The XXIII Pan Am Mixed Team Continental Championships successfully kicked off yesterday with the presence of the Peruvian Badminton Federation representatives and the Pan American Badminton Confederation authorities, who welcomed delegations in the Sports Center 2 of the National Sports Village (VIDENA). The delegations of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, United States, along with the Peruvian delegation, that is hosting the event, will compete for the gold medal in this important continental event that awards points to the ranking for the Lima 2019 Pan American Games.
These championships will take place on February 17 at VIDENA. The Lima 2019 official mascot, Milco, also gave a warm welcome to the eleven competing delegations.
As is known, these continental championships grant a significant number of points, as they are part of the qualifying circuit for the Lima 2019 Pan American Games. For that reason, the best badminton players of the continent arrived in Lima, a city that is starting to attract the attention of the sporting world. This is the case of the Canadian Jason Anthony Ho-Shue, who ranked second in the Americas and was part of the mixed team that won in 2017 in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic).
Peru had a very good start in the opening day, as they defeated Colombia 5-0 with same scores in all 2-0 matches, both in men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.
The last medal claimed by the Peruvian team was in 2016, when they won the bronze medal after beating Jamaica 3-0 in the Pan American International Challenge in Campinas (Brazil). Our badminton players showed a good technique in the matches against Colombia. They won smoothly and arrived to the final stages of the event. Undoubtedly, it was a good challenge ahead of the Lima 2019 Pan American Games that will be held from August 23 to September 1.
Daniel La Torre, one of the Peruvian stars, started the group stage by defeating Colombian Juan Noguera 2-0 with scores of 21-5 and 21-11 in a 26-minute match. Daniela Macías beat Juliana Giraldo with scores of 21-7 and 21-6 in a match that lasted 21 minutes. Bruno Barrueto and Diego Subauste defeated 21-11 and 21-11 the Colombian pairing of Fabian Ardila and Juan Noguera in men’s doubles.
Meanwhile, women’s doubles also gave a good performance. The duet made up of Juliana Giraldo and Laura Valentina Londoño fell 21-13 and 21-15 to the pairing of Inés Castillo and Fernanda Saponara. Finally, in mixed doubles Peru’s Diego Mini and Danica Nishimura also beat Colombia’s Jhon Berdugo and Luisa Valero 21-8 and 21-7. The final score of Peru was 5-0.
“Everyone is welcome. We’re having a good tournament,” said the president of the Peruvian Badminton Federation, Gonzalo Castillo, who enjoyed the Peruvian victory, as well as other groups that achieved great results, such as Brazil 5-0 victory over Dominican Republic or Cuba that beat Argentina with the same score.