Five of the seven Americans playing in the 2014 Pan American Individual round of sixteen advanced to the quarterfinals Monday afternoon in Toluca, Mexico. The quarterfinals will be contested Monday evening.
The Men’s draw started tournament play Monday morning with Gilly Lane, Todd Harrity, and Chris Gordon all competing at 11:20am ET. Peru’s World Junior Champion Diego Elias eliminated U.S. player-coach Gilly Lane maintaining his perfect tournament record 11-8, 11-4, 11-5.
Harrity and Gordon both defeated seeded opposition and will face one of the Mexican Salazar brothers in the quarterfinals. Harrity, seeded [9/16], upset Argentinian [5/8] seeded Roberto Pezzota (ARG) 11-6, 11-7, 11-3, to set up a quarterfinal against [3/4] seed Cesar Salazar—ranked fifty-one in the world. Gordon will face Cesar’s twin brother and world No. 102, Arturo, in the quarterfinals following an 11-9, 11-7, 11-1 victory over Guatemalan [9/16] seed Josue Enriquez.
Play in the women’s division ensued with all four Americans teeing off at 1:20pm ET.
Unseeded Maria Elena Ubina pulled off one of the upsets of the tournament so far against Canadian [5/8] seed Nikole Todd, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to win the final three games and match 11-4, 11-7, 11-6. Ubina faces the daunting match up of second-seeded Mexican Samantha Teran in the quarterfinals.
U.S. National and Junior Champion Sabrina Sobhy remained perfect in the tournament with an 11-5, 11-5, 12-10 win over Mexican [9/16] seed Karla Urrutia. Top-seeded Canadian Samantha Cornett—ranked thirty-two in the world—awaits Sobhy in the quarterfinals. Cornett defeated Sobhy in both of their previous encounters, most recently in the 2013 L.A. Open.
Olivia Blatchford, seeded [3/4], also advanced in three games against Colombian [17/32] seed Ana Gabriela Porras 11-7, 11-8, 11-2. Blatchford will play Mexican [5/8] seed Nayelly Hernandez in the quarters.
Cece Cortes lost out in a close five-game match against unseeded Colombian Laura Tovar 13-11, 7-11, 11-9, 3-11, 11-6.
The Pan American Olympic Festival involves twenty-three sports that are contested from July 11-September 30. The squash competition takes place September 7-13 with the Individuals contested September 7-10, Doubles September 9-10, and Teams September 11-13. For more information, visit the official 2014 Pan American Olympic Festival home page.
Visit the Team USA Pan American Olympic Festival page for draws, player bios, blog posts, and follow the Team USA Squash Twitter account and Team USA Blog for updates throughout Monday and the rest of the tournament.
[jbutton color=”blue” size=”large” link=”https://www.ussquash.com/teamusa/2014-pan-ams/” ]Team USA Pan American Olympic Festival Page[/jbutton]Men’s Individual Round of Sixteen, September 8:
[9/16] Diego Elias (PER) bt [5/8] Gilly Lane (USA) 11-8, 11-4, 11-5
[9/16] Todd Harrity (USA) bt [5/8] Roberto Pezzota (ARG) 11-6, 11-7, 11-3
[5/8] Chris Gordon (USA) bt [9/16] Josue Enriquez (GUA) 11-9, 11-7, 11-1
Quarterfinals:
5:20pm ET: [9/16] Todd Harrity (USA) vs. [3/4] Cesar Salazar (MEX)
6:20pm ET: [5/8] Chris Gordon (USA) vs. [9/16] Arturo Salazar (MEX)
Women’s Individual Round of Sixteen, September 8:
[5/8] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt [9/16] Karla Urrutia (MEX) 11-5, 11-5, 12-10
[3/4] Olivia Blatchford (USA) bt [17/32] Ana Gabriela Porras (COL) 11-7, 11-8, 11-2
Laura Tovar (COL) bt [5/8] Cecelia Cortes (USA) 13-11, 7-11, 11-9, 3-11, 11-6
Maria Elena Ubina (USA) bt [5/8] Nikole Todd (CAN) 4-11, 3-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-6
Quarterfinals:
7:20pm ET: [5/8] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) vs. [1] Samantha Cornett (CAN)
7:20pm ET: [3/4] Olivia Blatchford (USA) vs. [5/8] Nayelly Hernandez (MEX)
8:20pm ET: Maria Elena Ubina (USA) vs. [2] Samantha Teran (MEX)
