Cristina Amaya (born October 28, 1988) is a Colombian

racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velo ...

player. Amaya finished the 2017-18

Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour The Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour is the latest name for the women's professional racquetball tour. It features the world's best players and several events each season - running from September to May - that are mostly played in the USA. Hist ...

(LPRT) season as the 8th ranked player, which was her eighth consecutive season in the top 10 (first was the 2010-11 season). She was the third South American player to be in the women's pro top 10 after

Angela Grisar Angela Grisar (born May 2, 1973) is a Chilean retired racquetball player. She was the first South American woman's racquetball player to finish in the top 10 on the women's pro tour, doing so six straight seasons (2003-04 to 2008-09). She won nu ...

and Veronica Sotomayor.

Professional career

Amaya has been playing the women's pro tour since 2009. She has reached the finals twice. First, Amaya was in the final of the 2013 Abierto Mexicano de Racquetas tournament, where she lost to

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 ...

, and most recently, she was a finalist in the 2017 New Jersey Open, when she again lost to Longoria. Amaya's career high ranking was 3rd in December 2013. She was named Most Improved LPRT player for 2013. Amaya and Adriana Riveros were finalists in

Doubles at the 2017

US Open Racquetball Championships The UnitedHealthcare US Open Racquetball Championships is the premier professional racquetball event. It is a Grand Slam event with men and women competing from the International Racquetball Tour and Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour, respectivel ...

, losing to

and Gabriela Martinez, 15-5, 15-8.

International career

In 2017, Amaya won Women's Singles at the

2017 Bolivarian Games The 2017 Bolivarian Games, officially the XVIII Bolivarian Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from 11–25 November 2017, in Santa Marta, Colombia. Host city selection Ciudad Bolivar (Venezuela) and Santa Marta (Colom ...

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta ("Touristic, Cultural and Historic District of Santa Marta"), is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, and her performance helped Colombia get bronze in the team event. Four years earlier, Amaya was a bronze medalist in Women's Singles, as well as silver medalist in Women's Doubles - with Carolina Gomez - and Women's Team at the

2013 Bolivarian Games The 2013 Bolivarian Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Bolivarianos''), officially the XVII Bolivarian Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from November 16–30, 2013, in Trujillo, Peru, Trujillo, Peru, with some events held in ...

in Trujillo,

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. Amaya plays for

and was a silver medalist at the

2013 World Games The 2013 World Games ( es, Juegos Mundiales 2013), the ninth World Games, were an international multi-sport event held in the city of Cali, Colombia, from July 25 to August 4. Host city allocation history The 2013 World Games were initially all ...

, losing in a tie-breaker to

in the final. She has earned three bronze medals at the Pan American Championships. Her first was in 2014 Pan Am Championships in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where she lost in the semi-finals to

Susana Acosta Susana Acosta (born 8 December 1976) is a Mexican racquetball player. Acosta has won several gold medals for Mexico, including at the 2003 Pan Am Games and the 2014 Pan Am Championships. She's also played professionally, with career high rankin ...

, 15-10, 14-15, 11-7.Dropbox - Error
/ref> In 2015, Amaya was a semi-finalist in both Women's Singles, losing to Veronica Sotomayor of Ecuador, 15-3, 15-8,
/ref> and Woman's Doubles with Vivian Gomez, losing to Mexicans Longoria and

Samantha Salas Samantha Salas Solís (born December 15, 1986) is a Mexican racquetball player. Salas is the current World Champion in both Women's Doubles - winning that title for a fifth time with Paola Longoria at the 2022 World Championships in San Luis P ...

, 15-6, 15-3.

Professional career

International career

References

See also