Seven of eight Americans—including all six seeds—advanced to Monday’s 2014 Pan American Olympic Festival Individual Men’s and Women’s Rounds of Sixteen Sunday evening. All five Americans playing in the first round won their matches before the rounds of thirty-two for a total 12-1 record for Team USA Sunday in Toluca, Mexico.
Player-coach Gilly Lane and Todd Harrity were both perfect on the day with two, three-game victories each. Lane now faces recently-crowned World Junior Champion Diego Elias in the round of sixteen.
Chris Gordon rebounded from losing the first game of his second match 8-11, to win the match 11-0, 11-3, 11-1.
After comfortably winning his first match in three games, Chris Hanson lost to second-seeded Mexican Alfredo Avila—ranked forty-eight in the world–in three games 11-3, 11-6, 11-8.
Unseeded Maria Elena Ubina upset the seeding picking up her second 3-0 win of the day against Colombian [9/16] seed Karol Gonzalez, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9.
After first round byes, [5/8] seeds Sabrina Sobhy and Cece Cortes both claimed their first matches of the tournament in three games, while [3/4] seed Olivia Blatchford needed four games to get past Ecuadorian Nicole Espinosa 11-4, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4.
Cortes is the only American to face unseeded opposition in the Round of Sixteen Monday.
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 Sunday and the rest of the tournament.
Men’s Individual Main Draw, September 7:
Round One:
[5/8] Gilly Lane (USA) bt Vinicius Costa (BRA) 11-5, 11-6, 11-9
[9/16] Todd Harrity (USA) bt Francesco Marcantonio (PAR) 11-4, 11-2, 11-4
[5/8] Chris Gordon (USA) bt Nku Patrick (TRI) 11-4, 11-4, 11-6
Chris Hanson (USA) bt Miguel Vallenilla (VEN) 11-3, 11-1, 11-2
Round Two:
[5/8] Gilly Lane (USA) bt [17/32] Orlando Rodriguez (ECU) 11-2, 11-8, 11-4
[9/16] Todd Harrity (USA) bt Andres Duany (PER) 11-3, 11-8, 11-4
[5/8] Chris Gordon (USA) bt [17/32] Francisco Lalama (ECU) 8-11, 11-0, 11-3, 11-1
[2] Alfredo Avila (MEX) bt Chris Hanson (USA) 11-3, 11-6, 11-8
Round of Sixteen, September 8:
11:20am ET: [5/8] Gilly Lane (USA) vs. [9/16] Diego Elias (PER)
11:20am ET: [9/16] Todd Harrity (USA) vs. [5/8] Roberto Pezzota (ARG)
11:20am ET: [5/8] Chris Gordon (USA) vs. [9/16] Josue Enriquez (GUA)
Women’s Individual Main Draw, September 7:
Round One:
Maria Elena Ubina (USA) bt Andrea Soria (ECU) 11-3, 11-1, 11-5
Round Two
[5/8] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt Pamela Anckermann (GUA) 12-10, 11-6, 11-1
[3/4] Olivia Blatchford (USA) bt Nicole Espinosa (ECU) 11-4, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4
[5/8] Cece Cortes (USA) bt Maria Paz Picasso (PER) 11-5, 11-4, 11-6
Maria Elena Ubina (USA) bt [9/16] Karol Gonzalez (COL) 11-6, 11-8, 11-9
Round of Sixteen, September 8:
1:20pm ET: [5/8] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) vs. [9/16] Karla Urrutia (MEX)
1:20pm ET: [3/4] Olivia Blatchford (USA) vs. [17/32] Ana Gabriela Porras (COL)
1:20pm ET: [5/8] Cecelia Cortes (USA) vs. Laura Tovar (COL)
1:20pm ET: Maria Elena Ubina (USA) vs. [5/8] Nikole Todd (CAN)