports: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=39809
Here's a quick recap of the events of the weekend, highlighting the pro and popular events.
Note: everything below is One-Wall, and all events are doubles.
Men's Pro Doubles -- Dominant NY-based one-wall players William Rolon and Robert Sostre (colloquially known as "The Warrior" and "The Iceman") took the title, topping the Florida pair of Marcos Gravier and Roy Hernandez in a rematch of their group stage final. Semifinalists included long-time Beach Bash top talents Eric Faro and Ignacio Espinal (winners of their group) and another top all-Florida pair of Mike Harmon and Jonathan Burns.
Women's Pro Doubles -- Another all-NY pairing of Jasmine Suarez and Delia Silva topped the tough pairing of Aimee Roehler and Katie Neils in both the group stage and in the pro final. Great win for Suarez/Silva.
Men's Open Doubles -- Solid Florida players Yasmani Perez and long-time Florida tourney director Rob Mijares took the open draw over fellow Florida players Mike Medina and Seran Ramkissoon.
Women's Open Doubles -- Florida's Karen Novick and Kelly Quinn won the group rematch over Lisa Sostre (wife of Robert, therefore, clearly to be known here and forward as "The Icewoman") and Jewelz Santiago to take the Women's Open title.
Mixed Pro Doubles -- The Warrior did the double (actually he did a triple; see below) by taking the Mixed pro with Kathy Guinan, once the namesake of the famous Zerega complex in New York. In the final, they topped the excellent Virginia-rooted team of Thomas Gerhart and Amie Brewer.
Mixed Open Doubles -- Lisa Sostre teamed with Darien Jimenez to take the Open doubles, topping Tourney Director Melendez playing with Rob Mijares in the final.
Men's 75+ Doubles -- The biggest draw on the weekend was the 75+, becoming an ever more popular event with our aging player base. Eric Faro (the original Beach Bash finalist in 2004) teamed with Nacho to take the 75+ draw. They topped underrated VA-based player Suresh Vemulapalli and the legend Marty Hogan in the semis en route to the final. In the final, Faro/Espinal topped the surprise finalists of Novel Lopez and Jorge Algarin, who are (according to commenters’ post-publishing) from the Levittown One Wall League in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Bravo to them for making the final of a solid draw.
Congrats to all who played. Thanks to Maddie for running the event, and thanks to all the Florida outdoor promoters who helped out, who provided streaming, and who made this tourney happen.
Mark Your Calendars for these Upcoming 2023 Outdoor Events
Here’s a quick guide to known upcoming WOR/Outdoor racquetball events.
March 5, 2023: Battle Target Tolleson, Tolleson HS, Tolleson, Arizona
https://www.r2sports.com/portfolio/r2-event.asp?TID=40421
March 5, 2023: AF Pro Series Tournament of Champions, Hollywood, Florida
https://www.facebook.com/events/694000135171575
March 8-12, 2023: 2023 MZ Companies Beach Bash, Hollywood, Florida
https://www.r2sports.com/portfolio/r2-event.asp?TID=39926
March 26, 2023: The Final Battle, Horizon HS, Scottsdale, Arizona
https://www.r2sports.com/portfolio/r2-event.asp?TID=40420
July 15-18, 2023: Outdoor Nationals, Marina Park, Huntington Beach, California
Sept 27-Oct 1, 2023: 14th Annual KWM Gutterman 3WallBall, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Dates confirmed and announced 11/30/22.
Tournament Directors
If you’re planning an outdoor event and it is not on this list, please let me know and we’ll add it to the list going forward. The more awareness and visibility, the better the turnout!
When you set up your Outdoor event in R2sports, make sure you select “World Outdoor Racquetball (WOR)” as your organization. That way your event will show up on the new WOR webpage we’re working on in the dynamic “Upcoming Events” widget. If your event doesn’t show up in this link below, then it isn’t referencing the correct organization in the tourney setup page.
https://www.r2sports.com/r2sports-event-search.asp?searchNow=YES&eventSportOrgID=5
