Text by BWF
El Salvador’s Uriel Francisco Canjura Artiga gave himself an opportunity to make history for El Salvador by making the men’s singles final of the XXIX YONEX Pan Am Individual Championships 2026.
Artiga has been in the final twice before – in 2023 and 2024 – but faltered both times.
On Thursday in Lima, the 26-year-old beat Job Castillo in the quarterfinals and then fought past Jonathan Matias in three games. He will take on defending champion and top seed Victor Lai, who made his way past Canadian compatriot Joshua Nguyen 21-7 21-16.
Brazil’s Davi Silva and Sania Lima also gave themselves a shot at history by making the mixed doubles final.
The seventh seeds beat third seeds Chen Zhi Yi/Francesca Corbett 21-18 21-19 to make the final against Presley Smith/Jennie Gai. Should they beat the top seeds, they will become the first Brazilian pair to win the title.
In the other semifinal, Smith/Gai prevented the possibility of an all-Brazil final by overcoming Fabricio Farias/Jaqueline Lima 21-14 21-10.
In women’s singles, Michelle Li will be aiming for her seventh singles title when she faces teammate Wen Yu Zhang. Li had little trouble in her semifinal against Chloe Hoang, who had upset defending champion Juliana Viana Vieira in an earlier match.
Other Highlights
» Men’s doubles top seeds Chen Zhi Yi/Presley Smith will be looking for a hat-trick of titles when they face second seeds Kevin Lee/Presley Smith.
» Women’s doubles will feature defending champions Lauren Lam/Allison Lee against USA compatriots Francesca Corbett/Jennie Gai.
