What an exciting week at the Junior Pan American Squash Championship!! Squash Canada could not be more proud of our seven extremely talented and driven junior players who recently got back from Brazil where they represented Canada at the Junior Pan Ams!
In the Men’s Individual Event, all three Canadians were seeded with the highest Canadian seed going to James Flynn [3/4], followed by Elliott Hunt [5/8] and Dominic Wren [17/32].
What an exciting week at the Junior Pan American Squash Championship!! Squash Canada could not be more proud of our seven extremely talented and driven junior players who recently got back from Brazil where they represented Canada at the Junior Pan Ams!
In the Men’s Individual Event, all three Canadians were seeded with the highest Canadian seed going to James Flynn [3/4], followed by Elliott Hunt [5/8] and Dominic Wren [17/32].
Flynn had a great first victory over USA’s Nick Spizzirri [11-8 11-6 11-8] and was on his way to earning his spot in the QFs. Wren also had a big win against Ecuador’s Nicolas Tinajero in his first match 3-0 but then lost out to the #3 seed Alexjandro Enriquez from Guatamala who ended up getting the silver medal. Hunt came out with a strong first win 3-0 against Flavio Hinostroza of Ecuador and then faced Kamal Comberbatch (BAR) in round 3 and battled through to an impressive 3-1 win to advance to the quarters! Later that afternoon, Flynn faced Peru's Martin Leon in the quarter-finals and won in 3 straight [11-3 11-5 11-4]. In another tough quarter-final match, Elliott fell to #2 seed Columbian Matias Knudsen. Flynn would come to face the top seed Leonel Cardenas (MEX) in hopes of earning the chance to play for gold. Although a great match by both it would not be Flynn's match as the top seed came through with the victory 3-0 [11-4 11-6 11-8]. Flynn finished the men's individual draw with a bronze medal.
The Canadian women all earned seedings as well, the highest Canadian seed went to Charlotte Orcutt [5/8], followed by Bethany Churchill [9/16], Mariam Mansoor [17/32] and Sarah Cao [17/32].
Orcutt defeated Arianna Alava (ECU) [11-3 11-3 11-2] in round 2 before losing out to Lucia Bautista (COL) in a long, tough match. Churchill defeated the elusive Amanda Hayward (BAR) for the first time 3-0. Sarah Cao succumbed to Haley Aube (USA) on a wickedly hot court and Mariam Mansoor lost a heartbreaker 10–12 in the nail biting 4th to Erika Parker (ECU). Churchill then went on to defeat 5/8 seed Rafaela Albuja (ECU) 3-1, and advanced as the sole Canadian female in the QFs. In quarter-final action, although Churchill couldn’t defeat Maria Paula Moya [3/4] of Ecuador she finished highest out of the Canadian women in the Individual event.
In the Mixed Doubles event Charlotte Orcutt & James Flynn (unseeded) paired up for a phenomenal run! The Canadian duo defeated Guatamala [11-9 11-4] in round 1. In quarter-final action the pair went on to face #2 seed Mexico and were able to bounce back after being down a game to come out with a huge 2-1 win! [8-11 11-8 11-5]. Moving onto a big semi-final match-up against our rivals across the border, Orcutt and Flynn defeated the USA [11-6 6-11 11-5], securing their spot in the Mixed Doubles gold medal match!! Although they fought to the very end, the Canadians lost 2-1 against the number 1 seeded Ecuador pair in an intense final match, earning themselves the silver medal.
Facing a tough group in the women’s team event, the Canadian women first faced off against the mighty USA who came out on top 3-0. The Canadian women’s team played again this time bringing in our #1 girl Charlotte Orcutt against a very tough Mexico. Canada being down 0-1 in matches, Orcutt pulled off a solid 3-1 win to tie the score board. Bethany Churchill gusted out a 3-2 win to give Canada the victory. The girls ended up with a solid 5th place finish in the Team Event!
The Canadian Men’s Team was seeded number 1 heading into the Team Event and did not disappoint! Canada played Guatemala in their first match-up coming up big with a 3-0 win. The Canadian Men continued their success with another 3-0 win over Brazil, which got them a first place finish in their pool and a spot in the quarter-finals! In quarter-final action our Canadian trio defeated Peru. Next up, Canada would take on the USA in the semi-finals which they battled through to a W and secured their well-deserved spot in the gold medal match. In the final match, our Canadian Men were up against the tough Columbian team. That did not stop our boys from pulling off the ultimate win to take the gold medal! Flynn beat #2 seed Matias Knudsen 3-2, Wren lost a close match 2-3, but then Hunt won his match 3-0, giving the team the GOLD! The boys played an amazing tournament, displaying their determination and will to win.
In addition to Team Canada’s 3 medals, these amazing young athletes were also awarded the Fair Play Trophy! We are so pleased with Team Canada and how they represented our country by demonstrating the importance of Fair Play. All seven athletes and both coaches contributed to this incredible accomplishment and should be extremely proud of themselves! Congratulations to all, you made Canada very proud!
For full draws, results, photos and more click here!
