"I've received a couple of reports from people currently in Cochabamba, Bolivia for the 19th IRF Junior Worlds, and this is what I have.
The Opening Ceremonies, which took place on Friday evening, were quite the event. The President of Bolivia was there and spoke as the sun was setting and everyone had a good time and was very impressed. The travel down there may have been exhausting, but the team seems to have adapted and they are glad to be playing.
The honor of leading off the matches for the US team belonged to Oregon's Dylan Reid in the 14 singles. Playing against Cuba, Dylan came out sharp from the beginning and quickly adjusted to the altitude to win in 2 games getting the US effort off to a very good start. His doubles match with Marco Rojas was a little bit more of a challenge as both players tried to adapt to playing with each other for the first time, but they managed to get through it to keep the US undefeated in pool play.
Pool Play continues today (Sunday) and Monday with the single elimination draw starting on Tuesday.
If you were watching Racquetballonline.tv, then you got to see some very good matches yesterday. Sharon Jackson of Indiana came out a little nervous, but fought through it to gain a tiebreaker win over Columbia's Cristina Amaya, I believe the score was 11-1 in the breaker.
Immediately after that, defending 18s World Champion, Michelle Key, got her tournament off to a winning start against Carmen Crispa of Ecuador. Michelle came out a little tentative and fell behind early, but once she got going, she was able to end it in two.
The next match on the featured court was Team Colorado's Adam Manilla taking on a kid from Bolivia. Adam looked very strong in his match as he had his opponent off balance from the very beginning, and even though I was sitting in my living room watching online, he was still listening to every piece of advice that I gave to my computer as he cruised in two. This win sets up a rematch of last year's quarterfinal from the Boy's 10 with Costa Rica. That match was one of the matches of the tournament, so I'm just hoping that it is on the main court today.
All of the US Junior World Cup team managed to win their pool play openers yesterday and the play starts early this morning."
Thanks, Adam, for the update!
I heard from Assistant Coach Andy Pitock this morning, using Shane Wood's phone (thanks, Shane!). He reports that the club is just absolutely impressive. Everyone is having a great time, although it sounds like Assistant Coach Cheryl Gudinas Holmes is under the weather, possibly from something she ate. The rest of the coaches are filling in for her...no doubt she'll be feeling better a little later on. The Bolivian team is strong and of course has the home court advantage. The US had a stellar day on Saturday, though...few matches were lost and pool play continued today. After the pool play (scheduled to be complete on Monday), then come the playoffs. That's when the real "rubber meets the road" and champions emerge!
Stay tuned...and don't forget to check r2sports.com for match specifics! Go USA!!!!
~Cheryl