High-Performance

From April 26-29, Team Canada competed at the XXV YONEX Pan Am Individual Championships in San Salvador, El Salvador! Hosted by Badminton Pan America, 20 Canadian athletes were in pursuit of the 2022 Pan Am Champion title!

In Men's Singles, Canadian Brian Yang had a great tournament, only giving up three games all tournament, eventually falling to Kevin Cordon (GUA), in the final (17-21,14-21). B. R. Sankeerth and Jason Ho-Shue made it to the Quarter-Finals, with Victor Lai falling short to BR Sankeerth in the Round of 16 in a close 3-game match (19-21, 22-20, 21-14).

Michelle Li played an exceptional tournament, winning the Women's singles event over rival Beiwen Zhang in 56 minutes (21-18, 16-21, 25-23). Next Gen Team athlete, Rachel Chan reached the Semi-Final after a win over Wendy Zhang in the Quarter-Final (21-17 and 21-16). Talia Ng also ended her tournament with a Quarter-Final finish after losing a close match to Beiwen Zhang (21-19, 21-19)

In the Men's Doubles event, the two Canadian teams made it to the Semi-Finals and won the Bronze. Nyl Yakura and Adam Dong lost 21-12 and 21-16 to the eventual Pan Am Champions, while Ty Lindeman and Kevin Lee were defeated by the finalists (21-19, 21-14).

The Candian Women performed exceptionally well with both teams making it to the final. Top-seeded Rachel Honderich and Kristen Tsai edged out fellow Canadians, Catherine Choi and Josephine Wu who were seeded second. The match lasted 37 minutes and was won by the Women's Doubles Olympians and defending Championship, Rachel Honderich & Kristen Tsai (21-18, 21-13).

Athletes Ty Lindeman and Josephine Wu competed against teammates Nyl Yakura and Crystal Lai in the Semi-Finals of Mixed Doubles, and would take the win in 26 minutes, (14-21,15-21). Nic Nguyen/Alex Mocanu and Adam Dong/Eliana Zhang would also have great performances, closing out long 3-game matches to end with a Quater-Final finish. Eventually, top Canadian pair Ty Lindeman & Josephine Wu would be named Champions (21-12, 21-11) in 24 minutes against Guatemala's Solis Jonathan and Diana Corleto Soto.

"We are incredibly proud of our athletes," said Mike Butler, National Team Head Coach. "Our athletes fought through some close games and intense matches. It was a great experience for our younger athletes, and our Senior Team was able to execute. Looking forward to how Team Canada can perform at the upcoming Thomas and Uber Cups."

To view the tournament results please visit: https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament?id=3C51063D-BBAE-48D1-9CB9-1615879516B4.