Paola Longoria
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| Born | July 20, 1989  San Luis Potosí, Mexico |
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Paola Michelle Longoria López (born July 20, 1989) is a Mexican racquetball player. She is the first Mexican woman to attain the #1 ranking on the Women's Professional Racquetball Organization (WPRO) tour, doing so at the end of the 2008-09 season and at the end of 2009-2010 season as well. Longoria's style is characterized by a semi-western grip of the racquet, which is unusual for racquetball; Longoria is the only pro player using this grip style.
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[edit] Professional career
Longoria has won 16 Tier 1 or Grand Slam events on the WPRO, including two US Open Racquetball Championships in 2011 when she defeated Rhonda Rajsich in the final, and 2008[1] when she beat Cheryl Gudinas in the final, becoming the first Mexican - woman or man - to win that event or even reach the US Open final. Her first WPRO tournament win was in 2007.
Longoria finished as the #1 WPRO player at the end of the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.[2]
[edit] International career
Longoria is current World Champion in women's doubles winning the title along with Samantha Salas. They beat American couple Aimee Ruiz and Jackie Paraiso in the final to become the first Mexican women to win a World Championship in singles or doubles.
Longoria won three gold medals for Mexico at the 2011 Pan American Games in both singles and doubles as well as the team competition[3] in what was her first Pan Am Games appearance. Samantha Salas was her doubles partner.
Longoria won the Pan American Championships in 2006, 2008 and 2010.[4]
Longoria won the gold medal at the 2009 World Games, defeating the American Rhonda Rajsich in the final.
Also, Longoria won eight consecutive International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Junior Championships from 2001 to 2008, winning twice in each age category from 12 and under, 14 and under, 16 and under, and 18 and under.[5]
[edit] Other honors
Longoria received the 2010 National Sports Award from the Mexican government. Mexican President Felipe Calderón presented Longoria with the award.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ http://usaracquetball.com/RecordBooks/USOpenChampions.aspx
- ^ http://www.wpro-tour.com/paola_longoria.asp
- ^ http://www.guadalajara2011.org.mx/Eng/09_Multimedia/noticias_view.asp?id_noticia=4413
- ^ http://www.internationalracquetball.com/parc/00trnams.htm
- ^ http://www.internationalracquetball.com/juniors/01irfjrs.htm
- ^ http://portal2.dgi.uanl.mx/noticias/descripcion.php?id_not=6719&lang=en
[edit] See also
- List of racquetball players
- WPRO page for Paola Longoria
- Mexican Racquetball Federation page for Paola Longoria
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| Preceded by Rhonda Rajsich |
#1 Women's Pro Racquetball Player 2008-2010 |
Succeeded by Rhonda Rajsich |
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