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 Championsh ...

were held in

San José, Costa Rica San José (; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital city, capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of San José Province. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Costa Rican Central Valley, Central Valley, wi ...

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, 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 José, Costa Rica will host Worlds. Rodrigo Montoya of Mexico won men's singles for the first time, defeating the USA's Charlie Pratt in the final. In Women's singles, Gabriela Martínez of Guatemala upset the three-time defending champion Mexican

Paola Longoria Paola Michelle Longoria López (born 20 July 1989) is a Mexican racquetball player. She is the current Women's World Champion in Singles and the Team event, winning both divisions at the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) 2024 World Ch ...

to win gold. In doubles, Álvaro Beltrán 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 has won a record International Racquetball Federation (IRF)World Championships in Men's Singles, and 2 Pan American Games gold medals in singles. He was the ...

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. Sudsy is the only player on record to have won a National title or h ...

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