Team USA L-R: Medic Celeste Gabai, Todd Harrity, Paul Assaiante, Amanda Sobhy, Gilly Lane, Olivia Blatchford, Natalie Grainger.
Team USA L-R: Medic Celeste Gabai, Todd Harrity, Paul Assaiante, Amanda Sobhy, Gilly Lane, Olivia Blatchford, Natalie Grainger.

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Amanda Sobhy and Olivia Blatchford ensured Team USA’s first Pan American Games Squash Championships gold medal since 2007, setting up an all-American women’s individual final Monday.

Top-seeded Sobhy, world No. 10, contested the first semifinal Sunday night against Canada’s Samantha Cornett, who Sobhy most recently defeated in the 2014 Women’s World Team Championships in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.

Blatchford, a 3/4 seed, upset Mexico’s second-seeded Samantha Teran to ensure both the silver and gold medals would go home with Team USA.

“I am so happy for Amanda because here is a girl playing for her country and has been No. 1 for some time and she handled herself so beautifully under a lot of pressure against Cornett and in front of the home crowd, ” said Paul Assaiante, Ganek Family US Squash Head National Coach and Women’s Head Coach. “It was impressive to see how confident Olivia was against an extremely experienced player. She has made us all proud to have two players in the Finals tomorrow.

“For the first time in a long time we are going to hear our National Anthem while standing on the top of the podium.”

The men’s individual final will be contested between the flag bearers for Colombia, Miguel Angel Rodriguez, and Peru, Diego Elias.

While Blatchford’s next match will be the Monday night individual final, Sobhy may play two doubles matches with partner Natalie Grainger Monday afternoon before contesting the final. On the men’s side, Chris Gordon, a men’s doubles silver medalist in the 2011 Pan American Games,  and Chris Hanson, a mixed doubles silver medalist at the 2014 Pan American Olympic Festival, weigh in as 3/4 seeds in the ten-team men’s draw.

“Doubles is a completely different game and uses different tactics, but we will be doing all we can to get back on the podium and represent the Red, White and Blue. We are confident in the attitude of our teams and the importance that they have placed on this event” said Gilly Lane, Men’s Team Coach.

Men’s and Women’s doubles play begins Monday morning at 9am ET.

Follow updates @TeamUSASquash on Twitter and the Team USA Pan American Games page.

Rich Wade, Team Manager and Director of National Teams and Certifications, reports on day two of match play from Toronto: 

The evening session on Day 2 of the 2015 Pan American Games was the first time players would be competing for a place in a Gold medal match and the crowds came out in droves to support their local favorites.

A capacity crowd saw Samantha Cornett of Canada take on Team USA’s No. 1 player Amanda Sobhy. A mixture of nerves from Cornett and ruthless length and attacking play from Sobhy made for a quick first game – 11-2 Team USA. Cornett came out with a change of tactics, fought fire with fire and took the game to Sobhy, disrupting her rhythm and took the second game 11-3.

Time to take stock in the Sobhy/Assaiante camp and what a response we saw. Sobhy came out of the break firing on all cylinders, stretching her opponent in the back corners, using her deadly hold to great effect and found the soft hands that saw her take the first game. 11-4 and 11-6 and Team USA had their first woman into the Gold medal match!

Next on, teammate Olivia Blatchford was seeking to join Amanda and make it a guaranteed Gold and Silver medal in the Women’s Individual event, however #2 seed Samantha Teran stood in her way. After a slow start from the U.S. player, Blatchford quickly got herself back in the game and settled nicely to take the first 11-7. The experience of Samantha is always something to be wary of, however Olivia’s smooth movement and ability to change direction with deception was causing trouble for the Mexican player. After two beautifully played trickle boasts, Blatchford heading off court with a 2-0 lead, 11-6.

With the Final now in her sights, and eleven points standing between herself and an opportunity to play for the Gold medal, Olivia made difficult work of the third. Down 6-2 after some uncharacteristic errors from Blatchford and outright winners from Teran, the fightback began. Five straight points and Olivia was 7-6 up and staring at the Finals. In a very composed fashion, moving the ball exquisitely around the court, Blatchford closed out the third 11-7 and sealed her place in the Final against her compatriot Amanda Sobhy and assured Team USA of Gold and Silver tomorrow.

“I am so happy for Amanda because here is a girl playing for her country and has been No. 1 for some time and she handled herself so beautifully under a lot of pressure against Cornett and in front of the home crowd, ” Women’s Head Coach Paul Assaiante said of the top seed. “It was impressive to see how confident Olivia was against an extremely experienced player and has made us all proud to have two players in the Finals tomorrow.

“For the first time in a long time we are going to hear our National Anthem while standing on the top of the podium.”

Tomorrow sees an extremely busy day for Team USA again. The Men’s and Women’s Doubles Teams will be in action against Guatemala and Brazil respectively. The Men’s Team comprising of Chris Hanson and Chris Gordon are seeded 3/4, while Amanda Sobhy and Natalie Grainger are a dark horse as 5/8 seeds and will be looking to add to our medal chances.

“Doubles is a completely different game and uses different tactics, but we will be doing all we can to get back on the podium and represent the Red, White and Blue. We are confident in the attitude of our teams and the importance that they have placed on this event” said Gilly Lane, Men’s Team Coach.

Remember to follow us live on twitter @TeamUSASquash as we go in search of more medals at Toronto 2015.

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