[jbutton size=”large” color=”blue” link=”http://www.panamsquash.com/2016jrpanams/” newpage=”yes”]Pan Ams Live[/jbutton]
Team USA opened its 2016 Pan American Junior Championships campaign with four medals in the individual competition—including Andrew Douglas and Mariam Kamal winning individual gold—Wednesday at Drexel University’s Kline & Specter Squash Center in Philadelphia.
The three-day individual competition kicked off the first Pan Ams to be hosted in the United States, and saw four Americans advance to the semifinals Wednesday morning. 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 ensuing 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.
Meanwhile, the doubles competition began alongside the final individual matches Tuesday and Wednesday. Team USA’s junior men’s partnership of Cole Becker & Harrison Gill suffered a quarterfinal exit after a narrow three-game match against Guatemala’s Junior Franco & Jose Merida in front of a packed gallery. Mexico’s top seeds Eduardo Graciano & Allan Nunez will face Colombian three seeds Matias Knudsen & Ronald Palomino in the final Thursday at 6pm ET.
Team USA’s Madeline Chai & Cameron Munn also exited the doubles event in a close match against Canada’s Hannah Blatt & Grace Thomas, losing 12-10 in the third. Mexico is poised for another gold in the junior women’s doubles with top seeds Dina Soledad Anguiano Gomez & Laura Ofelia Barriga Ramirez set to face Blatt & Thomas in the final, Thursday at 5pm ET.
The individual results set the stage and seedings for the team competition that begins Thursday with pool play. The U.S. junior women will take on El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago in Pool A play Thursday and Friday, while the U.S, junior men will face Argentina and Jamaica in Pool A play Thursday and Friday.
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