“Paola Longoria Wins VA & ends season #1”
“Rocky Carson makes finals of OR & ends season #2”
“Connor Laffey and Wayne Antone qualify into the pro draw in OR”
My “Adult Championship Racquetball Team” led by Rocky Carson and Paola Longoria, both finished strong at their last pro events of the season and finished #2 and #1 respectively.
Rocky Carson played 2 tournaments this month making the semi-finals of one and the finals of the other.
In Stockton, CA, May 2-4, Rocky had a 5 game battle with Alvaro Beltran. After Rocky was leading the match 2-1 it looked like he was going to beat Alvaro, but Alvaro fought back hard and took game 4 and 5 for the win. That was a tough loss for Rocky so he decided to go back home and train smarter for the next pro stop in 2 weeks.
With 2 weeks of rest and recovery, both physically and mentally, Rocky came back strong. Rocky advanced to the finals of the Tournament of Champions in Portland, OR, May 16-18 by beating Chris Crowther in the quarterfinals in 3 games and Ben Croft in the semi-finals in 5 games. Rocky met his rival, Kane Waselenchuk, in the finals and lost to him in 3 straight games, but Rocky is still one of the most dominant players in the world.
Rocky is currently ranked as the No. 2 IRT player in the world.
Paola Longoria finished the season undefeated by winning the LPRT Pro Nationals in Herndon, VA, May 16-18. Paola defeated a red hot Aubrey Kirsch in the quarterfinals and Samantha Salas in the semi-finals before meeting last years Rookie of the Year, Marie Jose Vargas. After Paola dropped the first game to Maria she regrouped and made adjustments on her serve as well as raised her target on the front wall as not to skip and Paola won the next 3 games and became the Pro National Champion.
Longoria has not lost a match or tournament on the LPRT since May 2011. Paola’s consecutive match winning streak sits at 137 and her tournament-winning streak sits at 34. She also holds 50 career tournament titles on the LPRT.
Paola is currently ranked the No. 1 LPRT player in the world.
My “Junior Championship Racquetball Team”
Jordan Cooperrider, HEAD Penn junior sensation, is training extremely hard getting ready for the USA Racquetball Jr. Nationals in Denver, CO in June after her soccer season just ended. Jordan is finishing up her freshman year of High School in the Medical Program at “Palm Harbor University”.
Wayne Antone, 15 years old, had a busy month with 2 tournaments within 2 weeks of each other. In Tacoma, WA, May 2-4, at the Tacoma Woodstock Media Group Tournament, Wayne teamed up with Rocco Vega and won the Men’s Open Doubles.Two weeks later in Portland, OR at the Tournament of Champions, May 16-18, Wayne made it through qualifying and earned a spot into the main pro draw to play Rocky Carson. Rocky said Wayne played the first 10 points very tough and he has so much promise for the future. Wayne also played in the Men’s Open Division and had to play Mauro Daniel Rojas in the quarterfinals that he has played for years in juniors and has never beaten him. This time the results were different as Wayne beat Mauro in 2 straight games. It was a great month for Wayne who shows so much promise in the months to come getting ready for the USA Racquetball Jr. Nationals in Denver, CO in June.
Connor Laffey, 18 years old, in Portland, OR at the Tournament of Champions, May 16-18, made it through qualifying and earned a spot into the main pro draw to play Jose Rojas. Jose said, “Connor’s got game.” It was a great tournament for Connor who shows so much promise in the months to come getting ready for the USA Racquetball Jr. Nationals in Denver, CO in June, his last year of eligibility.
Mitchell Turner, 14 years old, had a busy month with 2 tournaments within 2 weeks of each other. Mitchell is continuing to develop his game as in Tacoma, WA, May 2-4, at the Tacoma Woodstock Media Group Tournament, Mitchell won both the Men’s A & B Divisions. Two weeks later in Portland, OR at the Tournament of Champions, May 16-18, Mitchell made it to the semi-finals of the Men’s B Division. It’s amazing to see Mitchell’s game transform before my very eyes as up until mid April he never won a Men’s C Division and now, just 1 month later, he is competitive in the Men’s B Division. All his hard work is starting to pay off since I started working with him 2 years ago. He is getting ready for The Jr. Nationals in Denver, CO in June.
Rocky Carson and Paola Longoria will both be heading to the World Championships in Toronto, Canada, June 14-20. Each one of them will be representing their countries, as they are both members of their National Racquetball Teams. Rocky will be representing his home country; the USA and defending his World championship title and Paola will be representing her home country; Mexico and defending her World championship title.
***All IRT and LPRT Tier 1 and Grand Slam events are streamed live on the IRT Network.
Enjoy your journey to your “championship game,” like my “championship team.”
