[jbutton size=”large” color=”blue” link=”https://ussquash.smugmug.com/PanAmerican-Jr-Championships” newpage=”yes”]Gallery[/jbutton]
The first Pan American Junior Championships to be held in the United States have concluded with Team USA earning five medals in seven competitions at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
The fourteenth annual edition of the Pan Am juniors had seven gold medals at stake in the junior men’s and women’s individual championships, junior men’s, women’s and mixed doubles championships, and junior men’s and women’s team championships.
The three-day individuals commenced the tournament and saw four Americans advance to the semifinals. World juniors team member Sam Scherl lost a close five-game semifinal against Mexico’s two seed Leonel Cardenas, earning Scherl and Team USA a bronze medal.
The junior women’s bracket saw an all-American final between top seed Mariam Kamal and three seed Grace Doyle. The world juniors teammates faced off in the first final of the night with Kamal earning gold 12-10, 11-4, 11-6, and Doyle earning silver.
The junior men’s final saw U.S. junior champion and top seed Andrew Douglas take on Cardenas, with Douglas claiming gold 11-2, 11-7, 11-9.
Mexico swept the three ensuing doubles competitions, earning gold in the boys’, girls’ and mixed finals. Colombia earned silver as runners up in the boys’ and mixed doubles finals, and Canada earned silver in the girls’ final.
The junior men’s and women’s team competitions concluded the championships with pool play leading into playoffs.
While seeded No. 1 after pool play, the U.S. Junior Men’s team were withdrawn by US Squash due to off-court code of conduct violations prior to the quarterfinals.
In the junior men’s team playoffs, both Colombia and Mexico reached the final without dropping a match, including semifinal victories over bronze medalists Guatemala and Canada respectively. Mexico maintained their perfect record in the final, defeating Colombia 2-0 to win a fourth gold medal, and consigning Colombia to silver.
The top-seeded U.S. Junior Women’s team reached the final without dropping a match, including against bronze medalists Ecuador in the semifinals. Two seeds Mexico reached the final with 2-1 victories over Paraguay and bronze medalists Canada in the semifinals.
Victories from Team USA’s Kamal and Mexico’s Dina Anguiano saw the final level at 1-1 going into the decisive final match between Doyle and Paulina de la Torre. After a close opening game, Doyle sealed the gold medal 12-10, 11-7, 11-1.
View images from the tournament in the Pan American Junior Championships galley.
The twenty-ninth adult Pan American Championships will take place next at Trinity College, September 18-24. For more information visit the Pan American Championships tournament page.