Mike Green (born August 22, 1973) is a Canadian retired

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 from

Burlington, Ontario Burlington is a city in the Regional Municipality of Halton at the northwestern end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Canada. Along with Milton to the north, it forms the western end of the Greater Toronto Area and is also part of the Hamilton met ...

. Green set the record for Men's Singles Canadian Championships at 11 in 2017, which broke a tie he had with

Sherman Greenfeld Sherman Greenfeld (born June 3, 1962) is a former Canadian professional racquetball player from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Greenfeld won two World Championships and 10 Canadian Championships, and was one of the top racquetball players in Canada during t ...

. He also won 10 Men's Doubles Canadian Championships, and together those 21 Canadian titles are the most for a Canadian man.

Professional career

Green's career high professional ranking was 8th at the end of the 2003-04

International Racquetball Tour The International Racquetball Tour (IRT) is the leading professional racquetball organization for men's competition. It was founded in 1991 and is the successor to previous iterations of the tour by different names. Professional Men's racquetbal ...

(IRT) season. Green's ranking is the second highest ever by a Canadian player behind Samuel Murray and

Kane Waselenchuk Kane Waselenchuk (born November 9, 1981) is a professional racquetball player born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Waselenchuk finished the 2018-19 season as the #1 player on the International Racquetball Tourbr> (IRT)for a record extending 13th ti ...

. Green has reached the semi-finals of IRT Tier 1 or Grand Slam events seven times, and those all occurred over the four season period from 2000-01 to 2003-04, when he was playing most of the IRT tournaments. Since then he has only played a few tournaments each season and not gotten past the Round of 16.

International career

Green has made 28 appearances on Team Canada beginning in 1996, and that's the most appearances by a Canadian men's player. He's won gold medals thrice: in singles at the 2012 and 1999

Pan American Racquetball Championships The Pan American Racquetball Championships are held annually in the spring with play ending on the day before Easter. Originally called the Tournament of the Americas, the Pan American Championships are hosted by the Pan American Racquetball Confede ...

and in doubles with

Tim Landeryou Tim Landeryou (born March 16, 1984) is a Canadian retired racquetball player. He was a member of the Canadian National Team from 2010 to 2020, winning multiple medals in international competitions. Junior Years Landeryou won the Boy's U14 Dou ...

at the 2010 Pan American Championships. Green was also part of Team Canada that won the overall team title at the 2000

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, ...

, which is the only time the USA has not won that title. In addition, Green earned medals on eight other occasions. Most recently Green and

Vincent Gagnon Vincent Gagnon (born September 5, 1981) is a Canadian retired racquetball player from Montreal. Gagnon won five Canadian Championships: four doubles titles and one singles. He also competed for Canada 19 times, winning multiple medals highlighted ...

won silver at the 2014 World Championships, which was his second silver at Worlds as he and Landeryou won silver at the 2010 World Championships. Green also got silver at the 2003

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

in singles and at the 2002

in doubles with Mike Ceresia. Green finished with bronze medals from the

in doubles in 2006 with Brian Istace and in 2011 with

Kris Odegard Kris Odegard (born February 29, 1980) is a Canadian retired racquetball player from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Odegard won four Canadian Championships – two in singles and two in doubles. He also won several medals in international competition as ...

and in singles in 2007. Green also came home with bronze in doubles from both the 2002 World Championships (with Tom O'Brien) and 2006 World Championships (with Brian Istace). Green also represented Canada at the 2009

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

Canadian career

Green has been Canadian Men's Singles Champion 11 times. His last title was in 2017, when he defeated Samuel Murray in Brossard, Québec, 12-15, 15-12, 12-10, in the final. Green also won Men's Doubles in 2017, as he partnered with Trevor Webb. They beat Nicolas Bousquet and Tommy Murray in the final, 10-15, 16-14, 13-11. In 2016, Green defeated

15-6, 15-8, in the final. His previous titles came in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 - and Doubles Champion eight times - in 2000 with

Mike Ceresia Mike Ceresia is a Canadian retired racquetball player from Sarnia, Ontario. He was a member of five Canadian teams that won gold at the Racquetball World Championships, which is the most gold medals won by a Canadian at thInternational Racquetba ...

, 2004 with Tom O'Brien, 2005-2007 with Brian Istace and 2010 and 2011 with

, and 2013 with Coby Iwaasa. Green's 21 combined Canadian titles is second only to Jennifer Saunders's 24.

Personal life

Green has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

. He sells real estate in Hamilton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Mike 1973 births Canadian racquetball players Living people Sportspeople from Burlington, Ontario Competitors at the 2009 World Games Racquetball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Racquetball players at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada Pan American Games medalists in racquetball Racquetball players at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games