Canada swept four of five titles at the XIX Pan American Games Santiago 2023, with Josephine Wu winning a double.
Wu and Catherine Choi got Canada off to a great start on finals day in Santiago on Wednesday, with the top seeds beating USA’s Annie Xu/Kerry Xu 21-18 10-21 21-17.
Adam Dong and Nyl Yakura held off Fabricio Farias/Davi Silva in a close men’s doubles final, with the second seeded Canadians edging the Brazilians 19-21 21-15 21-18.
Beiwen Zhang prevented a Canadian whitewash
Canada’s hopes of a whitewash were earlier dashed in the women’s singles semifinals, with Rachel Chan bowing out to USA’s Beiwen Zhang 21-16 21-11. Zhang went on to win the gold beating compatriot Jennie Gai 21-8 21-12.
Men’s singles top seed Brian Yang overcame a stiff contest in the opening game against Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon, before easing through in the second, 21-18 21-6.
Josephine Wu returned for the mixed doubles with Ty Alexander Lindeman, and the second seeds won the closest contest of the finals with a 17-21 21-17 21-19 result over top seeds Vinson Chiu/Jennie Gai.
Brian Yang won the men’s singles
Highlights
Perhaps the most thrilling contest of the event was in the men’s doubles semifinals, with Adam Dong/Nyl Yakura holding off Mexico’s Job Castillo/Luis Armando Montoya Navarro 21-10 21-23 25-23.
Other Mexicans in the semifinals were Luis Ramon Garrido (men’s singles) and Romina Fregoso/Miriam Jacqueline Rodriguez Perez (women’s doubles).
Among the singles semifinalists were El Salvador’s Uriel Francisco Canjura Artiga – who fell to Brian Yang – and Cuba’s Taymara Oropesa Pupo, beaten by Jennie Gai.
Brazil had three representatives in the semifinals. Apart from Fabricio Farias/Davi Silva, who finished runners-up in men’s doubles, Sania Lima/Juliana Viana Vieira (women’s doubles) and Davi Silva/Sania Lima (mixed doubles) made the last four.
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