Canadian teen Rachel Chan sprung a massive surprise at the XXIV Pan Am Individual Championships 2021 yesterday, beating second seed Iris Wang in the women’s singles semifinals in Guatemala yesterday.
The 17-year-old, playing her first event of this level, outplayed the world No.36 19-21 21-14 21-9. Chan next faces top seed Beiwen Zhang, who cruised past Canadian Talia Ng 21-16 21-8.
The men’s singles final will be an all-Canada affair. Second seed Brian Yang is in sight of his first Pan Am Championships gold. Yang held off the challenge from BR Sankeerth 19-21 21-9 21-9 and will take on 2016 champion Jason Anthony Ho-Shue, who was tested by fourth seed Kevin Cordon, 21-17 21-18.
Ho-Shue is in line for a double, as he and Nyl Yakura made the men’s doubles final beating Guatemala’s Ruben Castellanos/Christopher Alexander Martinez Salvador 21-15 21-7. The Canadians take on second seeds Phillip Chew/Ryan Chew, who prevailed in the most exciting match of the day, 21-17 14-21 25-23 over Mexico’s Job Castillo/Luis Armando Montoya Navarro.
Women’s doubles will feature Rachel Honderich/Kristen Tsai against USA’s Francesca Corbett/Allison Lee, while in mixed doubles, Joshua Hurlburt-Yu/Josephine Wu take on Guatemala’s Christopher Alexander Martinez Salvador and Mariana Isabel Paiz Quan.