Mexican racquetball player Paola Longoria is one step away from winning her fourth World Games championship after losing in the individual final of her sport on Saturday at the current edition of the competition, being held in Chengdu, China.
In the close final, the federal representative lost 3-1 to one of her biggest rivals, Argentine María José Vargas, currently ranked first on the Women's Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) and with whom she has engaged in intense duels for medals in various international tournaments, ultimately taking home the silver medal.
The 36-year-old native of San Luis Potosí won the first set 11-6; however, her opponent won the second (11-8) and the third (12-10).
In the fourth, Longoria hoped to tie the game by taking the lead on several occasions; however, the Argentine managed to take the set 11-9 to ultimately claim the gold.
In this way, the tricolor, with more than two decades of experience, added a total of four medals in the competition: one silver and three gold, which it obtained in the editions of Kaohsiung 2009, Cali 2013, and Birmingham 2022.
The president of the Chamber of Deputies' Sports Commission, who dropped to second place in the world rankings with this defeat, advanced to the final after Bolivian Angélica Barrios was unable to continue in the semifinal match due to a knee injury, when the score was tied at two sets and her opponent was up 9-8 in the fifth and decisive set.
