Photo credit : Darren Calabrese / COC
Team Canada is getting another chance at winning a Pan American Games gold medal in racquetball at the Santiago 2023 Games.
Coby Iwaasa and Samuel Murray played their way into the men’s team competition gold medal match by defeating strong teams from Costa Rica and Mexico today. The finals will begin at 11:45 ET on Thursday, October 25.
The team started off the day on Wednesday playing Costa Rica in the quarterfinals. Iwaasa upset Andres Acuña and Murray followed up with a win over Gabriel Garcia.
In the semifinals, Canada faced the number one seeded team from Mexico in an interesting matchup. The team was very motivated after their loss to Mexico in the gold medal doubles match and it showed on the court. Iwaasa put in a strong effort in his singles match, but lost to Eduardo Portillo. Canada was able to even the score in the semifinal with a convincing win over the gold medal doubles team of Javier Mar and Rodrigo Montoya. Sam Murray then defeated Montoya in singles for the team win.
Canada women’s team of Frédérique Lambert and Michèle Morissette also played today in the women’s team competition where they faced Mexico, the top seeded team. Unfortunately the did not advance after being defeated in both their singles matches.
The International Racquetball Federation has been told that the team competition finals will be live-streamed on the Panam Sports Channel Iwaasa is scheduled to start off for Canada in singles at 10:45am ET.
You can also find live action on CBC Gem and CBCSports.ca, with a focus on Canadian athletes throughout the games. Check in on CBC tomorrow to see if racquetball is being covered!
Coverage on all platforms is free.
Watch for our wrap up release at the end of the Pan American Games for all Team Canada results
