WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: Pan American Games, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Team Squash Championships - Men's semi-finals:
[1] Canada bt [2] Argentina 3-0; [4] Brazil bt [6] Mexico 2-1
Final:
[1] CANADA bt [4] BRAZIL 3-0 (Viktor Berg bt Luciano Barbosa 9-6, 9-6, 9-1; Graham Ryding bt Rafael Alarcon 9-3, 6-9, 9-3, 9-7; Shahier Razik bt Ronivaldo Santos 9-1, 9-4)

Women's semi-finals:
[1] Canada bt [3] Brazil 3-0; [2] USA bt [4] Mexico 3-0
Final:
[2] USA bt [1] CANADA 2-1 (Meredeth Quick bt Carolyn Russell 3-9, 3-9, 9-3, 9-6, 9-4; Latasha Khan bt Melanie Jans 9-10, 3-9, 9-1, 9-0, 9-4; Louisa Hall lost to Marnie Baizley 5-9, 4-9)

Latasha Leads Second Upset To Give USA PanAm Team Gold

Only days after claiming the first ever squash Gold Medal for her country in the Pan American Games women's singles in the Dominican Republic, Latasha Khan again beat Canada's Melanie Jans to clinch gold for USA in the women's team final in Santo Domingo.  Defending champions Canada took gold in the men's event with a 3-0 final victory over Brazil.

Khan's singles victory over Jans marked her first over her great North American rival in fourteen years of competition!  That the four-times US National Champion should then repeat this feat so soon - coming back from the depths of 2-0 down - was a remarkable testimony to the grit and determination of the 30-year-old from Seattle. 

Team-mate Meredeth Quick had herself clawed her way back from 2-0 behind to put second seeds USA ahead with a 3-9 3-9 9-3 9-6 9-4 victory over Canada's Carolyn Russell.  Then Khan scored her historic and decisive win over the top seeds and defending champions' No1 in a 9-10 3-9 9-1 9-0 9-4 scoreline.  Canada gained a consolation point in the dead third rubber when Marnie Baizley beat Louisa Hall 9-5 9-4.

In the men's final, Canada's win over Brazil was highlighted by a strong performance by Viktor Berg in the opener.  Berg, 25, had competed with a heavy heart all week. His girlfriend suffered a serious injury in an accident which has left her paralysed and in hospital care for the past three months.

''This was my first tournament since the accident and tonight I felt I played one of my best matches ever,'' said Berg who defeated Luciano Barbosa 9-6 9-6 9-1.  ''She has really inspired my play no doubt.  Tonight I felt a lot of pressure to go out first in a gold medal match but I tried to approach like any other match.''

Top string Graham Ryding defeated Rafael Alarcon 9-3 6-9 9-3 9-7 to clinch the gold and Shahier Razik - who had earlier beaten Ryding to win the singles gold medal - took Ronivaldo Santos 9-1 9-4.