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Recent News |
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From the President | From the Secretary General |
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 World Senior Championship Concludes
Wrapping up its 21st consecutive year of play, the World Senior Championships crowned singles champions in 12 men's divisions and 9 women's divisions, at the close of the Labor Day weekend. The event was hosted in a series of venues and played out in flighted round-robin formats to maximize playing time. It's an annual best-seller among senior athletes who enjoy traveling, good friends and great competition. Drawsheets | Full Results | Recordbook
Next World Seniors Event Coming Up ... The 2010 World Senior Doubles Championships will be held in Ireland, June 9-12, at the Kingscourt site of the 2008 IRF World Championships. |
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 World Games Conclude
Seen from the inside out (at right), top ranked pro athletes played to a packed house at the medal rounds of the 2009 World Games in Chinese Taipei. In the men's final, USA teammates faced off, with Jack Huczek defeating Rocky Carson in a tiebreaker, 2-15, 15-12, 11-8. Among the women, Mexico's Paola Longoria also went to three games to defeat USA's Rhonda Rajsich, 5-15, 15-7, 11-5.
Thirty of racquetball's best athletes, representing eleven countries, competed - after qualifying in last year's 2008 World Championships. The top 16 men and women to place in Ireland were eligible to compete in Kaohsiung, and athletes were fielded from Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Japan, Korea, Mexico and the USA. View final wrap up >> |
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 Korea Open Sponsor Steps Up
The 5th Kyung Jae Newspaper Korea Open was a success, thanks to Mr. Jong Hwan Lee, the vice president of the newspaper and major sponsor. When approached by the KRF, he didn’t know there was a difference between squash and racquetball, but he decided to become a sponsor because of the many similarities between racquetball and his company’s mission. Good racquetball requires players to have speed, agility, and fast decision-making ability. The newspaper also requires, speed, agility and fast decision-making to deliver prompt and accurate information to their readers.Concerned that the general population does not know about the sport, he hopes that both then Kyung Jae Newspaper Korea Open and the 2010 World Racquetball Championships will increase the awareness and popularity of racquetball in Korea.
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 New Kingscourt One Wall
According to Vice Chairman Sean Gargan, Kingscourt Handball & Racquetball Club recently announced what could be Europe's first new court development of the year.
As part of ongoing improvements, the club launched the new outside one wall facility with the intent of supporting both handball and racquetball use.
In recesssionary times, the benefit to this court is its low cost, with the only expense being the balls, it's a great way to introduce children to the sport. |
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 Celebrating World Senior Doubles
Team Guatemala is shown celebrating their medal-round finishes, after earning two silver and two bronze medals at the World Senior Doubles Championships in Vancouver.
Pictured (standing l-r): Lucy de Zachrisson - Raul Zachrisson; (seated l-r):
Estuardo Wer, Antonio Aguirre, Juan Jose Salvatierra and Marie Gomar. Photo: courtesy Lucy Zachrisson. |
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 Courts Going Up in Puerto Rico
Court facility construction is well underway for the 2010 Central American Caribbean Games, which will be held at the University of Recinto in the city of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.
This is the sixth consecutive Central American Caribbean Games in which racquetball has been included as a full medal sport. The racquetball competition is being administered under the direction of Puerto Rico Racquetball President, Mr. Pucho Miranda. |
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 Strategic Guide Recognized
In late May, Geoff Peters was presented with a plaque recognizing his help in guiding the IRF through a long-range planning session last February. Peters facilitated a three day meeting that discussed the organization's mission and values statements, core values and set priorities to carry the sport forward worldwide. Flanked by IRF VP Usher Barnoff (left) and President Keith Calkins (right), Peters accepted his award in Houston. Photo: courtesy Cheryl Kirk.
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The Future Looks Bright
New Racquetball Association of Ireland President Sean Gargan recently attended the Irish Junior Racquetball Open as a guest of the host club Touraneena, under the stewardship of former RAI President Pat Keane. He stated that "I have attended World, European & Local Championships but none can compare to last weekend’s event. The event was made even better by the presence of IRF President Keith Calkins."
Special thanks also were extended to organizers Christy Slattery and Pat Keane (with the able assistance of their partners Betty & Helen), the local organizing committeee lead by Linda Skehan with Pat Dalton,John Skehan, Eithne Skehan, Karen Keirns, Julie Skehan and Elanor Hickey. The brillant competition set the bar very high for the incoming RAI president, who reports that the future looks bright!
Pictured above (l-r) are: Johnny Sherlock, Andy Clarke, Sean Gargan, Keith Calkins, Eamonn Clarke (at back), Councillor Clifford Kelly, Sean Corcoran, Brendan Gargan. |
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IRF Officials visit 2010 World Championship Venue ... In March, Keith Calkins (seated right) was hosted by the Korean Racquetball Federation, along with Yuni Cobb (standing third from right), who translated for the trip and shared her notes. She writes:
The IRF and the Gangnam Gu (County) had a joining ceremony so that Gangnam Gu can be the official host city for the 15th World Racquetball Championships. The venue will be the SETEC (Seoul Trade Center) in Gangnam Gu Exhibition Center, which will have six portable courts. The Mayor said that he is honored to host such a great event and that he hopes it will give Korea the opportunity to learn about the sport and provide experiences which will allow Korean Elite Racquetball players to be more competitive in international tournaments. |
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IRF Leaders Meet for Strategic Planning |
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In February, the sport's top global leaders traveled to Colorado Springs to chart a course for the future of International Racquetball ... Under the direction of facilitator Geoff Peters, 21 principals from the International Racquetball Federation, Asian Racquetball Federation. European Racquetball Federation and the Pan American Racquetball Confederation met over three days to discuss the organization's mission and values statements, core values and to set five priorities to carry the sport forward worldwide.
