Racquetball players set for nationals

By Lethbridge Herald on May 16, 2025.

Herald Photo by Justin Seward Coby Iwaasa and Naman Gauri are set to battle for national racquetball titles this upcoming week in Ontario.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

Two local racquetball players are set to represent Alberta at Racquetball Canada National Championships this upcoming week in Ontario.

Coby Iwaasa will be competing in senior Male Single and Doubles divisions, while Naman Gauri will get one last chance at bringing home gold in the U21  division.

Iwaasa has made multiple trips to the National Championship and will look to capture his second Men’s Doubles title in three years with partner Kurtis Cullen of Manitoba.

“We feel good, we feel pretty confident and we think we can do it,” said Iwaasa.

Having  confidence and not losing it will be key for the duo on  the doubles court.

“So maintaining  that confidence with your partner, working well with him, (and) communicating are all necessary for us to win,” said Iwaasa

Iwaasa  will look to overcome the challenge that long-time singles opponent and  rival  Sam Murray has given him.

“He’s given me a lot of grief throughout these years,” said Iwaasa.

“I train very hard and he is a very good motivator for me. So luckily in this past little block with Naman, we’ve been able to play a lot of matches, work on some mechanics (and) work on things that will help me excel when I go play at nationals this time.”

Iwaasa feels preparation has been going good.

“Especially now that I’m playing with Naman pretty frequently,” said Iwaasa.

“We get to work on things that  we just can’t work on by ourselves which is a very good preparation for me.”

Iwaasa has won the Men’s Doubles category twice and the Singles Division once.

Gauri will be chasing his second U21  junior national title in three years after winning it in 2023 and last year he was just healthy enough to play in the event after dealing with an injury for six months prior to the event.

“It’ll be good to look forward to this event because I’ll be completely healthy again,” said Gauri.

Gauri anticipated what the experience will be like.

“We’re always expecting to see  kind of the same competition, as in we usually see the same people that we play,” said Gauri.

“And be able to kind of expect the same things but also know that  it can go every way.”

Gauri has been competing for titles with the same players at  the U16 or U18 levels and now at the U21 category.

“We’re often competing against the same people, so we have that kind of rivalry between each other, ” said Gauri.

“So being able to go at it year-after-year against the same guys, and always have  it be a close result is always something to look forward to.”

Preparations have been different this time around as Gauri and Iwaasa were in different cities for their post-secondary education in the past and now are back in the same city.

“So it’s been great to not only be  back in Lethbridge but also be able to train with each other and be able to  take things from him,” said Gauri.

The National Championships is from May 18-24 in Burlington, Ont.,  and results can be found at secure.racquetballcanada.ca/event/racquetball-canada-national-championships/1014510/.