Iwaasa wins at racquetball nationals

Local racquetball player, Coby Iwaasa was crowned a national championship this past weekend.

Iwaasa won his third career Mens’ Doubles racquetball title with Manitoba’s Curtis Cullen at the 2023 Canadian National Racquetball Championships in Winnipeg after defeating the Murray brothers of Samuel and Tommy on Friday.

“My partner and I played the Murray brothers and they’ve won it the last few times actually,” said Iwaasa.

“So we knew going in, because we lost to them in the finals last year, that we had to change and kind of not make the same mistakes that we made last year. So in this game, it was very much starting in control and taking that first game to help us relax, but also put the pressure on the Murray brothers. And in doing so, we felt more comfortable going for more difficult shots and feeling comfortable that we could make them. And as we did, we started to snowball and then the pressure just became too much for them and they couldn’t dig themselves out of a hole that we put them in.”

Iwaasa felt he played well in the tournament despite some struggles.

“So the event itself, I thought I played pretty well throughout most of it,” said Iwaasa.

“I had struggled in the final where Sam beat me (in the Men’s Open Singles final). But overall, I thought I played pretty well. I have been struggling a bit with some technical stuff. But I was fortunate enough that like I had a lot of other weapons that were able to be utilized in the moment and I was able to kind of adapt and adjust to the situation. A lot of players did put me in some tough times but I was able to kind of play to my strengths and find opportunities.”

Iwaasa was first a national champion when he was 17 after winning Doubles and won the Singles a year later.

With the win, Iwaasa qualified for his third Pan Am Games in October.

Iwaasa’s training partner Naman Gauri won his first U21 Junior title at the championship.