December 14, 2024, 5:41 PM
December 14, 2024, 5:41 PM
The Bolivians Jhoel Achá Portugal and Camila Rivero were proclaimed this Saturday as champions of the Junior Racquet World Cup for those under 21 years of age, in their respective individual categories, after both beating Mexican rivals in the final of the tournament held in Guatemala.
Achá Portugal needed five sets to beat Mexican Sebastián Hernández 3-2 in an exciting final played in the Guatemala Racquetball Association, in the south of the capital of the Central American country.
Rivero, for her part, defeated the Mexican Ángela Ortega Sabido (3-1) and took the women’s title also in the under 21 category.
Achá Portugal, born in Sucre, had already won three youth golds and reached the title this Saturday after beating the Colombian Juan Segovia in the round of 16, the Guatemalan Alex Sierra (quarterfinals) and the Mexican Erick Trujillo (semifinal).
“It is a dream come true for me and a great goal,” Achá Portugal told EFE after their victory in the final.
For his part, Rivero stated that “at first I couldn’t believe it because it was a very tough match” and praised his Mexican rival as “a great player.”
Rivero managed to sneak into the final after leaving the American Annika Fiedler in the quarterfinals and the also Mexican Ivanna Balderrama in the semifinals.
The XXXV World Youth Racquetball Championship began last December 7 with the participation of 254 athletes from 13 countries: Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, Dominican Republic, South Korea, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, United States, Costa Rica, Cuba and the host, Guatemala.
The Central American nation had already hosted the tournament in 2021 (where Acha Portugal won one of its three youth golds) and also in 2022, in a contest that contests competitions for athletes aged 10 and up.
Other Bolivians who also won gold on this day are Valentina Villarroel Garzón and Santiago Borja Arévalo, in the under-14 mixed doubles category; Villarroel and Julia Rebollo, in U-14 ladies doubles; Benjamín Lino and Leonardo Zuna Campero, in sub-10 boys doubles; and Vincent Riveros in the men’s under-10 individual category.
