Events

From July 18^th-20^st 2018, Team Canada participated in the Team Event of the 2018 Pan American Junior Championships, held in Salvador, Brazil! With the top countries from the Pan Am region set to compete in the event, Team Canada had tough competition throughout the week.

On the first day, Team Canada was placed in the same pool and was set to open the competition against home Team Brazil. With the crowd loud in support of their Brazilian athletes, Team Canada had a strong introduction to the Team Event of the Pan Am Junior Championships. Despite the support of the home crowd, Team Canada was able to defeat Brazil with a final score 4-1, and continue their success against Peru later that day, winning 5-0.

On the second day, Canada was set to play against Mexico to complete the pool play in the Team Event. Veteran Canadian athletes Katie Ho-Shue and Kevin Wang were able to take the early lead in Mixed Doubles, winning the match (21-10, 21-8); with Team Canada winning the tie 5-0.

In the Semi-Finals, Team Canada was set to face Chile to earn their spot in the Finals of the Team Event. First up was Boy’s Doubles, featuring Stanley Feng and Victor Lu for Canada. The pair were able to take the first match in the tie (21-9, 21-10), handing it over to Talia Ng and Kevin Wang to secure the win 3-0 over Chile and head to the Finals!

The finals were set to showcase a rematch between Brazil and Canada. Kicking off the tie was Victor Lu who unfortunately lost a great match (21-19, 19-21, 6-21) in Men’s Singles, and was unable to hold on in Men’s Doubles with partner Stanley Feng (51-21, 20-22). With Katie Ho-Shue winning her Women’s Singles Match (21-14, 21-17), Team Canada needed to win the Final two matches in order to win the tie. Fourth up was a talented Women’s Doubles pair of Talia Ng and Wendy Zhang, who won in 27 minutes (21-13, 31-15).

The Team Event would conclude with a final match in Mixed Doubles, winner take all. Representing Canada was Stanley Feng and Crystal Lai, a pair that have rarely played together. As Canadians watched eagerly from home, the pair were able to hold of the Brazilian duo and win the tie and Team event for Canada!

“We are very proud of all our team members for bringing home the gold for Canada!” said Jordan Bridal High-Performance Director. “We hope this win will inspire the rest of the team and propel all our athletes to success in the individual event. Go Canada go!”