The International Racquetball Federation's 19th

Racquetball World Championships The World Racquetball Championships is the top international racquetball competition organized by the International Racquetball Federation (IRF). History The first event was held in 1981 as part of the 1981 World Games. The second World Championshi ...

were held in

San José, Costa Rica San José (; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Central Valley, within San José Canton. San ...

from August 10–18, 2018. Originally, the event was to be held in

Haining () is a county-level city in Zhejiang Province, China, and under the jurisdiction of Jiaxing. It is in the south side of Yangtze River Delta, and in the north of Zhejiang. It is to the southwest of central Shanghai, and east of Hangzhou, the p ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, but on March 17, 2018 the IRT announced via its Facebook page that the venue will be changed due to complications. Cali, Colombia was the first alternative choice, but there were complications there as well, so on June 16, 2018, the IRF announced via Facebook that San Jose, Costa Rica will host Worlds.

Rodrigo Montoya Rodrigo Montoya (born June 4, 1996) is a Mexican racquetball player. He is the current International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champion in both the Men's Team competition and Mixed Doubles (with Samantha Salas), winning those titles at t ...

of Mexico won men's singles for the first time, defeating the USA's Charlie Pratt in the final. In Women's singles,

Gabriela Martinez Gabriela may refer to: * Gabriela (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian feminine given name * ''Gabriela'' (1942 film), a Czech film * ''Gabriela'' (1950 film), a German film * ''Gabriela'' (1983 film), a Brazilian film * ''Gabriela' ...

of Guatemala upset the three-time defending champion Mexican

Paola Longoria Paola Michelle Longoria López (born July 20, 1989) is a Mexican racquetball player. She is the current Women's World Champion in both Singles and Doubles, winning both divisions at the 2022 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champ ...

to win gold. In doubles, Alvaro Beltran and Daniel De La Rosa won men's doubles in three games over

Rocky Carson Rocky Carson (born May 21, 1979) is an American professional racquetball player. Carson's a formeInternational Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champion in Men's Singles – a title he's won a record five times. He has been the season ending #1 ...

and

Sudsy Monchik Sudsy Monchik (born October 12, 1974), is an American racquetball player. As a five-time Pro World Champion, Monchik is one of the top 3 players in the history of the sport. Monchik was known for his power and speed, as well as his shot-making ...

of the US, and Bolivians Valeria Centellas and Yasmine Sabja became the first women from South America to win Women's doubles after defeating Mexicans Alexandra Herrera and Monserrat Mejia in a three-game final. 2018 was the first year the USA did not win a gold medal at Worlds. On five occasions the USA swept the gold medals in men's and women's singles and doubles: 1981, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2008. Also, 2018 was the third time that three countries won a gold medal at Worlds; that first happened in 2006 and 2014.

Tournament format

The 2018 World Championships used a two-stage format to determine the World Champions. Initially, players competed in separate groups over three days. The results were used to seed players for an elimination round. Thus, there was no team competition. Team standings were based on points earned from the singles and doubles competitions.

Medal table

Events

Men's singles

Women's singles

Men's doubles

Women's doubles

Team results

References

External links

IRF website
{{World championships in 2018

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Racquetball World Championships Sports competitions in San José, Costa Rica International sports competitions hosted by Costa Rica August 2018 sports events in North America