Spanish
Santo Domingo. - The presidents of the World Racquetball Federation, Osvaldo Maggi of Uruguay, and the Dominican Federation, Rafael Fernández, opened this Friday the XXXI Junior World Tournament of the discipline with nearly 300 players from 15 nations from two continents, who will compete until Saturday the 13th.
Maggi and Fernández welcomed the presence of the athletes, defining them as the future of this sport and the champions of the future. They thanked the support of the family members who accompany them.
The Uruguayan highlighted his relationship of about 25 or 30 years with Fernández and that returning to this country is like feeling at home.
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Rafael Fernández welcomed the racquetball reunion in Santo Domingo, ten years after the world version was held here and which had not been possible again due to the pandemic. They were accompanied by the head of the Dominican Olympic Committee, Garibaldy Bautista; the Vice Minister of Sports, Franklin de la Mota and Tomás Polanco, secretary general of the CO of the Central American and Caribbean Games of 2026. Welcome from De la Mota The Vice Minister of Sports delivered the welcoming remarks on behalf of the Government of President Luis Abinader and the Minister of Sports Kelvin Cruz. He said that the Government feels honored with the visitors, athletes and their families and asked them to feel at home. Tomás Polanco recalled that next year, Racquetball will be part of the JCAC and that the installation will look with the greatest advances, as decided by the Organizing Committee. The opening protocol took place in front of the renovated facility for this sport, at the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center in the capital. The 15 represented nations paraded in alphabetical order. They are, Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, United States, Mexico, Guatemala and Mexico. Dominican Republic as host paraded last. Colombia was delayed in its arrival to the event, as they were finishing arriving at Las Américas José Francisco Peña Gómez airport. The modalities listed are individual, men's and women's doubles, and mixed in categories from U10 to U21. Competition starts at 9:00 in the morning until 9:00 at night. Ceremony The Corito Chichigua, from the Las Caobas sector, sang the Dominican national anthem and its director, Father Santiago Rodríguez Palancas, gave the religious invocation. At the end, a group from the EDA Fancer Academy put on a dance exhibition. 14 athletes from the Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is represented by 14 athletes from different categories, who begin competing this Saturday. They are accompanied by 12 coaches. Among the Creole racquetball players are Deikel de León, Emerson Mora, Mehibel García, Nashla Estévez, Alexander Branagan, Luz Moreta, Esleiker Gómez, Alejandro Gómez, Gabriel Cuello, Reynell de León, Británico Ramírez, Lía de León and Jadelin de León.
