The best players in the world along with top local amateurs
The best players in the world along with top local amateurs.
The world’s top professional women and men racquetball players will return to the Denver metro area for the 2021 World Singles and Doubles Open Racquetball Championships in Highlands Ranch, CO. The event will be held from August 12th through 15th and hosted at the Highlands Ranch Recreation Center-Northridge.
The Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) and men’s International Racquetball Tour (IRT) will be playing the same weekend together, as well as professional mixed doubles with a total prize purse over $50,000 in prize money. Most notably, both professional world no.1 ranked players from the LPRT and IRT, Paola Longoria and Kane Waselenchuk have committed to play.
Paola Longoria (San Luis Potosí, Mexico) is a 10-time US OPEN champion in the women’s professional division and was the youngest player in the history of the sport to win a US OPEN with her first title in 2009. In addition to winning the US OPEN, Longoria has won 20 Gold Medals for her country while playing in international competitions. Longoria is a recipient of Mexico’s National Sports Award and Forbes Magazine has named her as one of the 50 most influential women in Mexico. Longoria has also won the last eight events on the LPRT. She has a current consecutive match winning streak of 38, with her last loss occurring in September of 2019.
Leading the field in the men’s IRT professional division will be 15-time men’s professional singles US OPEN champion Kane Waselenchuk (Edmonton, Canada). Waselenchuk is arguably one of the greatest players in the history of the sport with his 14-year end titles ranked no. 1 at the conclusion of each IRT season. From January 2009 to September 2013, Waselenchuk won a professional racquetball record 137 matches in a row, which is also reflective of his current career won/loss percentage of 608-53, or a .92 winning percentage. In 2012, the New York Times profiled Kane and his dominance of the men’s professional tour (Article link: http://nyti.ms/2aig6lG).
In addition to the marquee professional divisions, the championships offer amateur divisions sanctioned by USA Racquetball (USAR). The event also plans to raise awareness and scholarship funds to assist young athletes who play racquetball at the collegiate level. There will also be several local Colorado players participating including former and current several college students from the Denver area. Adam Manilla (Centennial, CO), a graduate from the University of Colorado and currently ranked #17 on the men’s pro tour (IRT), and his sister Erika Manilla (Centennial, CO), a graduate from NAU, will also be competing.
Matches begin Thursday afternoon and continue each day with the final championships for both men’s and women’s set for Sunday afternoon. For a preview of the racquetball action the World Singles and Doubles Open Racquetball Championships brings to the Denver area, please visit the event official website at https://worldsinglesdoubles.com/