Janel Tisinger (born March 13, 1983) is an American
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 v ...
player. She is the curren
USA RacquetballNational Champion in Women's Doubles winning the title for a 5th time in 2019 with
Aimee Ruiz. Tisinger is former
World Champion
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, ...
in Women's Doubles,
with Ruiz, winning the title in 2016.
International career
Tisinger has competed for the USA five times. Her first appearance on Team USA was in 2007, when she played Women's Doubles with
Rhonda Rajsich
Rhonda Rajsich (born October 7, 1978) is an American racquetball player. She has been World Champion in Women's Singles twice, and Pan American Champion 6 times (4 times in Women's Singles & twice in Women's Doubles), as well as US Open champi ...
at the
Pan American Championships A Pan American Championship is a top level international sports competition between athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs in the Americas. Typically these championships are recurring, the most ...
in Santiago, Chile, where they won gold.
She didn't play on the team again until 2014, when Tisinger played Women's Singles and Doubles at the
Pan American Championships A Pan American Championship is a top level international sports competition between athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs in the Americas. Typically these championships are recurring, the most ...
in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. There she lost to
Susana Acosta of Mexico in the Round of Singles
of Women's Singles, 13-15, 15-7, 11-4. In doubles, Tisinger was again paired with Rajsich, but they lost in the quarterfinals to Veronica Sotomayor and Maria Paz Muñoz of Ecuador, 15-8, 7-15, 11-6.
Her next two international appearances were in Women's Doubles with Aimee Ruiz at the 2014 and 2016 World Championships. In
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
, they lost in the final to Mexicans
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
Samantha Salas, 15-4, 15-12. But in a rematch of that final, in
2016 Tisinger and Ruiz came out on top, beating the Mexicans, 15-11, 9-15, 11-8.
Tisinger was also on Team USA for the 2018 Pan American Championships in Temuco, Chile, where she competed in both Women's Singles and Women's Doubles with
Rhonda Rajsich
Rhonda Rajsich (born October 7, 1978) is an American racquetball player. She has been World Champion in Women's Singles twice, and Pan American Champion 6 times (4 times in Women's Singles & twice in Women's Doubles), as well as US Open champi ...
. In Temuco, Tisinger 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 ...
in the Round of 16, 15-5, 15-5 in Women's Singles, and in Women's Doubles, she and Rajsich lost to Chileans
Carla Muñoz and Josefa Parada, 15-14, 15-2, in the quarterfinals.
US Championships
Tisinger has won five USA National Championships in Women's Doubles, all with
Aimee Ruiz as her partner. They first won in 2013, when they defeated sisters Danielle and
Michelle Key in the final, 15-6, 15-8.
They followed that up in 2014 by defeating
Rhonda Rajsich
Rhonda Rajsich (born October 7, 1978) is an American racquetball player. She has been World Champion in Women's Singles twice, and Pan American Champion 6 times (4 times in Women's Singles & twice in Women's Doubles), as well as US Open champi ...
and Kim Russell-Waselenchuk, 15-9, 15-10, in the final.
Tisinger and Ruiz won for a third time in 2016, when they narrowly defeated Rajsich and Sheryl Lotts in the final, 15-12, 12-15, 11-10,
which qualified them to appear at the 2016 World Championships.
Tisinger and Ruiz won National Doubles for a 4th time in 2017 by defeating Da'monique Davis and
Jackie Paraiso in the final, 15-5, 15-5. They won for a 5th time in 2019, when they beat
Michelle De La Rosa and Danielle Maddux in the final, 15-7, 15-7.
The win qualifies Tisinger and Ruiz to play on Team USA at the
2019 Pan American Games
The 2019 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2019, links=no), officially the XVIII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 Pan-Am Games or Lima 2019 ( qu, Limaq 2019), were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Spo ...
in Lima, Peru.
Tisinger has also been runner up in Women's Doubles at the USA Racquetball National Doubles Championships three times. In 2015, she and Ruiz lost the final to Rajsich and Russell-Waselenchuk, 1-15, 15-10, 11-9.
Her other runner up placings were in 2009
and 2010,
when she and Rajsich played together. In both years, they lost to Ruiz and
Jackie Paraiso.
For the 2012 championships, Tisinger teamed up with
Kristen Bellows, and they lost to Rajsich and Russell-Waselenchuk, 15-9, 15-4, in the quarterfinals.
Professional career
Tisinger hasn't played professional racquetball very much, so she's never been ranked in the top 10 of the
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 ...
. Perhaps her best pro results are two quarterfinal finishes at the
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, respective ...
in 2009 and 2013.
Personal life
Tisinger is the daughter of
Debbie Tisinger-Moore, who is a noted racquetball player in her own right and a member of the USA Racquetball Hall of Fame.
Tisinger-Moore was also an assistant coach on Team USA for the 2016 World Championships, when daughter Janel won gold.
See also
*
List of racquetball players
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tisinger, Janel
1983 births
Living people
American racquetball players
American sportswomen
Racquetball in the United States
21st-century American women