HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Samantha Salas Solís (born 15 December 1986) is a Mexican
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 vel ...
player. Salas has won six World Championship titles in her career - five in Women's Doubles (all with
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 ...
) and one in Mixed Doubles (with Rodrigo Montoya). She has also won six Pan American Games gold medals: three in Women's Doubles and three in the women's team event. Salas was the second Mexican woman to finish in the top 10 rankings on the women's pro tour, doing so at the end of the 2006–07 season. Salas was ranked 3rd at the end of the 2019-20 Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) season, which was her tenth season in the top 10.


Professional career

Salas won her firs
women's pro
event in Olympia, Washington November 2010 in only her second pro final. In 2010–11, she reached the semi-finals or better in nine of the ten pro tournaments, including a semi-final finish at the 2010 US Open, which all led to her career high rank of No. 3 at season's end. In 2011–12, Salas only played the first two events, and then suffered a right shoulder injury that caused her to miss the rest of the season, but she returned to the tour in 2012–13, and equaled her career best by finishing 3rd at the end of the 2012–13 season. Salas won her second LPRT title in June 2017 in Guadalajara, Mexico, where she came back from two games down to defeat
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 ...
in the semi-finals, and then beat
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 champ ...
in the final. Salas then had shoulder surgery again, and was out of action until 2018. But shortly after her return to the LPRT, Salas won her third career title at the 2018 Battle at the Alamo in San Antonio in April. Salas played Longoria in that final, and as in Guadalajara, found herself down 0–2, but she came back to win, 5–11, 5–11, 11–9, 11–9, 11–4.


International career

Playing for Mexico, Salas has been a gold medalist 11 times, including three World Championships in doubles with
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 ...
. They won at the 2010
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 ...
defeating then defending champions
Jackie Paraiso Jackie (Jacqueline) Paraiso (born September 14, 1966) is an American racquetball player. Paraiso was the #1 player on the women's pro racquetball tour at the end of the 1991-92, 1998–99, and 1999-2000 seasons. She is a seven time World Champio ...
and Aimee Ruiz of the US to capture the first women's doubles championship for Mexico and only the second title for a non-American team. Salas and Longoria have won two more titles: in
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, when they also won the women's team title, and in
2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
Salas was also a bronze medalist in singles in 2014, losing to
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 champ ...
in the semi-finals. Salas has won five Pan American Champion in women's doubles, winning in 2011, 2012 and 2015 with Longoria, and in 2010 and 2014 with Susana Acosta. Salas also won gold at the
2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Guadalajara 2011, were an international multi-sport event held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby c ...
in
Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...
, Mexico in both the women's doubles (with Longoria) and the women's team events. Finally, she and Nancy Enriquez won gold at the
2006 Central American and Caribbean Games The 20th edition of the Central American and Caribbean Games was held in the city of Cartagena, Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, in ...
. At the 2017 Pan American Championships, Salas won Women's Doubles with Longoria, as they defeated Veronica Sotomayor and Maria Paz Muñoz of Ecuador, 15–12, 15–5, in the final, and she was a bronze medalist in Women's Singles, losing to American
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 champ ...
in the semi-finals. Salas played Women's Singles at the 2018 Pan American Championships in
Temuco Temuco () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune, capital (political), capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The city is located south of Santiago de Chile, Santiago. The cit ...
,
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
, where she was a bronze medalist, as she lost to team-mate Longoria in the semi-finals, 15–12, 15–6. As a junior player, Salas won th
International Racquetball Federation (IRF)
World Junior Championship in Girls U18 in 2004.http://www.internationalracquetball.com/irf-world-junior-champions.aspx


See also

* List of racquetball players


Notes


References


External links


Samantha Salas Solis
at LPRT (archived) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Salas, Samantha 1986 births Living people Mexican racquetball players Pan American Games gold medalists for Mexico Pan American Games gold medalists in racquetball Racquetball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Racquetball players at the 2015 Pan American Games Racquetball players at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Mexico Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in racquetball Competitors at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 2022 World Games Sportspeople from León, Guanajuato 20th-century Mexican women 21st-century Mexican sportswomen