Second day of the Badminton Competition at Santiago 2023 had many emotions, surprising victories, long matches and a lot of dedication from each of our Pan Am athletes.
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Taymara Oropesa (CUB) defeated seeded 2 Wen Yu Zhang (CAN) in a 3-games-match with a great recovery after losing the first game (8-21) but showing consistency in the second game (21-16) to force a third and final game. Three games-point were needed for Oropesa to close the match (21-19) and qualify for the Quarter-finals in Women’s Singles where she will face, seeded 5/8, Haramara Gaitan (MEX).
“I’m actually very happy. I knew it was going to be a very difficult match but I was studying my opponent and the tactics worked. My concentration, my desire to win and give it my all were the determining factor in the match so I am really very happy with the result.” – Taymara Oropesa from Cuba.
Olympians Brian Yang, Ygor Coelho, Howard Shu, Beiwen Zhang, Nitke Sotomayor, Jennie Gai, Haramara Gaitan, continue on the path to Singles events medals.
For the Doubles side, cubans Juan Carlos Bencomo and Roberto Herrera facing a tough match against Angel Marinez/ Jose Linarez (DOM) gettin a victory after 3 intense games.
Seeded pairs in Women’s Doubles had their first matches today, getting solid victories to reach Quarter-Finals. Catherine Choi and Josephine Wu, seeded 1 duo, defeated Mariana Palacios/Adriana Barrios (EAI) while Annie and Kerry Xu, seeded 2 duo, did the same against Ailen Oliva/Iona Gualdi.
In Mixed Doubles, an excting match was played between Cuba and Peru. Jose Guevara/Ines Castillo and Juan Bencomo/Yeily Ortiz fought to get to the quarterfinals in a 3-games-match. The Peruvian duo won the first game (21-17) but the Cubans managed to overcome 3 match points to win the second game 23-21. Jose Guevara and Ines Castillo showed determination in the third game and got a score 21-12 to win the match.
Also, Davi Silva and Sania Lima (BRA) got a tough victory against Jonathan Solis and Diana Corleto (EAI). The Brazilian duo, seeded 3/4 won the first game with a good difference (21-12) but Solis/Corleto managed to force a 3rd game with a 24-22 in the second but their perfomance was not enough to defeated Davi/Sania who finally won the last game 21-14 to reach the Mixed Doubles Quarter-Finals.
Badminton Competition at Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games will continue on Monday 23 with the QF Round. Good luck to all the athletes!