Pictured: [seated l-r]: Cheryl Kirk (USA), Yuni Cobb (Korea), Lucy Zachrisson (Guatemala), Linda Mojer (IRF), Rosy Torres (Mexico); [standing forward l-r] Jorge Luis Cueva (Ecuador), Fito Baca (Mexico), Usher Barnoff (Canada), Osvaldo Maggi (Argentina, glancing to center), Miguel Perea (Mexico), Edwardo Wer (Guatemala), Roberto Aracena (Bolivia), Ron Grimes (E-Force) Paula Sperling (WSRC); [standing rear center-r] Luke st Onge (IRF), Jim Hiser (USA, obscured), Keith Calkins (IRF, glancing to center), Erik Meyer (Belgium), Ryan Rogers (R2 Sports), Mike Mesecke (Germany). |
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| 2009 |
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06 |
World Senior Doubles  view the drawsheets and results online |
05 |
World Games view preview |
04 |
Pan American Games view the drawsheets and results online |
03 |
IPRO Releases New Clinic Lineup view calendar |
03 |
European Racquetball Federation March Update Released |
03 |
28th German Open website counts down to Opening Day view |
02 |
IRF Releases New Mission & Vision Statements download strategic plan |
02 |
25th Arklow Irish Open,
May 1-4 entry form |
02 |
Turkish Racquetball Open announced |
01 |
IRF Signs with Penn as Official Ball |
01 |
IPRO January Newsletter Released ... Junior Worlds Signal Growth |
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| 2008 |
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12 |
Junior World Conclude with Team Results Released ... Team USA reclaimed the Junior World Cup (for 14-, 16-, 18- division play) after a seven-year hiatus, while Mexico dominated the Esprit Cup for 10- and 12- competition. IRF recordbooks list both team finishes and individual championship titles. drawsheets |
10 |
Waselenchuk & Longoria win US OPEN US OPEN Website |
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 Racquetball in 2011 Pan American Games ... At the PASO general Assembly, racquetball was confirmed for The Pan Am Games 2011 program in Guadalajara, Mexico. The announcement was made before 700 of the most important sport leaders in this hemisphere.
“It was a very exciting moment for the sport” stated Osvaldo Maggi, president of the Pan American Racquetball Confederation ”this confirms that Racquetball will continue as a full medal sport in the single most important multi international sports competition, second only to the Olympic games in importance. This keeps the Olympic chain in place for us [and] we are also now eligible for Olympic Solidarity Funds which will allow us to continue to develop our coaches and officials in this hemisphere.” Guadalajara 2011 |
10 |
Canadian Classic www.racquetball.ca | Official tournament website |
09 |
Following its approval by WADA's Executive
Committee on September 20, the 2009 List of Prohibited
Substances and Methods is now available. This list will go
into effect on January 1, 2009. WADA
Prohibited List Jan 1, 2009 |
09 |
European Season Opener in the Netherlands Dutch
Racquetball |
08 |
World Senior Championships Conclude in Albuquerque, New Mexico results |
08 |
 2010 World Championships Awarded to Korea ... The IRF awarded the 2010 World Championships to Korea, where seven new glass backwall portable courts will be built, adding to the existing glasswall portable court. Those eight
portable courts will be used for development of racquetball
in Asia and worldwide after the Worlds.
Korea
Racquetball Federation
press release
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World Championships Conclude in Ireland ... The 14th
IRF World Championships 2008 took place in Kingscourt,
Ireland, after an impressive Irish Opening
Ceremony, followed by competition among 26 countries.Finals & Finishers
Read the Daily Bulletins:No.2 | No.3 | No.4 | No.5 | No.6 | No.7 | No.8 | No.9 |
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Rocky Carson wins World Outdoors 2008
WOR Results |
07 |
 Progress Report ... from
the "Casa de Racquetas"
in Monterrey, Mexico and its six new racquetball courts.
Construction is moving on well and the official opening is
scheduled for November 2008. The club will also offer 6 squash courts, 4 badminton courts, 9
tennis table courts and 4 fronton courts.
www.fmr.org.mx
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Paris launches new website www.paris-racquetball.org |
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World Senior Doubles in San Luis Potosi, Mexico World
Senior Doubles results |
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Bolivia certifies 13 Level 1 Referees www.febora.org |
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 Guatemala breaks ground on 8-court facility ... Just five
minutes away from Guatemala City Airport and a future site of
big international events: The new 8-court-facility is in
progress now and promises to be one of the best racquetball
complexes worldwide. Construction will be completed by the
end of 2009.
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Canadian National Championships www.racquetball.ca |
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Bolivian Federation re-launches website www.febora.org |
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Men's Pro Tour inks deal with ESPN360.com irt-tour.com | espn360.com |
04 |
 It has to
start somewhere... Currently played on a Squashcourt,
racquetball made its debut on the Canary Islands with the
first tournament being held in Fuerteventura
this month. Plans for the real courts are underway. The
Canary Islands are one of the 17 the autonomous communities
of Spain.
http://www.fuerteracquetball.blogspot.com/
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Farrell and McManamom win Fermoy Open www.racquetball-ireland.com |
03 |
Beltran and Longoria win Pan American Games Finals & Finishers |
03 |
Turkey hosts Mayadrom Sports Center Open Tournament
info |
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Kortes and Montserrat defend at Italian Open www.racquetballitalia.it |
03 |
Hughes wins Irish National Singles www.racquetball-ireland.com |
03 |
Japan Open in Tokyo Japan
Racquetball |
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IRF News Archives |
2008 |
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2007 |
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2005 |
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2004 |
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2003 |
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