Pan Am Championships: Dong/Yakura Clinch Thriller

Pan Am Championships: Dong/Yakura Clinch Thriller

Dong Adam and Nyl Yakura clinched a sensational men’s doubles final as the Pan Am Individual Championships 2023 came to a close in Kingston, Jamaica, with Canada sweeping all five titles.

The men’s doubles, between top seeds Dong/Yakura and second seeds Kevin Lee/Ty Alexander Lindeman was the last match of the day. The second seeds trailed through most of the third but shot ahead with five straight points and held two match points at 20-18. Adam/Yakura however held their ground and took the match 21-10 16-21 22-20 in 58 minutes.

It was Dong’s first title and Yakura’s fifth.

Runner-up Lindeman had also fallen short in the mixed doubles final with Josephine Wu. The top seeds were beaten by Joshua Hurlburt-Yu/Rachel Honderich 22-20 18-21 21-17, which gave Honderich her seventh title and Hurlburt-Yu his third.

Men’s singles favourite Brian Yang had little trouble in his final. Yang proved too strong for Uriel Francisco Canjura Artiga, who was attempting to become the first titlist from El Salvador.

Yang denied Artiga his moment in the sun.

Women’s singles saw Michelle Li outplay Beiwen Zhang in a repeat of last year’s final, 21-19 21-9.

Wu recovered from her mixed doubles loss in time for the women’s doubles final with Catherine Choi. The Canadians beat USA’s Francesca Corbett/Allison Lee 21-14 21-18 for Wu’s seventh overall title and Choi’s first.

→  Results (Finals)

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